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Cover reveal: 'Redshirts' by John Scalzi

• Written by Jeremy Shane on Friday, October 28 2011 and posted in News Archive

Final cover revealed for John Scalzi's new stand alone sci-fi novel: Redshirts

John Scalzi has a new sci-fi stand alone novel headed to us, though with a more humorous angle this time.  You can check out Tor.com for some of the alternate covers that they ended up not going with and for some other info on the book.  Here is the cover blurb:

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It's a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship's Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn't be better...until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship's captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed. Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy belowdecks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues' understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is...and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

Peter Ludjin, cover designer had this to say about his process:

The first image that popped to mind when I read the title Redshirts was of course a red shirt, but I rejected the idea as quickly as I'd thought of it, being disinclined to go with the most obvious solution. And after reading the (fantastic) manuscript I wanted to reflect the cleverness of the plot without giving anything away. But when the first round of comps didn't go over well at a sales meeting and several people suggested a red shirt, I figured it was worth revisiting. A very tight crop on the shirt made for a bold, graphic look, and a custom logo for the organization that the main characters work under gave it the visual interest.

I've seen some saying the cover is a bit boring and they prefer some of the alternates.  The alternates are good, but I think they made the right choice myself.  I don't find it boring at all, it feels more real than seeing pictures of toys or drawings in my opinion.

Redshirts will probably be coming out summer of 2012, but no exact date has been announced yet.



Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded by Tom Doherty in 1980, and sold to St. Martin's Press in 1986. Along with St. Martin's Press, Henry Holt, and Farrar Straus Giroux, it is now part of the Holtzbrinck group, now known as Macmillan Publishers.
Tor has won the Locus Magazine poll for best science fiction publisher every year since 1988.
Tor also publishes more award-winning and -nominated science fiction books (157 as of March 2009) than any other publisher.

Source: Tor.com
Written or Contributed by: Jeremy Shane

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