190430 review-- Redshirts by @scalzi

190430

on Redshirts by @scalzi #scifi #review

http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/4/4e/RDSHRTSMPR2015.jpg

John Scalzi's <a target="_blank href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirts_%28novel%29">Redshirts</a> is a mockery of televised science fiction and also much more. Much more. It has been described by the <a "target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/books/in-redshirts-john-scalzi-gives-expendables-a-life.html">NYTimes as a space-faring "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern  are Dead".</a>

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A simple parody of the notorious "<a target="_blank  href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirt_(stock_character)">that-character-is wearing-a-red-shirt-so-you-know-he's gonna-die"</a> trope/cliche/plot device from Star Trek  and the <a target="_blank href"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box_(fiction)">black box solution</a>would have not been particularly interesting if written by a less skilled author. (Anyone rolling their eyes toward the heavens imploring deliverance from such a story, as I did for months before reading it, rest assured, it is well worth reading.) <a target="_blank" href="https://whatever.scalzi.com/">Mr. Scalzi</a> lifts the premise beyond the usual pap one would expect to create a unique, well crafted story with flawless characterization and plotting. The story ends with three epilogues that resolve loose ends and allow the reader to feel the plight of the characters and feel their emotions at the close of the story.

My content <a target="_blank" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"> Creative commons attribution required share alike</a>

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?657911"> Coverart from ISFDB under fair use</a>