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Platoon F #4

Earthlings

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Mission 4 from the hilarious Platoon F comedy series!

After their last mission, the Segnal Space Marine Corps (SSMC) saw the value of the GONE Drive. The ability to move through space in a blink of an eye would be highly appealing to any military body, but specifically to Rear Admiral Parfait who has a bit of a thing for military bodies.

Parfait sets a mission in place where The SSMC Reluctant must go to one of the planets that they briefly landed on during their last mission: Earth. Parfait sees the opportunity to...probe another society of human-like creatures and possibly build relations with them. Furthermore, and much to Captain Don Harr's chagrin, Parfait has put in for a title change to Senior Diplomat so that he can join the crew!

Chief Engineer Geezer has supposedly fixed the issues with the GONE Drive, even to the point of giving it a version number of 2.0, but it turns out that what he really did was inadvertently put in the ability for time travel.

Follow the crew as they hit the Middle Ages, the Mesozoic era, the 1940s, and 2400s of Earth.

What will they learn, and will it even be worth it?

87 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 7, 2014

10 people are currently reading
22 people want to read

About the author

John P. Logsdon

142 books317 followers
John P. Logsdon is a former game designer, producer, and software engineer who shamelessly digs into the deep recesses of his mind to bring forth oddball characters and hilarious plots. He writes primarily in fantasy, urban fantasy, and science fiction, but he's also dabbled in cozy mystery from time to time. To see John's vast library of laughs, visit www.johnplogsdon.com.

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5 stars
32 (41%)
4 stars
28 (35%)
3 stars
12 (15%)
2 stars
4 (5%)
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2 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Christopher.
1,282 reviews45 followers
October 2, 2018
Time travel and gay jokes.

These little novellas tend to offer an interesting premise which then get bogged down in lazy humor...here, the crew of the reluctant discover time travel and end up on Earth during its witch-burning phase and then they quickly flip to the 1950s and end up in Area-51.

These are decent premises that present above-average starting points but never really get moving as they invariably devolve into a series of sex/gay sex/boner jokes that are utterly independent of the "main" plot that they become their own thing.

These little stories end before they begin because Logsdon spends so much time on his needless gutter humor before just "majicking" away his protagonists. There's STILL potential here....but I'm increasingly skeptical....
Profile Image for Krystyna.
5,134 reviews55 followers
December 28, 2019
Time and space are just a numbers game

A much better read than the previous book. However the crew has now been charged with going to Earth. There's just one small problem. There drive takes them into the past. A past that has witch hunts and when one of the crew members is captured they have to pull together to get her out. With their Rear Admiral as Diplomat they hit a few snags. More jumps, dinosaurs (that give Geezer a clue as to what went wrong), a military base and then a jump but into the future where they are hailed as heros. What's waiting for them now?
80 reviews
October 22, 2017
Once again the crew of The Reluctant takes a journey into the far reaches of the universe. In this adventure they race through both time and space.

If you're looking for some light and quirky science fiction, read this series. It doesn't get overly complicated with technological terms nor does it take itself too seriously.

Sometimes, with all the heavy, serious books out there stories like this one can be a welcome break.
Profile Image for Shhhhh Ahhhhh.
846 reviews25 followers
November 3, 2018
So Segnel Prime was Earth. No surprise there. That the instant transmission machine is also a time machine, again, no surprises there. Fascinating that we didn't see any real consequences of that time travel. Excited to read this last Platoon F book in the future!
68 reviews1 follower
April 5, 2019
Two-part story

You need to read the book before this one to follow the story. So far this is the only book that's not a standalone Mission. I still love it. I love all the stop that relates to other shows especially the red shirts
Profile Image for Trevor.
1,454 reviews2 followers
December 19, 2021
Platoon F find themselves on another mission, this time sent to explore a world called Earth. As usual Geezer's new tech does not work as required and the team find themselves time traveling. Quick story that has the team stumbling along in there usual haphazard way.
25 reviews
February 16, 2017
Wonderfully juvenile story. A humorous tale of a diplomatic mission to Earth of various eras. Very much worth the read.
Profile Image for Pam Bales.
2,545 reviews12 followers
October 26, 2019
Interesting little series. Funny and a quick read. Almost done with the next in the series. I've enjoyed them all.
Profile Image for Bonnie Dale Keck.
4,677 reviews58 followers
February 25, 2018
Have read many reviews of different books that give outline of the story, but this is Logsdon and t it's not really something one could do when it's {Terry} Pratchett meets {Douglas} Adams meets Monty Python meets Red Dwarf meets Star Trek meets Doctor Who meets Twilight Zone/Outer Limits/Night Gallery.... Realized at end of the Pentalogy that there are 2 of 'them', writers, so guess 2 peas in an...alien pod.... Their 'issues' have 'issues', and sincerely suggest that they both seem professional help...after a couple or more...sets/series. The only caveat is to not stop at book 2, it is by far the weakest and seems a bit out of place, but even Logsdon said 2 was not all he had wanted it to be. There are more than 5 total and got those to read as well. Sci-Fi fans that also like things mixed with humor or humour should definitely like these. In other news, it is quite possible that Logsdon has taken too many hockey puck shots to the head but still....

Liberating the Package is the prequel to the madness that follows, listed below in order, may only be available through his site, but would be freebie.
Platoon F: Pentalogy set is first 5 {novellas so don't get confused with numbering/may say .#}
Mission 1: The SSMC Reluctant
Mission 2: Angry Robots
Mission 3: The SSMC Voyeur
Mission 4: Earthlings
Mission 5: Synthetic DNA
Warped Conduit (Platoon F Book 6)
Kidnap on Fantasy Planet (Platoon F Book 7)
Platoon F: Veli Unveiled (Platoon F Book 8)
Platoon F: The Search for Veli (Platoon F Book 9) now out at Amazon, Goodreads, and all finer truckstop bookstores near you! *VAT at The End of the Universe gift shop

Warning: subject matter not suitable for the young, small pets, and anyone without a warped sense of humor.
25 reviews
February 16, 2017
More madcap adventures with Captain Harris and the Platoon F crew. This time back to Earth but which era?
Profile Image for Carole O'Brien.
211 reviews7 followers
September 17, 2016
This time Captain Harr and his crew discover planet Earth and go to on a Diplomatic Journey to meet with the Earthlings, see if they can discover new technologies, share information about culture , so they still have the Gone Drive, which takes them any where in the universe just by touching a button and entering in co-ordinates, things go a awry when they end up time travelling into the medieval age, then even further back in time, then they end up to far into the future, each time they arrive in a different time, they end up with a whole heap of new problems to deal with.
This is a very funny book, since Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy I have not found another Sci-fi series that makes me laugh out loud in so many different places, this series I am happy to say made me laugh as much as the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy did as have the other books I have read in this series so far, I am now 45 years of age and you do not get many books that give you a true belly laugh, but I am pleased to say this series does, this is the 4th book in the series.
Profile Image for Bonnie Dale Keck.
4,677 reviews58 followers
March 5, 2017
Liberating the Package is the prequel to the madness that follows, listed below in order, may only be available through his site, but would be freebie.

Platoon F: Pentalogy set is first 5

Mission 1: The SSMC Reluctant
Mission 2: Angry Robots
Mission 3: The SSMC Voyeur
Mission 4: Earthlings
Mission 5: Synthetic DNA
also available
Warped Conduit (Platoon F Book 6)
Kidnap on Fantasy Planet (Platoon F Book 7)
Platoon F: Veli Unveiled (Platoon F Book 8)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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