Yes, now I’ve outed myself as a geek.Īnyone in the mood for something a little different, give this a try. And besides, I really like Wil Wheaton! Especially when he plays himself on The Big Bang Theory. Although I haven’t listened to it, it’s hard to believe it could be anything but superb based on what I’ve heard about his narration of Ready Player One. And audiobook fans, take note: Wil Wheaton is the narrator. It has enough humor and wit that it should be enjoyable to even the casual fan. However, for readers who like science fiction even a little bit, I recommend giving this book a try. I’m not going to try to convince anyone that this is a book that transcends genres, because it’s not.

The codas brought it all together for me. This is a little different and quite creative. Scalzi concludes the story using three codas, or epilogues, each written in a different narrative style: First-person, second-person and third-person. But then the story switches direction a few times as we discover the truth about the Intrepid, the crew and who controls their fate. Light and fun, it has many humorous moments and more than a few inside jokes that fans of the genre will enjoy.Ĭlever and meta, it sometimes reminded me of the movie Galaxy Quest, with Tim Allen, where the cast of an old science fiction show are forced to play their roles for real to help an alien civilization. The book is partly a spoof of TV science fiction shows like Star Trek, Stargate and Battlestar Galactica to name a few. The ill-fated Ensign who dies on the away mission is always the one wearing the red uniform shirt. The premise of the novel is drawn from the original Star Trek television series. But the Intrepid isn’t an ordinary ship and they aren’t living in an ordinary universe. The newest crew members spend a lot of their time avoiding away mission assignments in an attempt to stay alive.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory. Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship “Intrepid,” flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456.

John scalzi's redshirts