What do you think?
Rate this book
Expeditionary Force #2
SpecOps
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 from. At least, this time, the Earth is safe, right?
Not so much.
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 from. At least, this time, the Earth is safe, right?
Not so much.
16 pages, Audible Audio
First published June 2, 2016
2897 people are currently reading
2280 people want to read
About the author
Craig Alanson
42 books4,214 followersIf you want to stay up to date on releases, receive promotion alerts and speak to me directly, please join my Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/Craig.Alanso...
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.
https://www.facebook.com/Craig.Alanso...
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 841 reviews
June 27, 2016
Disappointing and Poor Effort In Sequel
"SpecOps," Book 2 the sequel in the "Expeditionary Force," series, is a very disappointing and poor effort. The flaws of Book 1 (a book that was entertaining and a decent SciFi read), have totally sublimated the storyline and grown, making Book 2 barely readable.
The storyline has near future humanity, suddenly thrown into intergalactic conflict between various alien races of different technological levels, teetering on the razor's edge of extinction. The lead character, in alliance with a rescued, super intelligent AI, along with SpecOp forces from various earth militaries, take a captured alien star cruiser on an expedition to prevent warring aliens from returning to earth, find ancient artifacts from the ancient race of "Elders" that created the AI, and help it reconnect with the "Collective."
The AI has saved humanity and is damaged-missing memories, personality disorders and severely emotionally stunted. Herein lies one of the multitude of issues that make Book 2 so bad-sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph, page after page, of boring, sophomoric, snarky, stupid, unfunny dialogue between the lead character and the AI. It totally misses and made it difficult to fully read the book and not just stop. If the author had included in the crew, an artificial intelligence expert and a psychiatrist specializing in abnormal psychology, maybe it could be pulled off, maybe.
The formatting, proofreading, editing and writing are all amateurish, immature, unprofessional and not worthy of a public, commercial distribution. The cartoonish narrative, one dimensional characterizations, plodding pace, unending repetition, plot twists created by deception of the reader, and a lack of writing talent, suffocate any potential story merits. The list of examples are so long, that it would take too much time to enumerate all.
I liked Book 1, gave it a 4 star rating, with a caveat regarding flaws. The lazy, unprofessional, and inept execution in Book 2, makes it wholeheartedly NOT recommended. The eBook author should be embarrassed to publish such a garbage effort.
"SpecOps," Book 2 the sequel in the "Expeditionary Force," series, is a very disappointing and poor effort. The flaws of Book 1 (a book that was entertaining and a decent SciFi read), have totally sublimated the storyline and grown, making Book 2 barely readable.
The storyline has near future humanity, suddenly thrown into intergalactic conflict between various alien races of different technological levels, teetering on the razor's edge of extinction. The lead character, in alliance with a rescued, super intelligent AI, along with SpecOp forces from various earth militaries, take a captured alien star cruiser on an expedition to prevent warring aliens from returning to earth, find ancient artifacts from the ancient race of "Elders" that created the AI, and help it reconnect with the "Collective."
The AI has saved humanity and is damaged-missing memories, personality disorders and severely emotionally stunted. Herein lies one of the multitude of issues that make Book 2 so bad-sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph, page after page, of boring, sophomoric, snarky, stupid, unfunny dialogue between the lead character and the AI. It totally misses and made it difficult to fully read the book and not just stop. If the author had included in the crew, an artificial intelligence expert and a psychiatrist specializing in abnormal psychology, maybe it could be pulled off, maybe.
The formatting, proofreading, editing and writing are all amateurish, immature, unprofessional and not worthy of a public, commercial distribution. The cartoonish narrative, one dimensional characterizations, plodding pace, unending repetition, plot twists created by deception of the reader, and a lack of writing talent, suffocate any potential story merits. The list of examples are so long, that it would take too much time to enumerate all.
I liked Book 1, gave it a 4 star rating, with a caveat regarding flaws. The lazy, unprofessional, and inept execution in Book 2, makes it wholeheartedly NOT recommended. The eBook author should be embarrassed to publish such a garbage effort.
April 9, 2019
Just barely 3 stars...
I was hoping for more maturity in the second book. However, even though the "ideas" are interesting this book just doesn't come through. Every single problem or crisis goes something like this (actually precisely like this)..."Hey, you're just a stupid monkey go back to your trees and leave the thinking to the advanced entity." "OMG, I can't believe you thought of that and I didn't, I hate my life! How could a monkey outthink me! I'm so embarrassed...I hate my life!”
