Homefront

Expeditionary Force #7.5

by Craig Alanson, Zachary Quinto (Narrator), R.C. Bray (Narrator)

A full-cast performance of a thrilling new episode in the New York Times best-selling Expeditionary Force series.

After the latest mission of the starship Flying Dutchman, Earth is safe not just for a year, but for hundreds of years. The ship’s weary crew wonders what they will do with their lives in peacetime, but the enemy has other plans, and there is danger on the Homefront.

Starring Zachary Quinto, R.C. Bray, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, and everyone's favorite AI, Skippy the Magnificent, alongside a full cast. Includes plenty of pew-pew-pew, original sound composition, and maybe some singing by R.C. Bray.

Produced by Odd Origin Media and Dagaz Media
Executive Producer Greg Lawrence
Story by Craig Alanson
Script by Craig Alanson and Jack Bowman
Talent Director William Dufris
Sound Director Fred Greenhalgh
Associate Producer Casey Turner
Dialogue edited by Jack Bowman
Sound design by Jamie Mahaffey/The Mix Room and O'Shea Creative Media
Music by Jeroen Grommen

Full cast includes Zachary Quinto, R.C. Bray, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, Peter Berkrot, Kym Dakin, Bill Dufris, Corey Gagne, Nimo Gandhi, Emily Grotz, Dalton S. Kimball, Austin Ku, Daniel Logan, John Dalton Logan, PJ Ochlan, Lisa Renee Pitts, Christopher Price, Michael Rafkin, Lisa Stathoplos, Casey Turner, Jennywren Walker, Marjolaine Whittlesey, Ashanti Williams, Jonathan Woodward, and Collin Young.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Space Opera, Military Fiction, Space, Aliens

6 pages, Audible Audio

First published June 18, 2019

About the author

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My Bio:
Craig Alanson used to create financial reports for a large IT services company. Writing fiction at nights and on weekends, he finally independently published three novels on Amazon. Within 6 months of his first ebook release, he was able to quit his day job and pursue a full-time writing career.

The breakout success of Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force, Book 1) reached new heights when Podium Audio released it in audio format, narrated by Audie Award Winner R.C. Bray. The Columbus Day audiobook was a huge hit, and a finalist for an Audie Award as Audiobook of the Year.

The ExForce series, as it is known to fans, has gone on to 10 books/audiobooks, many of which have hit the NYT best-seller list, with a 11th book releasing June 2021 and 14 books planned.

Craig has also published a spin-off series, ExForce: Mavericks; an ExForce audio drama, Homefront; a fantasy trilogy, Ascendent; and a young adult space opera, Aces. Craig lives in Virginia with his wife, who loves him even though he perpetually refuses to clean the garage.

Reviews

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story/plot was very good, but the excessive background noises and music were distracting.

[Carl Knecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE: This review is of the first recorded version. Since then, the producers have revamped the recording and addressed some of the sound quality issues. This review does not reflect the revamped recording.
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There are many who are confused by this, so I feel I have to break it down, Barney style. Let's first start with the fact that this isn't an audiobook. It's a drama special. If you go into this with the understanding that this is more like a radio drama and not a book being read to you, then you would be correct. Not sure why some monkeys are having a hard time understanding that this isn't a book, but there you go.

The Good: Well, it's another ExForce story, and R.C. Bray is involved. If you've made it all the way up to this point of the series, you already know generally what to expect. If you thought this would be a great jumping on point for this series, you'd be seriously mistaken. Also, Podium is trying out something new with this audio drama. We have to given them credit for that. I think generally their work show promise, and would consider listening to their future audio dramas if it lines up with my interests.

The Bad: To be fair, some of the audio choices weren't the best. Especially at the beginning, some of the background audio was distracting music where is should (in my opinion) have been more ambiance noise. That seemed to thankfully taper down as the drama moved forward, but then pops up jarringly a few times later. Also, the over-dramatic voice work to emphasize action was ... well, over-dramatic.

The Meh: I guess I have to say this... I don't think they used all the guest actors to their full potential. I think the work that Zachary Quinto did was good. Kate Mulgrew was a daring choice for Nagatha, but with little voice change, it didn't pay off for me. It sounded too much like Captain Janeway, not like an old British woman... er, AI. The voice actor playing Smythe didn't quite do it for me. And Adams, while I think cast well, doesn't giggle as much as portrayed I think.

When I go through the series again, I'll listen to it. It wasn't offensive, but it wasn't the best. Will I go out of my way to specifically listen to this? Not likely. This was decent enough, any my six hours weren't wasted.

