Howdy - just a little PSA. This series is great if you're looking for an audio book or a fun read. Aliens show up on earth and humans get roped into a galactic war.

And yes humans are technology challenged and have to rely on aliens. Theres a ton of witty banter and good combat. If you enjoy fly by the seat of your pants actions and dumb luck you'll get a kick out of this series.

Currently releasing the 10th book August 4th with 3 more to follow.

If you like audio books I highly recommend. Narrator is RC Bray.

Edit - poor spelling and grammar from phone

I've read the entire series to date, they're pretty good books. Light reading, good banter, good story. As with most series, they can get a bit stale with so many books, but these are still good.

kb2001 said:

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I've read the entire series to date, they're pretty good books. Light reading, good banter, good story. As with most series, they can get a bit stale with so many books, but these are still good.

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Yeah, I've enjoyed the audiobook versions, though as you said, the later books can get a bit more repetitive.

I absolutely hated the way the newest book, Valkyrie, ended though. I really felt he threw away a ton of character development. Hopefully the next one will redeem it.

The side series, Mavericks, is also solid.

If you liked Expeditionary Force, check out the Omega Force series as well as the Old Man's War series if you hadn't read those.

edit - The Galaxy's Edge series is another good one in a similar vein.

tamusc said:

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kb2001 said:

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I've read the entire series to date, they're pretty good books. Light reading, good banter, good story. As with most series, they can get a bit stale with so many books, but these are still good.

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Yeah, I've enjoyed the audiobook versions, though as you said, the later books can get a bit more repetitive.

I absolutely hated the way the newest book, Valkyrie, ended though. I really felt he threw away a ton of character development. Hopefully the next one will redeem it.

The side series, Mavericks, is also solid.

If you liked Expeditionary Force, check out the Omega Force series as well as the Old Man's War series if you hadn't read those.

edit - The Galaxy's Edge series is another good one in a similar vein.

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Yeah, I am currently on Old Man's War. Really good.

As much as I hated the ending, it really has me excited to see what happens with the next book as it really slapped you in the face. This may result in the ultimate form of humility for that little guy. I don't want to get into specifics b/c of spoilers. We shall see.

I feel like the second Mavericks book drug on a little too long but I have about 4 more chapters left.

Narrator R.C Bray does a good job on The Martian by Andy Weir too.

If this is an ExForce and Galaxy's Edge stan thread I'm all in. RC definitely takes both (at least GE season 1) to the next level, the guy is amazing and I hope he gets a shot at ExForce's next platform as Skippy.

The GE community gets to engage with the authors very frequently - and if you do they even spread around some free Audible credits if you can leave a review.

**** WARNING - SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*****

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED ALL BOOKS CURRENTLY RELEASED FOR EXPEDITIONARY FORCE







So - What do you guys expect to happen in the next book? I feel that Skippy will try to contact the Rindahlu and Maxolx (can't spell) to try and get everyone working together. We already know those two species have their own Elder AI, but we don't know how in bed they are with them. Obviously Skippy will get turned down and likely attacked. He'll just blink them out of existence and move on.

On a side note - I would love to see Skippy take control of a sentinal to guard earth eventually. Maybe he'll realize monkeys aren't so bad.

Now, what happens with Joe and the crew of Valkrie? I don't think Skippy will come back too soon due to pride and also the fact that the sub-mind we have all come to love/hate is not his main personality. I think we'll see Skippy fight an internal battle with his sub-mind eventually coming back and taking over.

I think Joe gets abducted and tortured by the Thuranin but is saved by Perkins w/ the help of the Jeraptha.

I am stuck on what will happen to the crew of Valkrie since that AI is trying to kill them. Maybe Nagatha has one last act up her sleeve that takes the AI and herself out while saving the crew. The only problem is the crew can't pilot the ship without her or Skippy's help.


Alright, nerds... let's see what you think.

A series that was recommended to be from a guy at work is the Bobiverse. I've read the first 1.5 books and they remind me of Expeditionary forces. It has the same funny/light-hearted military sci-fi feel.