The only reason this book got a third star was because of the interesting "supporting" characters and the compelling plot line. However interesting or compelling I just can't get over the increasingly boring interactions between our main character and his advanced entity sidekick.
I was hoping for more maturity in the second book. However, even though the "ideas" are interesting this book just doesn't come through. Every single problem or crisis goes something like this (actually precisely like this)..."Hey, you're just a stupid monkey go back to your trees and leave the thinking to the advanced entity." "OMG, I can't believe you thought of that and I didn't, I hate my life! How could a monkey outthink me! I'm so embarrassed...I hate my life!”
The only reason this book got a third star was because of the interesting "supporting" characters and the compelling plot line. However interesting or compelling I just can't get over the increasingly boring interactions between our main character and his advanced entity sidekick.
July 31, 2017
SpecOps (Expeditionary Force #2) by Craig Alanson, narration by RC Bray, is another awesome book I lingered on. I have the wonderful audible version so I can hear the creative and hilarious narration that adds soooo much to this already awesome series. I have not read such a good space opera series like this ever! I am laughing so hard or snickering and then the next they are in battle but still something funny comes up. Then other times, out of no where, he punches me with a new emotion I wasn't ready for. There is also so many fun battles, and I do mean fun. These are not normal battles if Joe and Skippy are involved. I can't describe just how exciting these books are. Fun, creative, strange creatures, hilarious, tender, great science, adventure, wonderful and witty dialogue, crazy capers, a Majestic AI named Skippy, a crew that is incredible and adaptable, and many close calls. I have bought the whole series, just trying to get time to get to them!
June 19, 2025
A lot of action and snark, and way less exposition than the first book since the setting has already been established.
Its very entertaining and I will continue the series.
Its very entertaining and I will continue the series.
August 9, 2020
Repetitive and repetitive. It also repeats the same themes and themes get repeated repeatedly. I love the characters and the banter, except for how repetetive the banter that I love becomes. This book would have been much better if it had been less repetitive. Now at the risk of repeating myself, I felt this book probably repeated things. I repeat, this book is repetetive.
May 22, 2021
Book 2 of the 'Expeditionary Force' series.
If you've read Columbus Day you will probably know what this is all about. If you haven't, don't bother to pick this up, because it doesn't work as a stand-alone.
While Columbus Day was action packed and funny as hell, this second book was a disappointment. And not only because of my raised expectations.
It still has a lot of laugh-out-loud dialogue between Joe and Skippy, but it wears off a little towards the end. Still, I like these two shitheads so much that it made me generous enough to give it a 3 star rating.
Apart from their ginourmously awesome awesomeness there's not much to admire here.
The editing is still bad (although slightly better compared to the first book).
In the first half there is not much happening at all. Just boring space travel and doing the same things over and over again to fight boredome and the disappointment of the repeatedly unsuccessful search for the comm node. Really, the story starts only midway through the book. And by then even the conversations between Skippy and Joe have become so repetitive, it is a real shame. You can tell the same joke only so often before even the good ones get old.
I may rate this only one star below my rating for the first one, but I liked Columbus Day way better.
Let's put it this way. If the rating system here would be X out of 10, the first book was probably an 8 while this one is more like a 5.
I will pick up the third book for sure, because, like I said, I really really like Colonel Joe and Skippy the Magnificent so much that I have to know where this journey is leading them.
Here's hoping the third book will be more awesome than dumdum again.
If you've read Columbus Day you will probably know what this is all about. If you haven't, don't bother to pick this up, because it doesn't work as a stand-alone.
While Columbus Day was action packed and funny as hell, this second book was a disappointment. And not only because of my raised expectations.
It still has a lot of laugh-out-loud dialogue between Joe and Skippy, but it wears off a little towards the end. Still, I like these two shitheads so much that it made me generous enough to give it a 3 star rating.
Apart from their ginourmously awesome awesomeness there's not much to admire here.
The editing is still bad (although slightly better compared to the first book).
In the first half there is not much happening at all. Just boring space travel and doing the same things over and over again to fight boredome and the disappointment of the repeatedly unsuccessful search for the comm node. Really, the story starts only midway through the book. And by then even the conversations between Skippy and Joe have become so repetitive, it is a real shame. You can tell the same joke only so often before even the good ones get old.
