The sequel to ‘Columbus Day’. Colonel Joe Bishop made a promise and he’s going to keep it; taking the captured alien starship Flying Dutchman back out. He doesn’t agree when the UN decides to send almost 70 elite Special Operations troops, hotshot pilots and scientists with him; the mission is a fool’s errand he doesn’t expect to ever return. At least, this time, the Earth is safe, right?Not so … right?
Not so much.
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I was really torn on my thoughts of this book when I finished it. On the positive side, I enjoyed the characters, the universe building and the storyline was pretty good. The back and forth between the characters was fun, at the beginning, but by the end was tiring. On the not so good side, as I just mentioned one of the main characters calls the rest of the characters a name, over and over and over. It gets tiring. There is also too much banter between two of the characters. It almost seems like filler at some points. One of the main characters apparently has almost omnipotent abilities, so that no matter how dire the situation, this being can get them out of it (including rebuilding a space ship by himself). So, I did read it all and actually liked a lot of it so I gave it four stars (3.5 was probably closer to the mark).
I received a free audiobook copy of this book. Receiving the book for free did not influence my opinion in this review.
Holy cow. Expeditionary Force is my Favorite audiobook series so far. Craig Alanson has a formula for this series. Earth is in danger. Joe and his ancient alien artificial intelligence sidekick, Skippy (yes, freaking Skippy.) have to figure out how to save Earth. The plan is executed, something goes wrong. Hi-jinks ensue. Sprinkle in some juvenile antics by Skippy as he explores his fledgling sentience and by Joe because…he’s Joe.
At the start of this book, Joe has returned home with his “merry band of pirates” and saved the day. Now he has set out on a one way trip to the stars to help Skippy find the ancient AI collective. Everybody who has come on this mission knows it is probably one way because once Skippy finds the Collective and leaves the ship, the crew won’t have a way to open the wormhole to get home to Earth.
First off, while you could read or listen to these books individually and out of order, you are going to miss out on the character development. Most of what I love about this series is Skippy’s development into a fully fleshed out sentience. He is gradually becoming more of a complete being and not just a computer program. Joe grows also, as he shoulders more and more responsibility in determining the fate of not just Earth but of all of humanity.
The writing is hysterical. Just silly humor as the reader gets to see the authentic friendship developing between Joe and Skippy. But RC Bray as a performer is a rare treat in an audiobook reader. His narration and comedic timing had me rolling on the floor laughing. Do not listen to any book in this series while driving or doing anything that requires coordination.
While the book itself I’d give a 3.5-ish score (it’s a good book, but it is a much better audiobook) I wholeheartedly give the audio performance 5 stars which averages out to 4 stars for the audiobook. I’m not going to guarantee that everyone will love it. But if you like snarky AI’s you probably will love Skippy.