Ode to Ensign Ricky

Anyone who's watched science fiction TV for any amount of time is probably familiar with the redshirt.  You know, the anonymous crew member who beams down to the planet with the main character and then dies to show how dangerous the situation is. It's a well-worn cliche but it works so people keep using it. Though it does raise the question, what must life be like for these poor dopes who realize that stepping foot on any planet will likely get them killed? Well, John Scalzi has the answer.

Our protagonist is Andrew Dahl, a cadet fresh out of the academy and assigned to the Intrepid flagship of the Universal Union. But what seems like a great opportunity at first turns out to be a paranoid hell as the Intrepid's lower crew desperately try to avoid away missions and stay alive. As the corpses keep piling up, Dahl starts comparing notes with his fellow crewmembers and it starts to look like something more than negligence is going on.

Looking at a Star Trek like story from the point of view of the anonymous crewmember was a great idea to begin with, but Scalzi goes beyond just the easy comedy the premise allows. I can't give much away because of spoilers, but the plot is excellent. It twist and turns in ways you don't expect and keeps you guessing all the way to the end. This is certainly the most un-put-downable book I've read in a while. Not that it isn't funny, in fact it's hilarious. Though if you aren't a bit of trekkie some of the humor may not translate. But it's also exciting, mind-bending and even touching in parts.

Really, the only complaint I have is that the cast of redshirts all seem a bit minimally characterized. But without giving anything away, that turns out to have been deliberate. So I say give Redshirts a read. I don't know if it's a classic, but it's an fast-paced enjoyable book that's delightfully meta.