I may rate this only one star below my rating for the first one, but I liked Columbus Day way better.
Let's put it this way. If the rating system here would be X out of 10, the first book was probably an 8 while this one is more like a 5.
I will pick up the third book for sure, because, like I said, I really really like Colonel Joe and Skippy the Magnificent so much that I have to know where this journey is leading them.
Here's hoping the third book will be more awesome than dumdum again.
September 5, 2017
Talk about beating up a dead horse, I wish I could count how many times he used the word Monkey. Yes, I get it, Skippy the computer thinks humans are monkeys, but I bet you on average EVERY page made reference to humans as monkeys. It got very tiring. Same jokes, same lines. I get this is the 2nd book, but how much do we have to explain the first book in the 2nd book. Come on, does anyone really read the 2nd in a series without reading the first. Then the author seems to have forgotten that what he was explaining AGIAN, happened in the 2nd book, so no need to spend 2 pages telling us about the previous chapter. What Alanson did that was clever was come up with a new way to use the same gimmick time after time. The Monkeys get into an inescapable situation. AI Skippy says they are going to die, and then Monkey Joe comes up with an idea. Humm, lets see, how many ideas can Joe come up with. One time another Monkey came up with the idea, but otherwise it is always Joe. It is kind of a fun read, but I suggest, read the first book, stop there. I might read the third, but not for a while, like anything somewhat painful I have to give this time and maybe then I will only remember the fun times I had.
June 7, 2017
Had some laughs.
Reaaaallly slow compared to the first one.
Too much of the same thing over, and over, and over and over and over and over again.
Everything just went too well all the time.
Skippy seems too much of an incompetent for an AI that can run billions of years of processing in seconds. Some ideas he could not think of were, really obvious.
I'm kind of getting tired of Joe.
Still gonna try the third one, because this one brought up some interesting mysteries, which spark our curiosity. Hopefully the next one will provide answers and be more packed with unrepetitive jibber jabber.
Reaaaallly slow compared to the first one.
Too much of the same thing over, and over, and over and over and over and over again.
Everything just went too well all the time.
Skippy seems too much of an incompetent for an AI that can run billions of years of processing in seconds. Some ideas he could not think of were, really obvious.
I'm kind of getting tired of Joe.
Still gonna try the third one, because this one brought up some interesting mysteries, which spark our curiosity. Hopefully the next one will provide answers and be more packed with unrepetitive jibber jabber.
April 8, 2019
If the story is interesting, if the tone of the story is always fun, this second volume suffers from the same major flaws as the first, without it's originality.
The author systematically favors dialogues, monologues, and summaries. So, on the 500 pages of the book, there are nearly 200 pages of useless chatter, boring technical presentations, repetitive dialogues between Joe and Skippy and sometimes a summary of previous chapters. Through repeated rehearsals, Skippy becomes horrifying over the pages, by overuse of sarcasms and monkey's jokes.
The situations are also very repetitive: with each insoluble problem, a brilliant and innovative solution is found, often by Joe, to the dismay of Skippy.
The most important scenes, clashes, fights, are most often retracted with a small summary, which is quite staggering in a book so talkative.
All the other novel's characters are ectoplasms, so much the author is riveted on the Joe / Skippy relationship.
SpecOps could have been an excellent 300-page novel. It's a painful novel of 500 pages. I want to know the rest of the story, the mysteries of this universe, but despite all the goodwill of the world, I will not read the three thousand pages that follow (maybe much more...). The author has humor, ideas, but his narrative technique is poor and his work is sorely lacking the work of a competent editor.
The author systematically favors dialogues, monologues, and summaries. So, on the 500 pages of the book, there are nearly 200 pages of useless chatter, boring technical presentations, repetitive dialogues between Joe and Skippy and sometimes a summary of previous chapters. Through repeated rehearsals, Skippy becomes horrifying over the pages, by overuse of sarcasms and monkey's jokes.
The situations are also very repetitive: with each insoluble problem, a brilliant and innovative solution is found, often by Joe, to the dismay of Skippy.
The most important scenes, clashes, fights, are most often retracted with a small summary, which is quite staggering in a book so talkative.
All the other novel's characters are ectoplasms, so much the author is riveted on the Joe / Skippy relationship.
SpecOps could have been an excellent 300-page novel. It's a painful novel of 500 pages. I want to know the rest of the story, the mysteries of this universe, but despite all the goodwill of the world, I will not read the three thousand pages that follow (maybe much more...). The author has humor, ideas, but his narrative technique is poor and his work is sorely lacking the work of a competent editor.
