The book is very much aware of how ridiculous some of its situations are, but there is enough underlying menace that even as we laugh, we realize how serious the situation is for the poor redshirt in it, and we genuinely want him to survive. To clarify: Redshirts is not just a Star Trek parody, in that it’s not an episode rehash with different names and caricatured details.

Scalzi’s observations about logical inconsistencies in Star Trek are spot-on, and he mercilessly undercuts them with biting humour yet also with an insider’s wink at the reader that belies the affection of a die-hard fan. The first part of the book is a total send-up of Star Trek, and I suppose, other cheesy 60s science fiction shows. But what if the remaining future redshirts realize that there’s something fishy going on? What if they band together and decide to do something about it? In Redshirts, when Ensign Andrew Dahl joins the crew of the Intrepid, he finds out that a low-ranking crew member dies in every Away Mission, and that his more senior co-workers go into hiding every time a high ranking officer enters the room. Deaths usually occur when the crew beams down onto an alien planet, and they are usually pointless, put in only for some dramatic tension right before the opening credits. Redshirts, as any self-respecting Trekkie knows, are the characters killed off before the first commercial break in the 1960s Star Trek series.

Now, if like me, you know why you should never wear a red shirt on an alien planet, stop reading this review right now and find yourself a copy of this book. When I saw this book in the Raincoast Books catalogue, even before reading the description, I immediately thought of Star Trek redshirts and was momentarily embarrassed that I may have confused a serious thriller with a Star Trek parody when I realized I right. Spock from Star Trek, for those who don’t know). Yes I was, and it’s because, in my sister’s words, Redshirts hit all my geekspots. That evening, watching me walk around with my nose stuck in this book, my sister observed that I was going through it pretty quickly. Tip: Start it on a weekend, or after work, whenever you have a few free hours, because you will not want to put it down. I started reading John Scalzi’s Redshirts before work one day, and almost instantly regretted my decision.

Redshirts book review