92Ag95 said:

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Narrator R.C Bray does a good job on The Martian by Andy Weir too.

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Unfortunately, Audible recently replaced the RC Bray version of the Martian with a Wil Wheaton version.

I seem to remember that humans are very similar to the Elders and it's possible we're descendants of a faction that broke off. I'm hoping that Skippy comes back in the nick of time.

I was so pissed with the complete aboutface of the ******* beercan that I literally gave zero thought to what comes next and said I will wait for reviews before I read the next one. I know he essentially became a new character when he connected to his full memory, but damn, it really felt like they threw away all of his character development to serve a ridiculous cliffhanger.

Quad Dog said:

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A series that was recommended to be from a guy at work is the Bobiverse. I've read the first 1.5 books and they remind me of Expeditionary forces. It has the same funny/light-hearted military sci-fi feel.

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Read and listened to all three Bobiverse books and really enjoyed them.

Yeah, the GE authors are really interactive on FB. They've also done a nice job with partnering with other authors for the various GE spinoff series to flesh out the GE universe more. I like the change of pace/flair each author brings to their particular spinoff.

tamusc said:

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I was so pissed with the complete aboutface of the ******* beercan that I literally gave zero thought to what comes next and said I will wait for reviews before I read the next one. I know he essentially became a new character when he connected to his full memory, but damn, it really felt like they threw away all of his character development to serve a ridiculous cliffhanger.

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Haha I actually kind of liked it. Really has me chomping at the bits to hear more about the history of the Elders & galaxy. That being said, the Skippy we all know will come back. He's not over. This will be his biggest internal struggle ever and we will likely see some great character development.

Remember - the Skippy we know is just a sub-mind created to interact with monkeys and is being over powered by his main mind. I think the sub-mind will be fighting to come back and take over the beercan. (I hope)

That's fair and despite my bluster, I'll still buy the next damn book on release day, lol

Happy Critical Mass day!!

It would happen on an extremely busy workday that actually requires focus... ugh

I'm listening to Valkyrie again just to make sure I can hit it in stride - but knowing the end of Valkyrie already has me antsy!

Just about done with book four of the Ember War series (really solid so far!) and then I'll get started on Critical Mass.

Skippy better get his **** together!

I just finished book 10. I read this one really fast. It was really good. I'll leave it at that. On mobile and can't do hide spoilers.

Finished yesterday and found the book to be great. Wish there was a little more space action but what can you do.

Looking forward to see where the next book takes us!

Was curious so I checked it out.

Yeah, already had the first two and read them three years ago apparently. I have absolutely zero recollection of even owning them much less reading them. That is the problem when you consume so much of the "cheaper" sci fi Amazon has to offer. It all blurs together.

Even better! You get to experience the first two all over again. I highly recommend the audible version if you like audiobooks.

V8Aggie said:

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Finished yesterday and found the book to be great. Wish there was a little more space action but what can you do.

Looking forward to see where the next book takes us!

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Yep, I ended up enjoying it despite my reservations after the ending of the previous book.

He essentially retconned Skippy leaving, but the way he ended it kind of sets up similar directions that the previous book could have gone. It's like he wrote the previous book with only an outline for this one, then realized it didn't fit yet and needed to push the originally intended story arc back a book or two. I thought it was a bit of a cop out how Skippy coming back was handled and there was definitely a bit of Deus Ex Skippina. Despite that though, I enjoyed it, thought it rambled less than the last few, and ended at an interesting place for the next one that felt more true to the characters

And now back to burning through the Ember War series.

tamusc said:

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V8Aggie said:

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Finished yesterday and found the book to be great. Wish there was a little more space action but what can you do.

Looking forward to see where the next book takes us!

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Yep, I ended up enjoying it despite my reservations after the ending of the previous book.