April 6, 2025
It gets better and better.
In the first book we are introduced to this new alien filled galaxy, we learn about the important alien races, the war, how humans (don't) fit in it all and about our main characters, mainly Skippy and Joe. Now, we get to expand our universe and the story.
Joe is always being called dumb, and we can see how he isn't a genius, yet, he can be super clever. What I like so much about this book, is that we see him grow. He's once again in command. This time, it's not because of dumb luck, everyone agreed to have him there and he knows it's his responsibility. He learns, sometimes slower than he should, but he tries. We see him step into the role of commander and work it hard.
We also see Skippy evolve. Yes, he can still be insufferable, but he also cares, and his bond with Joe and the rest of the merry band of pirates inform his decisions more and more. We also get to explore his limits, and we get more backstory.
This book is also the first one to seriously hint there's a larger story, a mystery lurking in the shadows of the galaxy and that's super intriguing.
Craig Alanson definitely knows how to deliver a great space filled adventure that feels complete (as much as a middle book ik a saga can be) and build a larger world in between and I am loving it.
In the first book we are introduced to this new alien filled galaxy, we learn about the important alien races, the war, how humans (don't) fit in it all and about our main characters, mainly Skippy and Joe. Now, we get to expand our universe and the story.
Joe is always being called dumb, and we can see how he isn't a genius, yet, he can be super clever. What I like so much about this book, is that we see him grow. He's once again in command. This time, it's not because of dumb luck, everyone agreed to have him there and he knows it's his responsibility. He learns, sometimes slower than he should, but he tries. We see him step into the role of commander and work it hard.
We also see Skippy evolve. Yes, he can still be insufferable, but he also cares, and his bond with Joe and the rest of the merry band of pirates inform his decisions more and more. We also get to explore his limits, and we get more backstory.
This book is also the first one to seriously hint there's a larger story, a mystery lurking in the shadows of the galaxy and that's super intriguing.
Craig Alanson definitely knows how to deliver a great space filled adventure that feels complete (as much as a middle book ik a saga can be) and build a larger world in between and I am loving it.
May 22, 2022
An enjoyable read, except for the childish, snarky, millennia old AI.
February 24, 2020
2.5 stars. Too much repetition, needed a little more editing.
April 28, 2017
Too much Skippy. He completely made book 1. However about 1/3 thru this one, I found myself aching for a break from him. There was a great chunk without him, and more about the humans, just in time.
October 30, 2025
3'75
Allá va Joe Bishop, ahora coronel al mando de la nave turania, Holandes Errante, buscando con Skippy, cómo contactar con los antiguos.
Acompañado de pilotos excepcionales, fuerzas especiales de cinco países y científicos dispuestos a desentrañar los secretos del universo.
Lo me gusta:
Lo entretenido que es, aventuras espaciales en planetas alienígenas, donde el aburrimiento no ha embotado (todavía) nuestro sentido de la maravilla.
Algunas sorpresas del libro, éste, no tan predecible como el primero.
El misterio de los antiguos y esa destrucción inexplicable, que siempre roza donde han estado presentes.
Lo que no me gusta:
Skippy.
Que sé que es nuestro deux ex machina particular, que sin él no hay trama, pero ¿tiene que ser tan desagradable todo el rato? No lo odio, odiar es un sentimiento muy fuerte... lo detesto con el calor de mil soles.
Y, sí, me voy a leer el siguiente. Quiero saber qué pasa. Soy débil.
Allá va Joe Bishop, ahora coronel al mando de la nave turania, Holandes Errante, buscando con Skippy, cómo contactar con los antiguos.
Acompañado de pilotos excepcionales, fuerzas especiales de cinco países y científicos dispuestos a desentrañar los secretos del universo.
Lo me gusta:
Lo entretenido que es, aventuras espaciales en planetas alienígenas, donde el aburrimiento no ha embotado (todavía) nuestro sentido de la maravilla.
Algunas sorpresas del libro, éste, no tan predecible como el primero.
El misterio de los antiguos y esa destrucción inexplicable, que siempre roza donde han estado presentes.
Lo que no me gusta:
Skippy.
Que sé que es nuestro deux ex machina particular, que sin él no hay trama, pero ¿tiene que ser tan desagradable todo el rato? No lo odio, odiar es un sentimiento muy fuerte... lo detesto con el calor de mil soles.
