I just can't bring myself to buy your books any more until you start caring about your characters and settings more than you clearly don't right now. Columbus Day was a fun read, but one that felt a bit too shallow for me to enjoy as much as I would have liked. Also... I'll give you two guesses what the Chinese character's name is. Also... there are only five women, none of them given much to do.

From Outer Space to the Old West to a Post-Apocalyptic Hellscape, R.C. Bray is an expert guide. He is also a narrator. Bray switches settings and characters as seamlessly as a maturated Humphead Wrasse switches sex and color. No matter the genre, whether it be a story about human kindness and barbarism; a combat veteran’s struggle to cope with life at home; or saving the world armed with only a juice box and a snarky beer can, Bray utilizes his extraordinary range and unique vocal differentiation for each character to confuse publishers into thinking his consistent inability to meet a deadline is not only a good thing, but was their idea in the first place. No. I respect the author, and he has written other books I like, and he stated in an interview that was not his best book. The guy had an off day. Or year. Anyway, it worked out well for me! Do you have a fabulous sister? (question submitted by my sister) I am in my sixties and have read literally thousands and thousands of SF books and almost as many short stories. This concluding novel is probably the best final installment I have ever read in SF and among the best of any kind of fiction I have read. Will most readers find some things make them unhappy? Of course. There is no such thing as perfection. Well, except for Skippy the Magnificent, duh. (Also, it is not much of a spoiler to reveal that everyone's favorite sketchy con artist Jeraptha, Captain Scorandum of the ECO is in the book. Along with everyone's favorite Jeraptha aide to Scorandum, Kinsta. Good times.)The books of this series are highly appreciated by readers from around the world. The tremendous success of this series has established Craig Alanson as a prominent author of the science fiction genre. The ebook was available through Kindle Unlimited and the e-audiobook was part of Audible Plus. So essentially I read this for free. means I enjoyed this book and might re-read it at some future date, but I haven't so far. Life is short and there are many books to read.

The only redeeming feature of these last three (horribly boring and off-story books) has been R.C. Bray's narration. If Alanson didn't have R.C. Bray, there'd be no reason to even go after these stories any more.The book felt piecemeal, and there was a lot of fluff added to lengthen the book. It had the same story, the same problem solving, the same characters, everything has stayed the same. Maybe it is I who is different but after starting this series in 2017, it is now 2022 and with 13 books, nothing has changed in the overall plot. Ok fine, humans have starships and blah blah, but the major mysteries are still there: go save the Earth from the evil Kristang (our supposed allies against the Ruhar, but really nasty enslavers).

Caught the first book in this series after seeing a recommendation somewhere. Can't remember where, but bought the book two years ago (Dec 2020) and it sat on my to be read pile. Got around to reading it in February this year and I was hooked. A young-adult fantasy series following a boy with magical abilities as he discovers he is a Wizard. At this point, Bishop and the rest of the humans begin to learn that everything they thought they knew was a lie. Columbus Day has shades of David Brin's Uplift series (which is a very good thing, because Uplift is one of my favorite SF series ever). The Kristang and the Ruhar are both "client" races of more advanced patrons, and their patrons in turn have even more advanced patrons. Almost everyone in the war is just a proxy for a more advanced civilization. Humans are just a bunch of barely-civilized monkeys whose planet happened to be inconveniently in a strategic location at a critical time, and the Ruhar invaded Earth, not because they wanted it, but to deny it to the Kristang. And it turns out, the Ruhar are actually fairly civilized, while the Kristang don't take long to set humans straight on what the "patron-client" relationship means. Now that the rant is over - on a micro-level, the book is cool. It has many funny moments, almost all of our favorite characters are here and at their best, and some jokes and quotes are absolute comedic gold. There is definitive progress of the storyline, the ante is upped again significantly, and there is a definitive feeling of looming ultimate galactic showdown. Skippy has definitely grown as a person, Joe has many new faces, and Captain Skorandum/Lieutenant Kinsta combo is an absolute full-time show material. I really wasn't sure that this was my cup of tea, far too much gung ho american attitude for my delicate British ears and I was dreading that someone would start chanting "USA USA" at any second. I was determined to finish the book and doubted I'd attempt book 2, that was until Skippy appeared.I remember reading an article years ago where Craig Alanson answered some of the common questions he gets about this series. One of those questions was: do you know how this series will end already or are you creating it as you write. His answer was “I already know how the story arcs for Bishop and Skippy will end…” that answer is very fitting after hearing what the ending was. It very much seems like he wrote down a single sentence years ago about how he wanted things to end, and then never expanding upon that one single sentence. The second half was more fun. Our main character, Joe Bishop, has been imprisoned by aliens in a makeshift planetside brig. Here he finds an ancient AI embodied as a beer can. The AI, who Joe dubs Skippy, is a snarky and absent minded asshole with amazing abilities (which it keeps bragging about). It helps Joe and a team of volunteers get off the ironically named planet of Paradise to Joe finds himself leading 70 men in an epic mission around the galaxy. He’s accompanied by Skippy, a belligerent, snarky but ultra-intelligent sentient, who also looks like a beer can. Skippy might be able to help Joe on his mission and so humans everywhere in their hour of need. For my sins I can not give this novel a respectable rating, it didn't fulfill my expectations but overall the series has been magnificent and this final installment has not significantly affected my willingness to recommend the Expeditionary Force novels to anyone looking for science fiction set in our current timeframe with humour and plenty of the fantastic. A space opera [18] describing the events after humanity is thrust into a galactic war following an alien invasion of Earth. The chief protagonists are Joe Bishop, a soldier in the United States Army, and Skippy, an advanced Artificial intelligence from an ancient civilization who befriends Joe.

I am devastated that this series is over. I truly loved it and recommended it madly, without reservations, to anyone who would listen to me. This is because it was a consistent, two books or more a year, series that never took itself too seriously. It’s a comedy first, adventure second, and all around compelling science fiction. It stayed true to its origins, was consistent, and improved with almost every book.There have been discussions with various Hollywood producers and studios. So far, nothing is signed. Everyone who has been through the process tells me it takes a very long time. What is the most important characteristic a writer needs to have? Alanson, basic creative writing approaches--dialogue should move a story forward, characters should drive a story and make the reader care, and just because you think you need to give a thorn in the side to Joe, doesn't mean the thorn has to be the most boring and annoying visit to earth (apparently the most boring and ho-hum planet in your universe). a b "Craig Alanson answers your questions — Ask the Author". goodreads.com . Retrieved December 6, 2021. The characters are well developed and banter has some military lingo. Most of the dialog is on the light side which keeps the story moving and interesting.