He essentially retconned Skippy leaving, but the way he ended it kind of sets up similar directions that the previous book could have gone. It's like he wrote the previous book with only an outline for this one, then realized it didn't fit yet and needed to push the originally intended story arc back a book or two. I thought it was a bit of a cop out how Skippy coming back was handled and there was definitely a bit of Deus Ex Skippina. Despite that though, I enjoyed it, thought it rambled less than the last few, and ended at an interesting place for the next one that felt more true to the characters

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I am not a fan of how Skippy was brought back. I feel like this would have been a great moment for Skippy to do a little soul searching which would ultimately lead back to the merry band of pirates. I know that's what he said happened, but I would prefer it took a little longer and for us to actually read about it. Maybe a chance for a short side book? That would work. I love how Bishop introduced himself & Valkyrie to the Alien Legion.

One last thing- I would have preferred the original AI of Valkyrie over Bilby. It would have been fun to see that AI but heads with Skippy and perhaps jettison his escape pod for ****s and giggles. We'll see.

V8Aggie said:

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tamusc said:

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V8Aggie said:

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Finished yesterday and found the book to be great. Wish there was a little more space action but what can you do.

Looking forward to see where the next book takes us!

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Yep, I ended up enjoying it despite my reservations after the ending of the previous book.

He essentially retconned Skippy leaving, but the way he ended it kind of sets up similar directions that the previous book could have gone. It's like he wrote the previous book with only an outline for this one, then realized it didn't fit yet and needed to push the originally intended story arc back a book or two. I thought it was a bit of a cop out how Skippy coming back was handled and there was definitely a bit of Deus Ex Skippina. Despite that though, I enjoyed it, thought it rambled less than the last few, and ended at an interesting place for the next one that felt more true to the characters

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I am not a fan of how Skippy was brought back. I feel like this would have been a great moment for Skippy to do a little soul searching which would ultimately lead back to the merry band of pirates. I know that's what he said happened, but I would prefer it took a little longer and for us to actually read about it. Maybe a chance for a short side book? That would work. I love how Bishop introduced himself & Valkyrie to the Alien Legion.

One last thing- I would have preferred the original AI of Valkyrie over Bilby. It would have been fun to see that AI but heads with Skippy and perhaps jettison his escape pod for ****s and giggles. We'll see.

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I too would have liked for there to be some kind of longer path back for Skippy. The way I justified it for myself was that all of that happened very quickly in meat sack time, but took forever in Skippy time. I agree some kind of short story where he explored other options for saving the galaxy besides working with dirty monkeys and then realized working with Joe was the best way forward with the whole thing taking place in a very short amount of meat sack time would be fun.

Really liked how the Merry Band of Pirates and Mavericks finally met up. Looking forward to Perkins and Bishop working together.

I also thought the Maxhulx ship AI would have been a better story, especially after Simms had essentially convinced it to help. Don't get me wrong, Bilby is kind of funny as a concept to annoy Skippy, but I think the Maxhulx AI could have been a better option due to the interesting directions that could go. Like having the ship AI help free other Maxhulx AIs to assist in the fight or something.

I noticed this thread 2 weeks ago. I'm on book 7 now, should finish up the series next week. It's a fun read. I don't often laugh out loud while reading, but that happens with each of these books.

EMY92 said:

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I noticed this thread 2 weeks ago. I'm on book 7 now, should finish up the series next week. It's a fun read. I don't often laugh out loud while reading, but that happens with each of these books.

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You've gone through book 7 in two weeks? If so holy **** lol

I have no life, so I read a lot.

Haha fair enough. No judgment here!

Also - you should find some clips of RC Bray narrating Skippy to give you an idea of what he sounds like! Just make sure they're older clips.

I have two questions after books 9 & 10.

After they captured the kitties ship(s). Why did they not upgrade their space suit armor and weaponry?

Lack of enough resources and difficulty adapting it to human physiology that doesn't have integrated neural interfaces like the Maxhulx have. Skippy has already upgraded the software to well beyond what even the Maxhulx could do with the hardware.