Wow. I almost don't know how to talk about this. What the hell was this book about? Well, if anyone has ever seen an episode of Star Trek, especially the original series, they you may have noticed a scenario something like this: 
 Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and another crewman beam down to an alien world. It appears peaceful, mundane, just another day exploring strange new worlds. Then, out of nowhere, something happens - a lizard creature attacks, a neglected laser weapon in the bushes misfires, underground spider-moles attack... whatever it is, when the dust settles, someone in the crew is dead. 
 Of course, that someone, always, without exception, is that poor crewman that came down with Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Since the show was shot in color, a new thing at the time, all the colors of the rainbow were represented. As it turned out, that random person that died, was always wearing a red shirt. 
 It quickly became a joke, if you ever find yourself stuck inside an episode of Star Trek, don't wear a red shirt. 
 Well, Scalzi played out a brilliant idea, what if all those poor ensigns were paying attention? They all knew it was a death sentence to go on an away mission with the bridge crew. 
 In this novel, we get a pretty fun look at a very philosophical question, one that some people take relatively seriously today. Are we real? If we weren't, what would the universe really be like? 
 I would have given this five stars, but the execution of this concept, while really good, isn't quite perfect. The fact that these characters live in an illogical universe makes it hard for the characters to come up with a plan that makes sense, because logical plans don't really mean much here. So, we get some hard to follow plot points. 
 Still, this book is funny, and it has heart. Scalzi is one creative guy, and his three codas are, well, again, really creative. I can't recall seeing a novel structured this way before. Ever. 
 A great read.