Redshirts was a thoroughly "engaging" read, with interesting characters, snappy dialogue, and a plot that "transported" from comedic to thought-provoking at will. If you are a fan of Star Trek, or science-fiction in general, do yourself a favor and check this one out! The three codas at the end of the novel take a little bit to warm up to, but add another nice dimension to the story.

This is a great book for science fiction fans who can both love and laugh at Star Trek, in particular the original series. For example, if you liked the movie Galaxy Quest, this book is for you. After playing the formula for laughs, the book comes into its own with a very satisfying end. Some commenters have complained about the three codas at the end. While I agree that the first one was tough to get through, I was glad that I stuck it out. The second and third are easier to read and just as gratifying. Also, the audiobook is exceptionally well narrated by Wil Wheaton, i.e. Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The basic premise was used in both Robert Heinlein's "Number of the Beast" with its 'World as Myth' storyline and in an old Star Trek short story called "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisted" in which the lead actors in the TV show somehow end up on board the REAL 'Enterprise' - still a good read with a bit of a twist at the end.

An entertaining look at the star trek(ish) universe. A little existentially weird at the end.

A fun, quick read. It niftily skewers the model of TV writing that grew out of shows of the original Star Trek and it's ilk. TV writing often operates under the dictum of, 'Don't need it good, need it Tuesday.' Definitely a fun read but my biggest laugh was Scalzi's afterword where he boasts that Stargate:Universe, which he worked in, was a better written show than the Star Treks. S:U may have given its Redshirts more meaningful deaths but it had so many other writing problems. Clever of Scalzi to take an oft discussed TV trope and turn it into a novel.

I loved this book. It was fun, interesting, and also touching. I wanted to see what crazy thing would happen next and I hoped the Redshirts would stay alive.

Crew members of the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid are dying at an alarming rate. Decks 6 through 12 ensure certain death during battle. Away team missions also seem to increase ones chance of dying. Most members of the crew have developed bizarre ways to deal with it. There are tracking systems in place to alert them of the approach of senior officers. If they can't avoid being with sent on a mission, they try and be with certain officers only. All seem oblivious and just want to survive. But Ensign Andrew Dahl is not content to survive, he wants to stop the massacre. And in doing so, he learns more than he bargained for about what is really going on. This book starts off as a thinly veiled parody of classic Star Trek, but takes a meta turn towards the middle that elevates the story above comedy. Scalzi is smart to do this, because that choice turns this book into a commentary on bad Science-Fiction television and lazy story writing. This is a must read for all fans of Star Trek as well as anyone who dreams of being a writer.

This is a good, funny book for what it is: a fluffy, no-brainer. Don't go in expecting great literature. If you approach it as a good time spoofing on an idea (that in Star Trek the anonymous guy in the red shirt is the first to die on an away mission) and go along for the ride without over-analyzing, you'll enjoy it. It gets to be quite meta at times, but it is, after all, a book spoofing a tv series, and treating it all as reality. I just tried not to think about it too hard. The three codas at the end aren't integral to the story, but they are mostly interesting, especially the last two (the first is probably most interesting to writers).

Light, but a lot of fun. There were several laugh-out-loud moments, which isn't something that I get often from a book. In some ways reminiscent of John M. Ford's _How Much For Just The Planet_ -- both poke fun at the tropes of the genre.

What a fun read. If you are a Star Trek fan you will appreciate the jokes but even if you never watched the show I think this book is laugh out loud funny. Certainly not your average SF novel! I enjoyed it immensely.