September 2017 Book Club Book: Redshirts by John Scalzi

Discussion in 'TMB Book Club' started by RegimentML, Sep 7, 2017.

  1. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Redshirts by John Scalzi - Goodreads

    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.
     
  2. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Probably won't get to this until next week.
     
  3. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Starting today
     
  4. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    50%

    Not a lot of thoughts so far; it's a pretty straight forward book. It's humorous and fun, light-hearted. Quite different from most SFF I read.

    The initial thought I had when I was reading was how much it reminds me of a nerdy version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I.e., the secondary and tertiary characters of a familiar story suddenly become the focus, and they become aware of their status in the story. The idea of an actual narrative imposing its will onto their lives is funny. I enjoy the sections with the main characters and how none of what happens when the narrative takes over makes much sense; logic goes out the window and drama becomes the primary factor.

    This is also a short book. Should finish in the next several days.
     
  5. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    I'm firmly entrenched in my Sanderson reread, so I won't get to this for a while.
     
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  6. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Finished

    Not too many thoughts other than, while being skeptical of them at first, I actually really liked the three additional codas at the the end. They probably bumped my grade up some. It was a straight forward, fun book. Lots of ending questions about the nature of humanity, multiverse, etc.
     
  7. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Are you doing your reread on audiobook? That's about the only way I'd want to do one, but man a 50 hour audiobook (or whatever it is) sounds daunting.
     
  8. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Yeah I am. Way of Kings was 45 hours. Doing Elantris and Warbreaker before WoR. Elantris is 28, Warbreaker is 25, WoR is 48
     
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  9. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Hoping to finish WoR right as Oathbringer comes out.
     
  10. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    I might do the two SLA books after I finish Dresden.
     
  11. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    I read the Tor Reread chapter summaries/thoughts for each Way of Kings chapter as I reread it. Enjoyed it. Not quite as good as Malazan but still pointed out some stuff that I missed.

    Malazan reread will always be GOAT. RIP :tebow:
     
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  12. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    I don't know how I would've followed Malazan without those. I started them with maybe the second book until they ended. When things got super complex (though you could argue they started that way) they were invaluable.
     
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  13. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    After a couple minutes of deliberation I went ahead and downloaded the audiobook for TWoK.

    Wasn't that hard to talk myself into it
     
  14. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    I read it for the first time back in 2013 so it had been a while and I enjoyed the absolute hell out of it.
     
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  15. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Anyone have a copy of redshirts I could have? This has been on my to read list for a long time.
     
  16. Gin Buckets

    Gin Buckets Well-Known Member
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    So this is October as well then? If so, I'm just going to start it now.

    ETA: Also, big fan of Wil Wheaton, the audible reader. (He also did Ready Player One fwiw)
     
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  17. Gin Buckets

    Gin Buckets Well-Known Member
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    Great choice of book btw... I'm really enjoying it. Light read, and I'll finish it in a snap.

    I'm like 15% through, but....

    Basically, it seems like Scalzi was watching ridiculous old episodes of Star Trek and thought to himself "what would the everyday, expendable crew think if this were real?"

    Not a huge leap, as Scalzi pretty much gave this much away in the prolog. What will be interesting is how the reveal is handled.
     
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  18. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    Finished in 2 sittings. It was just ok. Pretty straight forward . Quick easy read. Loved Collapsing Empire, and had bigger expectations for this

    6.5/10