Y, sí, me voy a leer el siguiente. Quiero saber qué pasa. Soy débil.
October 11, 2018
I was taught a number of important things regarding story and Alanson has somehow managed to ignore the basic structure of story.
Or perhaps it is my fault. My fault for believing that if one publishes something, even in a series, it must make, at least in some small way, the time to close a narrative thread or two.
The quaint John Carter of Marseqsque inability to neatly tie off anything from the first book spins wildly out of control and we end up with a 500 page book that accomplishes nothing that couldn't have been done more concisely and better in AT MOST 1/2 the pages. The ending of this book would have been an interesting middle, it could have even functioned as a decent piece of rising action. As an ending it is the literary equivalent of "Your Princess is in another castle" where "Your Princess" is the hours you spent reading the book and "in another castle" is "lost in the cavernous, unforgiving void called mortality."
This book needed an editor. Two maybe. I suppose I should have seen that when I noticed there were six of these book published in a mere two years. Charlie Huston came close to pulling this off with his Joe Pitt series, but they were smaller, tighter pieces that were aided by the conventions of the genre they took from.
This series is not a book series. It is a single story run amok, slashed in clumsy half-considered lumps so as to packaged in a physical medium. This book actually managed to piss me off with how little it managed to accomplish. Too much excess, too much AI banter, too much distraction from the point the novel started off from.
I may try the third book. I fear my 'dear-god-take-me-anywhere-but-here' approach to literature given the current landscape of the world. But there is no craft here, it is just a story, which can be fine. And sometimes it is, but a writer without the ability to even cursorily strip the fat from their creation while accomplishing virtually nothing in that ocean of unkempt pages is unacceptable.
Or perhaps it is my fault. My fault for believing that if one publishes something, even in a series, it must make, at least in some small way, the time to close a narrative thread or two.
The quaint John Carter of Marseqsque inability to neatly tie off anything from the first book spins wildly out of control and we end up with a 500 page book that accomplishes nothing that couldn't have been done more concisely and better in AT MOST 1/2 the pages. The ending of this book would have been an interesting middle, it could have even functioned as a decent piece of rising action. As an ending it is the literary equivalent of "Your Princess is in another castle" where "Your Princess" is the hours you spent reading the book and "in another castle" is "lost in the cavernous, unforgiving void called mortality."
This book needed an editor. Two maybe. I suppose I should have seen that when I noticed there were six of these book published in a mere two years. Charlie Huston came close to pulling this off with his Joe Pitt series, but they were smaller, tighter pieces that were aided by the conventions of the genre they took from.
This series is not a book series. It is a single story run amok, slashed in clumsy half-considered lumps so as to packaged in a physical medium. This book actually managed to piss me off with how little it managed to accomplish. Too much excess, too much AI banter, too much distraction from the point the novel started off from.
I may try the third book. I fear my 'dear-god-take-me-anywhere-but-here' approach to literature given the current landscape of the world. But there is no craft here, it is just a story, which can be fine. And sometimes it is, but a writer without the ability to even cursorily strip the fat from their creation while accomplishing virtually nothing in that ocean of unkempt pages is unacceptable.
September 13, 2017
I listened to the AudioBook on Audible, and really, truly, love RC Bray's performance. He makes this series for me. His portrayal of Joe and Skippy's relationship is truly special, and he makes the humor shine through.
As for the plot: SpecOps is really, truly, more of the same of the Expeditionary Force series. It is fun, but it is starting to feel formulaic:
Problem arises that seems insurmountable
Skippy, the ultra-intelligent AI is somehow also so spacey that he doesn't see a solution
Colonel Joe, our banana-loving monkey, sees a surprisingly strategic solution that is risky, but might. Just. Work.
Colonel Joe and Skippy set off to accomplish said task primarily on their own, even though they have a ship full of special forces behind them, because, you know, Skippy and Joe.
Skippy's unfathomable awesomeness shines through, Joe's self-sacrifice is moving, and humanity is saved by science so far out as to be incomprehensible.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
It is fun, but hardly ground-breaking sci-fi. I need to take a break from this world and try something with a little more meat on the bones, because this book left me feeling disappointed. It seemed predictable, and often times plot devices are convenient. Too convenient. At the end of the book this time my thought was, "Good. Now I can listen to something else for a while."
