Author, blogger, philosopher, TV smart guy, and pie-eater Mr. John Scalzi has earned himself a very nice writeup in the New York Times for his latest book, Redshirts.

Something is terribly funky about the starship Intrepid.

New crew members come to realize that on the frequent “away missions,” some lowly ensign always seems to die a horrible and oddly hackneyed death. By Borgovian land worms. Longranian ice sharks. That kind of thing.

Anyone who grew up on “Star Trek” or its descendants can figure out what’s going on in “Redshirts.” That is, until things get even funkier.

Which is to say that this is a John Scalzi novel, and a reader must expect the unexpected, including a surprising emotional punch as the story unfolds, reconfigures and steps outside itself. Cory Doctorow, an author of science fiction and a friend of Mr. Scalzi’s, called it “a deeply sneaky book — in the best way.”

Sounds good to us!

John has written articles for the BRI many times over the years, we are pleased to say, and he was the sole author of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Book of the Dumb. So we were very happy to to see him make the “paper of record,” as he notes – congratulations! Can’t wait to read the book!

Note: If you’re not a regular reader of John’s blog – Whatever – or his Twitter feed – well you can be now.