by John Scalzi
Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.
Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:
(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces
(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations
(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.
Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.
My take
I feel I can count on Scalzi for a good, lighthearted romp not completely devoid of seriousness and I got that once again. Scalzi is an author that I found through Twitter. I previously read the first two books in the Old Man’s War series (my husband has actually read the first three and since he pretty much only reads on vacation, it’s rare for him to be ahead of me) and The Interdependency series. I’d heard of Redshirts and knew it was an award winner but was surprised and delighted to discover what it’s actually about.