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redshirts
If you're planning on hanging out with any cool geeks this summer, you definitely won't want to admit that all you've read lately is Fifty Shades of Grey. And now that Game of Thrones is an HBO show, no one's going to be impressed that you've heard of A Song of Ice and Fire.
So here's a list of some of this summer's most buzz-worthy geek science fiction and fantasy books. Drop a few of these into casual conversation, and it'll establish beyond any doubt that you're a true geek who's up on the latest trends.
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Redshirts
By John Scalzi Megapopular writer John Scalzi's Whatever blog is often described as one of the few websites with a readable comments section, thanks to his strict policy of culling offensive posts — a process he refers to as "wielding the Mallet of Loving Correction." He's also known for posting oddly manipulated photos of himself and putting bacon on his cat. He writes novels, too, such as the Hugo-nominated Old Man's War, about elderly citizens given fresh young bodies and sent into space to fight aliens. Scalzi is at heart a humorist — his novel The Android's Dream opens with a chapter-long fart joke — though the difficulties of marketing humorous science fiction have often caused publishers to downplay that. But Redshirts, which is being advertised as a Star Trek parody, may signal that Scalzi has achieved a profile sufficient enough to be beyond such worries. Redshirts concerns low-ranking crew members aboard an interstellar starship who start to notice a disturbing pattern — folks like themselves never seem to make it home safe from alien worlds, whereas high-ranking officers always seem strangely untouched by the danger. Read if you like: Star Trek, black humor, aliens eating humansBlowback: What Geeky Book Is Next on Your Reading List?
You've probably got your own hot picks about what to read this summer. Drop your most-anticipated books in the comments below.
