Redshirts, by John Scalzi

Every casual fan of Star Trek will immediately recognize what John Scalzi's Redshirts is referring to.  Those crew members who show up on an episode wearing a red shirt and assigned an away mission are almost certain to meet their doom.  Sometimes they don't even get the dignity of having a name.  In Redshirts some of the new recruits on the Intrepid, the flagship of the Universal Union, gather that they definitely don't want to be chosen for an away mission.  They see this pattern and are warned against becoming a part of the story line.

Thanks to a crazy crew member who has managed to stay hidden in the maintenance tunnels, they being to figure out that their parts, and the ship's missions, are being written into a TV show from centuries before.  They hijack an away mission shuttle to travel back in time through a wormhole to meet with the writers of the show.

This sounds absolutely ridiculous--and it is!  But Scalzi pulls this ridiculous story off.  The crew members even meet some of the cast members who play them on the show.  The crew members and the actors and writers get themselves in all kinds of pretzels figuring out the causation and reality of their lives and the writers' power over them.  It's like a time travel story, with a bizarre twist.

Star Trek fans with a sense of humor will love this story.  Comparisons to the Tim Allen movie Galaxy Quest are appropriate.  I found myself laughing out loud throughout.  As much fun as Redshirts is to read, however, the "codas" at the end seemed more contrived and out of place.  I liked how Scalzi finally put a bow on things, but the codas were a let down after the greatness that was the rest of the book.  That said, if you want a good laugh with a Star Trek-like theme, Redshirts is a must-read.