Redshirts: Chapters 1-4 [Kindle Edition]

John Scalzi (Author)

Book Description

THEY WERE EXPENDABLE . . . UNTIL THEY STARTED COMPARING NOTES

A free preview of Redshirts, the astonishing new science-fiction yarn from John Scalzi.

"Redshirts is (a) ruin-your-underwear funny, (b) a mind-bender sure to Philip K. Dick you over, and (c) absurdly rich in ideas and feeling. John Scalzi sets his imagination to STUN and scores a direct hit. Read on and prosper." - Joe Hill, New York Times-bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box

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, with the chance to serve on "Away Missions" alongside the starship's famous senior officers.

Life couldn't be better . . . until Andrew begins to realize that (1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship's senior officers always survive these confrontations, and (3) sadly, at least one low-ranking crew member is invariably killed. Unsurprisingly, the savvier crew members belowdecks avoid Away Missions at all costs.

Then Andrew stumbles on information that 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.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Product Details

• File Size: 264 KB
• Print Length: 50 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (April 10, 2012)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007NJPO2A
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,698 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Cruel, cruel man.... April 17, 2012

By D. Trasler

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Scalzi is evil, there's no other word for it. Yes, I was excited to read Redshirts, and I will be buying it as soon as it's available. But, unable to resists torturing readers, he released this sample way in advance, meaning I read it voraciously and was left wanting more. And now I have to wait. Damn you, Scalzi!

Ok, the review - you know what you're getting with Scalzi, if you've read any of his books before. His characterisation is bang on, his stories are unpredictable but drag you in and grip you, and his prose is so easy on the eye and flowing that you suddenly find the dinner has burned, the cat hasn't been fed in a week and what the hell it's DARK now?

Bring on the rest of the book, I'm ready.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A great tease July 31, 2012

By Mathachew

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a good tease to what I hoped would be a fun story. However, Redshirts was a major disappointment. Some of the best parts of the book are in this preview, which accounts for nearly 25% of the book's primary story. That's no typo, Redshirts is short and the last 25% are the three codas, which contains more character depth than the story itself. This preview was entertaining, but lacks Scalzi's usual charm.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time someone wrote this. April 13, 2012

By Missouri Bob

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

You ever notice how in the original Star Trek series everyone important to running the ship beams down to a planet? The Captain, Chief Engineer, Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Science Officer all go exploring. Of course, the people who die are the unknown red shirts. Galaxy Quest contained a parody of this observation.

Instead of the United Federation of Plants and the Enterprise, this book sample has the Universal Union (dub U) and the Intrepid. The people aboard the ship have definitely noticed that bridge crew tend to survive away missions while the other team members get eaten, dissolved or meet their end in some other grisly fashion. These four chapters follow some new members of the Intrepid. Very quickly the new crew members discover that they are replacing people who have died as a result of away missions. And that the old hands aboard ship have learned to stay away from away missions.

This is a well written and edited sample of a larger book to come. John Scalzi has written Old Man's War, The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation and other books. I will definitely buy this book when it comes out. Maybe not an e version, but I will buy it.