Hardly the reaction I want at the end of a book.
As for the plot: SpecOps is really, truly, more of the same of the Expeditionary Force series. It is fun, but it is starting to feel formulaic:
Problem arises that seems insurmountable
Skippy, the ultra-intelligent AI is somehow also so spacey that he doesn't see a solution
Colonel Joe, our banana-loving monkey, sees a surprisingly strategic solution that is risky, but might. Just. Work.
Colonel Joe and Skippy set off to accomplish said task primarily on their own, even though they have a ship full of special forces behind them, because, you know, Skippy and Joe.
Skippy's unfathomable awesomeness shines through, Joe's self-sacrifice is moving, and humanity is saved by science so far out as to be incomprehensible.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
It is fun, but hardly ground-breaking sci-fi. I need to take a break from this world and try something with a little more meat on the bones, because this book left me feeling disappointed. It seemed predictable, and often times plot devices are convenient. Too convenient. At the end of the book this time my thought was, "Good. Now I can listen to something else for a while."
Hardly the reaction I want at the end of a book.
December 12, 2018
Jeesh. What a turn for the worse from the first book. It went from exciting, fast-paced, and funny to boring, plodding, and very unfunny. I'll echo what I've seen in other reviews--Skippy making fun of everything all the time got old really quick. It's pretty rare that I get outright annoyed while reading, but this annoyed me. A lot. Not to mention the flow of the book was...well, it didn't exist.
There were some highlights and flashes from what made the first novel so good and fun, but this was not what I was expecting and just poorly written. I think the author needed to take more time between novels as it appears these were all published REALLY quickly.
I will take a break from these and I might read the next one in a few months when I'm not so annoyed by Skippy.
There were some highlights and flashes from what made the first novel so good and fun, but this was not what I was expecting and just poorly written. I think the author needed to take more time between novels as it appears these were all published REALLY quickly.
I will take a break from these and I might read the next one in a few months when I'm not so annoyed by Skippy.
June 15, 2023
June 2023
Comfort re-read.
November 2020
Just as good the second time around.
May 2020
And the banter just gets better! The Skippy and Joe show got a little intense here, with a couple of times when I just wasn't sure if they'd make it. But they did - and they sure entertained me while doing it. RC Bray just makes this series fabulous on audio. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Comfort re-read.
November 2020
Just as good the second time around.
May 2020
And the banter just gets better! The Skippy and Joe show got a little intense here, with a couple of times when I just wasn't sure if they'd make it. But they did - and they sure entertained me while doing it. RC Bray just makes this series fabulous on audio. I can't wait to see what happens next.
March 2, 2020
A decent continuation from the first book. The story was a little lagging at times, but Skippy, as always, is the best part about this merry band of pirates. His wit and sarcasm cracks me up with just about every line. The audible version was the perfect choice for this because I couldn't imagine hearing Joe and Skippy argue any other way.
March 16, 2017
Excellent book. R.Bray did a very good job with the naration of the audiobook.
August 27, 2025
This is a pulp sci-fi book, no big themes here or any big surprises. But it's action packed and a fun ride. The humour is a bit too much for my taste. Might read the next one
May 4, 2019
I started reading this the same week that the TV series GAME OF THRONES had its climactic "Battle of Winterfell," which has inspired a lot of discussion about "plot armor." So many lead characters--many of whom, by all rights, should have died--survived the battle, enough so that wiseacres like me cracked that they had "plot armor," which is to say that they were watched over by The Writer, a benevolent force in their universe, who looks out for brave fools who stare down ice dragons. (The irony, of course, of the discussion is that George R.R. Martin has famously killed off several characters who the reader had assumed had "plot armor." Valar morghulis and all that, you know.)
"Plot armor" is often the best friend of the first-person narrator; you just know they survived the battle, because they are there to tell you about it. (This sometimes gets subverted, too, which is usually fun.) This is especially true in a series; the first-person narrator in a long series can and does walk out of situations that would (and often do) slay a platoon of better men.
In the first book of the series, the trope that was the most misused was one of the oldest; the deus ex machina, in this case in the form of a beer can named Skippy. Skippy, an ancient alien artificial intelligence, solved every nagging plot issue to rescue the humans and to defeat a nasty alien invasion.
So in this book, you have a narrator with plot armor whose best friend is a deus ex machina, Ho-kay. But wait, we're not done!
