John Scalzi

41213 learners

On the USS Intrepid, a starship plagued by absurdly high casualty rates among its junior "redshirt" crew, new recruit Andy Dal can’t shake the feeling something’s deeply off. Crewmates vanish in ridiculous, senseless ways—eaten by ice sharks, torn apart by rogue forklifts, devoured by Borgovian land worms—while senior officers miraculously survive every disaster. When Dal teams up with a ragtag group of fellow redshirts, they uncover the shocking truth from reclusive programmer Jenkins: they’re not real humans—they’re background characters in a cheesy 21st-century sci-fi TV show, where their deaths are just cheap plot devices to boost drama. Determined to take control of their fates, the team hijacks a shuttle, kidnaps a main character officer for his plot armor, and travels back to 2012 Earth. There, they confront the show’s creators, strike a deal to end the senseless redshirt deaths, and orchestrate an identity swap that saves a dying boy’s life. Blending sharp satire, heartfelt humor, and clever meta-commentary, *Redshirts* turns sci-fi tropes on their head, asking what it means to be alive—even if you’re just a character on a screen.

David Grann

4.2692 learners

Set against the brutal backdrop of the 1740s War of Jenkins’ Ear, *The Wager* tells the harrowing true story of British naval officer David Cheap and his crew aboard the repurposed merchant ship HMS Wager. Tasked with joining Commodore George Anson’s fleet to seize Spanish treasure galleons, the Wager faces catastrophic delays, disease, and the unforgiving fury of Cape Horn—ultimately wrecking on a desolate Patagonian island. Stranded with dwindling supplies, the survivors descend into chaos: hunger, mutiny, and a violent power struggle between Cheap, who clings to his military mission, and gunner John Bulkeley, who pushes for escape. Split into factions, the crew takes separate paths to survival, only to return to Britain years later to face a shocking cover-up. David Grann masterfully unravels the layers of betrayal, resilience, and the British Empire’s desperate effort to erase the messy truths of its colonial ambitions.