Redshirts by John Scalzi

I'm fan of Scalzi since I read Old Man's War. I could hardly wait to lay my hand on Redshirts. If you've read Scalzi before, you have some idea what to expect. Interesting plot, good characters and sarcasm, which mix into an enjoyable story. And I got it this time, too.

I love the story. Besides being a story on its own, it is a tribute to Star Trek. I was too young to watch the original Star Trek series, but I was deeply involved in The Next Generation and Voyager as audience. So the message comes through just fine.

Spoiler here, so you may want to skip this paragraph if you haven't read the book. The "protagonist realize that he is within a story, being a puppet of the writer" can be a cliché, but Scalzi does it well, and I like the part when the story characters come into the real world. The way Hester (I'm spelling it after hearing, I hope it spells like this) saves Matthew's life is really original.

It is a nice touch that Wil Wheaton narrates the audio book, who himself was part of the show, being more than an extra :) I have one problem with the narration, though. He does it on the same voice, no matter which character speaks. The intonation is very good, but I miss that the tone of the voice doesn't change (as, for example Nick Podehl performs in The Wise Man's Fear).

And I have another problem: every time somebody speaks, there is that " he said". Or "she said". Or "(place the name here) said". Sometimes "asked" instead of "said". Every time the dialogue goes to another character. Every. Time. It drove me crazy at the beginning, then it faded to slightly irritating.

I like the codas, by the way. I enjoy those stories, which have cross-references to other stories, or feature characters from another one. They give a deeper layer to the book, and they have their own message.