[Anoop Alla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full cast somehow made this so much more annoying to listen to, unnecessary sound effects that detract from a middling story.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love this series and I was excited to listen to a full cast perform a dramatic reading. I was disappointed.

First, the mixer should be fired. Some of the voices were echo-y, distant when the story didn't call for them to be distant. Sometimes the music was so loud and I couldn't hear the words. Granted, I listen mostly in the car, on my long commute, and the book is competing with road noise.

I didn't like the gravely, guttural Kristang voices. Sure it was good dramatic effect but it was PAINFUL to listen too. Yuck! Tone it down. Sound effects, with no words, were often long and I had no idea what was going on. Breathing, screaming, grunting, explosions... it was too much, it just hurt my ears. Tell me what is going on. It didn't add to the story because you didn't know what the effect meant.

The story was good but Skippy was beyond the annoying asshole. It wasn't funny anymore. It was unpleasant. He got so painfully annoying at times I had to stop and listen to something else.

I did love Kate Mulgrew as Nagatha. R. C. Bray did a great job as always. I didn't like the portrayal of Smythe. The voice and inflection didn't come close to how I imagined him. Maybe that is just me? I also couldn't wrap my head around Margaret Adams performance. There is supposed to be a spark between her and Bishop. I didn't feel there was any affection there, at all, on her part.

If you love the series, you must listen. But this was one of those books I was happy when it was over.

[Todd Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Homefront was a very fast paced and exciting audio drama! Lots of alien butt kicking action and even more laughs, mostly from the two artificial intelligences. The story was great, but I want to talk more about the cast in this review. Phenomenal cast! Kate Mulgrew is one of my absolute favorite female narrators and I live her as an actress as well. Zachary Quinton is another actor I really like and love his narration skills! Robert Picardo is always fun to listen to. All three of those people are actors from Star Trek. The producers felt that RC Bray was a big enough name to include his picture on the cover with those three! Of course, they are absolutely correct. The other three weren't even the main character. That was RC Bray. That just goes to show what an outstanding talent this man is. If you've never listened to him narrate, I highly recommend that you do! Bray actually plays two characters in this, but the AI, Skippy the Magnificent, was absolutely hilarious! You even get to hear him sing! And having Kate Mulgrew as the other AI, Nagatha, was just perfect!

Oh, don't stop the book when you think it's done. I was wondering why I hadn't heard "Audible hopes you've enjoyed this program" when it was over. Well, it wasn't over. Skippy had a few more things to say lol.

[Shernell Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skippy needs to stop singing!!! God damn opera?

I thought I was going to love the fullcast more than the one narrator.

This is a comedy seriously.I laugh so hard, I love it. I love the interaction with everyone. The voice actors were perfect.And just so good. Skippy was mean than usual.

Why the government, acting like a little b**** to Joe. Joe literally saved the whole universe. Okay, not the universe but the planet. hello.......? They need to start paying my man and also give him some respect.

One thing I dislike about myself is that I'm such a romantic girl that I need more of Joe and Margaret's relationship.

This is my second drama narration, and I did not love it, but I didn't regret it either. However I spend too much money on it though. There was a particular voice that Narrated Smite, and he sounds so good. But no one can top R.C. Ray. Perfection to my ears.

[Abby Goldsmith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ughhhh. I'm enjoying this series, but full-cast audio productions are rarely my cup of tea. This one was particularly bad. They inserted way too many cheesy sound effects. It sounded like a 1930s radio drama. Why?

[Chip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I give this 4 stars, I have to expound upon the rating.

I've loved this whole series, and this is another good installment. I embraced the format, though I had to adapt -- it was like listening to a movie. The performances were great, too; RC Bray did his usual phenomenal job portraying Skippy and Joe. Kate Mulgrew was an interesting choice for Nagatha, but... Kate Mulgrew!!!

HOWEVER, I was extremely disappointed with the production. The audio quality was awful. Many scenes were hard to hear what was going on. I don't know what the producers were going for, but the whole thing sounded like crap. Just because the characters are talking with a helmet on, doesn't mean I have to experience that muffled sound.

At the very end when the credits were given, there were soundbites of the performers doing their bits without the over-processed audio. Those snippets and outtakes sounded so much better than the final production. If they would have just lessened the audio processing, it would have been so much better!

