{"id":1736,"date":"2013-02-26T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T17:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=1736"},"modified":"2013-04-05T11:13:12","modified_gmt":"2013-04-05T18:13:12","slug":"mark-reads-redshirts-chapters-1-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2013\/02\/mark-reads-redshirts-chapters-1-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Redshirts’: Chapters 1-9"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, I’ve been doing a little thing over on Mark Watches where folks have been commissioning me to watch stuff that’s not on my Confirmed List, or they’ve asked me to\u00c2\u00a0re-<\/em>watch things I’ve seen, since I now have a different perspective having finished said show. It’s fun to do because… well, I get to do\u00c2\u00a0more<\/em> in a day, and it’s always been something I\u00c2\u00a0wanted<\/em> to do on my sites, to have more than one post a day. (That’s partially the reason I also started doing two books\/shows at once and alternating between them. More is fun!)<\/p>\n

Anyway, we should start doing more of that! I had put up a couple posts recently for\u00c2\u00a0The Shoebox Project<\/a><\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0Unspoken<\/a><\/em>, but I also want to start doing small bursts of reviews for things I’m reading in my personal time. (Once I’m back from tour<\/a>, things will happen.\u00c2\u00a0Things<\/em>.) So! This past weekend, I decided it was high time I read something from John Scalzi. Back in the summer of last year, the\u00c2\u00a0very<\/em> first commission I ever got was for a story called\u00c2\u00a0The Shadow War of the Night Dragons – Book One: The Dead City<\/em>. No one told me what it was. So I read it aloud<\/a>, and it kind of ruined me? Then someone sent it to Mr. Scalzi, and he wrote about me<\/a>. Then he told everyone to nominate me for a Hugo<\/a>. So he already ruled in my book? (PS: Nominate me for a Hugo, seriously, and help me figure out who I\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>should nominate, as I haven’t filled out my ballot yet.)<\/a><\/p>\n

I picked up\u00c2\u00a0Redshirts<\/em> on Saturday simply because my friend and mod SpectralBovine said it was great and brain-melty. Good enough of a recommendation in my book! I knew the title was a reference to a very specific phenomenon in science fiction, coined by\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/em> fans who noticed that those wearing red uniforms were often killed. Like,\u00c2\u00a0often<\/em>. (And let it be known that while I am vaguely familiar with\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek,<\/em> I will become\u00c2\u00a0very\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>familiar with it sometime next year, as I’d like the show to take the place of\u00c2\u00a0The West Wing<\/em> once I finish that on Mark Watches. I’ll figure that out when I get there.)<\/p>\n

From here on out, I’ll discuss spoilers up to page 103 in chapter nine, so be warned!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I expected this book\u00c2\u00a0had<\/em> to be meta in some form, and both the prologue and first chapter proved that. The first thing that clued me in? There’s a part in the prologue where Ensign Tom Davis realizes that\u00c2\u00a0the thoughts in his head just show up<\/em>. I thought that was strange, strange enough to warrant me paying attention. And then I read about an Ice Shark. (Which might be my favorite exchange in the book so far, because y’all,\u00c2\u00a0it is important to think about this<\/em>. Is it a shark made of ice or one that\u00c2\u00a0lives<\/em> in ice? Maybe it\u00c2\u00a0eats<\/em> ice. THESE ARE VITAL QUESTIONS, Y’ALL.)<\/p>\n

And then there’s The Box.<\/p>\n

That was my first confirmation that\u00c2\u00a0something<\/em> was controlling the story, and while I entertained the notion that all these tropes were\u00c2\u00a0too<\/em> intentional, I still didn’t expect… well, I’ll get to that. There was clearly something at work here that was either\u00c2\u00a0aware<\/em> of the horrific record of side characters getting killed to boost the dramatic tension around the main cast, or… well, I wasn’t quite sure. Then I meet Jenkins, and I thought that maybe this was some weird parallel universe?<\/p>\n

The thing is, as meta as this all was, it didn’t\u00c2\u00a0feel<\/em> like a gimmick. Look, that whole scene where Kerensky drunkenly analyzes his own ability to survive\u00c2\u00a0anything<\/em> is actually quite emotional, so these characters still matter to me. I mean, I was pretty sad when Mbeke died! Also, THAT ENTIRE SCENE WHERE MBEKE AND CASSAWAY WERE KILLED WAS\u00c2\u00a0SUPER FUCKED UP<\/em>. Meta or not, that was an effective horror sequence, and I also genuinely feared that Ensign Dahl would be killed to. Why not? He’d just seen Cassaway’s theory that a single sacrifice satisfied Jenkins or whoever was behind this completely destroyed, so why couldn’t all three of them die?<\/p>\n

And the introduction and further use of Jenkins as some sort of sage giver of wisdom was exciting, both because this was totally utilizing a trope I was familiar with (I\u00c2\u00a0knew<\/em> he was going to give some super mind-bending expository speech because\u00c2\u00a0that’s what his character does<\/em>) and because Scalzi was also\u00c2\u00a0not\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>using the trope. Sort of. Kind of. I guess? Oh god, that’s half the fun of this.\u00c2\u00a0If<\/em> these characters are merely filling a trope, then is it possible to guess where this is headed?
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

No. No, it’s not, because page 103 proved this to me. Again, I expected meta. I expected that this book was addressing science fiction tropes. None of this was a surprise to me.<\/p>\n

Sigh.<\/p>\n

“They don’t exist,” Jenkins said, and pointed back at the ship. “And neither does this. This is the starship\u00c2\u00a0Enterprise<\/em>. It’s fictional. It was on a science fictional drama series. And so are we.”<\/p>\n

Here’s the exact tweet I sent out when I got here:<\/p>\n

$\"Screen$ <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Because, simply put,\u00c2\u00a0I DID NOT EXPECT THIS TO BE SO PLAINLY STATED<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Oh my\u00c2\u00a0god<\/em>, so that’s what Jenkins meant by avoiding the narrative. BUT I’M SO LOST. Can these characters\u00c2\u00a0actually<\/em> demonstrate agency at times? Does that mean they are affecting the writers of whatever series they are on, or is\u00c2\u00a0that<\/em> an illusion, too??? I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!<\/p>\n

So, I haven’t read beyond this, and I’d like to invite y’all for some fun if you’re interested. I’d ideally like to squeeze a few more reviews out of this, since I just finished writing\u00c2\u00a0every<\/em> post that’s going to go up while I’m on tour. OH MY GOD, I HAVE FREE TIME,\u00c2\u00a0IT’S SO WEIRD<\/em>. If you’d like to commission any chapter for a Mark Reads video, I’ll include it in a review<\/a>; whatever chapters are commissioned for a live reading will help me determine how to split this up. (While I\u00c2\u00a0do<\/em> have free time, I don’t think I can devote a single review per chapter.)<\/p>\n

Oh god, let’s do this. I’m not prepared to be destroyed by this book, but whatever. BRING IT, JOHN SCALZI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"