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know Craig Alanson has mixed feelings on how this came out. He's talked about it a bit. The plot in this one was definitely a B story, but I knew that going in so I was fine with it. And I'm not opposed to more produced & elaborate audio books & podcasts that have multiple voice actors / narrators, sound effects, music, etc, but the music in this thing was just over-the-top, mind-boggling, head-scratchingly bizarre at times. I mean, for the first half of this thing they were legit playing circus music you'd hear at a traveling carnival every single time Joe & Skippy were talking. There are no words.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun listen, but different as a result of the format change. The reader creates personalities in his head and when something such as individual actors are introduced after that creation takes place sometimes things don't match up. Although Homefront was an enjoyable listen, it was different and therefore lost some of its appeal.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

July 2023
Ugh. The second time thru this, I realise it was way overdone. I didn't much care for the casting because they were so over the top. I did like the battle scenes but seriously that new Special Ops team auditioning to be STARS was terrible, every single actor. PJ Ochlan as Smythe was great in that he took a somewhat average-to-bad script and made it moderately entertaining. Probably the thing I liked most was the way Joe came across. He wasn't the dumb-dumb as he usually is portrayed. What I did like - and what contributed to Joe sounding like he did - was the way RC Bray was able to play off the other actors. He made Joe a lot more relatable and believable as a regular guy. This time Joe was confident, cool under pressure, and a strong leader. The only thing I didn't like about his performance was the way he giggled with Adams.

Who, by the way, was terrible! She was not the way I've heard her portrayed in the past at all. I think the actor closest to the actual character (besides Joe, Smythe and Skippy) was Jennifer Sims. Beyond that, basically everybody was sub-par. Nagatha was awful. Where was the sweet old auntie with the elderly voice? She'd never have used the language written here and she never would have sounded anything like Janeway. Sorry Kate Mulgrew but you were decidedly not the actor for that role.

I will say that billing Zachary Quinto highly was a good move. His character was well done and didn't have any previous voicing with which to compare, so he sounded more natural. Honestly a lot of actors make terrible voice actors, so this was refreshing. Sorry (not sorry).

Actually, all of the writing was honestly pretty substandard. Too many cliches, the humor was somewhat forced, and the overuse of f-bombs. They were probably trying to simulate the way military guys talk but this was parody, not typical Ex Force. Not funny, definitely not clever or smart. Where was the quick, dry wit from Smythe? Not what I've come to expect from Alanson at all. Making it even worse is that I come from a family of people who all worked at "The Base" or "The Field," aka Wright Patterson Air Force Base! I'd knock this down to 2 stars but will leave it at 3 because I apparently liked it the first time. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm re-reading (listening to) the series again and I already know things get a lot more serious in the next several books. Thank goodness because if I were deciding right now to move on after this one, I'd just quit. I know publishers wouldn't allow it, but probably the best move here is just to do away with this installment. It does the entire series no favors.

June 2020"The very finest in Kristang opera! They're very proud of it. Other cultures use it as a form of torture." (Skippy)
"I'm headed to mechanical to find a drill bit to drive through my temple." (Joe)

This was fun! I didn't really care for all the scenes with the Kristang on their ship, but the action scenes were entertaining. I think all things considered, RC Bray is absolutely brilliant.

The credits are priceless.

[Robert Way · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like Craig Allison. I like this series. This was a terrible book. Nothing happens to advance the overall story. The villains are dull. The dialogue, especially between the soldiers is awful. Just a bad book.

[Daniel Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this was really hurt by being turned into a 'radio drama'. Rather than having a narrator moving the story along and taking care of the 'light lifting', it was forced to have the characters narrate themselves. This led to a lot of weirdness with characters having to say things like "I'm jumping!", and combat scenes feeling like an elementary school play, especially with the Kristang regularly calling out phrases from a short list of 'fighting words'.

Having read the previous books, I'm used to Skippy acting immature. What I wasn't expecting was having EVERY character suddenly acting like a Middle School student. This was most obvious with the special forces units. (One "commando" from this elite unit being told how to make friends by buying the other guys drinks, another ordering 'sparkling water and popcorn' at the bar...?) Joe's "love interest" getting super angry at him for a "daytime tv drama" mixup, etc.

It even comes complete with an after-school special lesson of Skippy learning a true lesson about friendship.

[Chris Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh god. What can I say. I would cross oceans and deserts to hear Joe and Skippy bickering and making fools of each other and thank RC Bray for being these two voices in this dramatization. But but but... why is there music playing behind Skippy all the time? Only Skippy. No one else. It's really off-putting. It took me ages to work out what Brock's hand clapping and clicking was too then THAT WAS ALL I COULD HEAR IN MY MIND.

Also - Aliens with stupid croaky evil voices almost made me stop listening every time one of their chapters started.

The story isn't anything special either, pretty much a by-the-numbers Expeditionary Force tale. Should be 2/5... but something tells me I want to listen to it again.

[Dee Haddrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

ETA: I’ve changed this to 5 stars on my second listen because the recording was changed to make the speech much easier to understand

I’ve given this 4 stars for two reasons - 1. the story is as awesome as always; 2. RC Bray really knocked it out of the park with his acting ability! However, I did have a major problem with this one and it’s purely that it was just so noisy! So many people talking over each other, and half the time I didn’t know who was talking. I like the idea of the Audio Drama with many narrators, I just think the noise could have been toned down a bit.

[Keith Kavanagh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Heh..heh you are not going to like this.

I am no longer reading anything from this author to put a book in a series even a novella that has to be audio only after 8 books of reading is such garbage and has created so much frustration to me I hope they just stop writing all together. Loved every book till this point. will NEVER read anything from this horrible excuse for an author ever again.

[Rumfuddle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow this was a painful listen at times, far too much dialogue was drowned out by wizz bang special effects not to mention long battle scenes that mainly consisted of loud aaaahhhs and grunts.

Thank Skippy for RC Bray who as usual voiced our favourite AI brilliantly and Kate Mulgrew who made a marvelous Nagatha.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOMEFRONT is an audio drama sidestory to the EXPEDITIONARY FORCE series by Craig Alanson. This is marked as 7.5 in the series and a side story but it is something that is a vital to the storytelling of the series. Seriously, if you attempt to pick up Book 8# without listening to this then you won't understand a thing of what is going on and a lot of references will go by you completely.

This is a lot like if Michael Bay made a Expeditionary Force movie with a lot less focus on crazy plans and Skippy's miracles (indeed, Skippy makes fun of a Elon Musk-type for not being able to come up with crazy plans for way too much of the book). There's, instead, a lot more focus on big epic battles and action sequences. It's kind of funny because it's implied this is Skippy's attempt at making a dramatization of their adventures.

The acting is great with Kate Mulgrew doing a fantastic job as Nagatha. My only regret is the periods where the AI are slurring their speech that sound like nails on a chalkboard.

[Annabell Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, it's not my favorite, but not the worst. It was so immersive and made all the alien stuff and battle so much easier to follow.
I feel like some of the voice actors were a little bit cringe with some of the lines. Some of the lines were supposed to be more authoritative, but the voice actor sounded anime dub cheery.
My mom didn't like the voice of Adams, but honestly, i feel like out of all the voice actors, her's was the best pick and most well acted.
Tbh, even though some of the lines were a bit cringe. I enjoyed this a lot, and i'd recommend this if you like ExFor.

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the full cast narration addition to the series and I enjoyed it. It took a little bit to get used to after listening to the regular audiobooks to that point, but having R.C. Bray still doing the main characters pulled it all together and made the additional actors and soundtrack made it special.

*Bulk Input Day

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved that. The cast took a bit to get used to but it was a fun experiences! And I liked the format of it being within Skippy's Space Opera. I thought it was a fun way to break up the normal cadence of the books. It would be a bit much for a full length book but for a novella I loved it.

[John Sanatar · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a nice change to have an audio drama in this series but overall I didn't enjoy the story as much as the .0 releases in the series. 3.5/5

[Cole Pate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super fun and cool to hear the story in an audio drama. It had a lot more mature language throughout, but it was a fun story! Still eager to see where the story goes.

[David Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate all the different voice actors to make the story a bit more real. However they seem well over eager to be their character and go just a bit much over the top on performances. The radio drama feeling is also weird when music just kinda rumbles on and isn't exactly a good flow. Don't get me started on the snapping. The story was typical and good so that's why it got three stars.

[Chris Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining dramatization of a side story in the series!

[Alan Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant!

[Nanu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a really different experience, for one, all the characters had a different voice other than RC Bray's. My only complaint in that department is Adams' voice acting. She sounded too girly and too giggly, not like the Adams we all know and love.
Overall, it was a good experience, I liked that it was Skippy's turn to narrate, I liked the story and I liked the voice acting.

[Sallar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the summary online and don’t waste your time and money on this “Audio drama”. The production quality is terrible and it’s very irritating to listen to. I powered through because the story is important for understanding the next book in the series so I couldn’t just skip it. The story itself is good, but the production makes it impossible to enjoy.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but a little too campy for me. Love all the wit Craig puts into his books but this seemed like something that was just done for fun and came off wrong. Will still listen to all the remainder of the books as I love the series but I wanted to like this one more than I actually did.

[Gunnar Kuut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really annoying. I only read this to be ready for the next book as they refer to this one a lot apparently. But the dramatisation is really annoying. And distracting. Sad, because they actually have nice actors.