The real problem with SPECOPS is not either of these two things. It is this: Sergeant/Colonel Joe Bishop, who is in every way an average Joe, is the commander of the starship where most of the action takes place. The various twists and turns of the story demand that someone should undertake two very risky solo combat missions. This is on a starship just crammed with special forces soldiers. Who do you think goes on the risky solo missions? Take a guess. Take a good guess.
Military logic would tell you "Well, anyone, literally anyone but, you know, the commanding officer."
Guess who goes?
Well, this is really a weakness of the first-person narration, Joe HAS to go, because he's the narrator, and he's not going to sit back and narrate something someone else does.
But THAT's not even the problem. The REAL problem is that Average Joe, not content with his plot armor, not content with having his best friend be an alien AI, not content with going on every single suicide mission and being a better special operator than the special operators, it ALSO turns out that he's secretly such a master strategist that he consistently out-thinks the alien AI with a brain the size of a galaxy.
The only thing that redeems this galactic mess of a book is that it's frequently very inventive and always very funny, even when Skippy's schtick wears thin. Four stars to honor the worldbuilding and the infrequent revelations that there are limits to Skippy's powers,
"Plot armor" is often the best friend of the first-person narrator; you just know they survived the battle, because they are there to tell you about it. (This sometimes gets subverted, too, which is usually fun.) This is especially true in a series; the first-person narrator in a long series can and does walk out of situations that would (and often do) slay a platoon of better men.
In the first book of the series, the trope that was the most misused was one of the oldest; the deus ex machina, in this case in the form of a beer can named Skippy. Skippy, an ancient alien artificial intelligence, solved every nagging plot issue to rescue the humans and to defeat a nasty alien invasion.
So in this book, you have a narrator with plot armor whose best friend is a deus ex machina, Ho-kay. But wait, we're not done!
The real problem with SPECOPS is not either of these two things. It is this: Sergeant/Colonel Joe Bishop, who is in every way an average Joe, is the commander of the starship where most of the action takes place. The various twists and turns of the story demand that someone should undertake two very risky solo combat missions. This is on a starship just crammed with special forces soldiers. Who do you think goes on the risky solo missions? Take a guess. Take a good guess.
Military logic would tell you "Well, anyone, literally anyone but, you know, the commanding officer."
Guess who goes?
Well, this is really a weakness of the first-person narration, Joe HAS to go, because he's the narrator, and he's not going to sit back and narrate something someone else does.
But THAT's not even the problem. The REAL problem is that Average Joe, not content with his plot armor, not content with having his best friend be an alien AI, not content with going on every single suicide mission and being a better special operator than the special operators, it ALSO turns out that he's secretly such a master strategist that he consistently out-thinks the alien AI with a brain the size of a galaxy.
The only thing that redeems this galactic mess of a book is that it's frequently very inventive and always very funny, even when Skippy's schtick wears thin. Four stars to honor the worldbuilding and the infrequent revelations that there are limits to Skippy's powers,
July 7, 2020
I remember groaning a little when I finished the first book in this series, Columbus Day, and realized that there are about nine more books in the series so far, plus prequels, side stories, and other miscellaneous padding.
The second book was indeed an entire novel that could probably have made one episode of a TV series, or a few chapters of a full-length space opera.
This is a ripping MiLSF yarn which you will enjoy if you like ripping MilSF space yarns, but it's basically more of the same from the first book. Having saved Earth from the lizard-like Kristang, and discovered that the galaxy is full of patron-client relationships with increasingly advanced (and usually increasingly tyrannical) races at the top of the hierarchy, and humans being the new kids with the shit end of the stick, former Sergeant Joe Bishop has to take a UN-crewed captured starship back out into space on a quest to find remnants of the Elders, and the a network of super-advanced Elder AIs that their friend "Skippy" still believes is out there.
"Skippy" of course is the talking beer can who's actually a millions-of-years-old unbelievably advanced Artificial Intelligence, who can peruse all collected human knowledge in the space between breaths, as he never tires of reminding people.
And really, I got tired of Skippy. He was funny in the first book. His relationship with Joe (who's now a Colonel, and captain of a ship full of multinational SpecOps troopers) is supposed to be a sort of sci-fi bromance. They razz each other constantly, Skippy complains about how humans are so primitive there's a barely a difference from his point of view between talking to humans and talking to monkeys, and then Joe will come up with an idea to get the ship out of their current predicament, and Skippy will whine for a while about how much he hates his life because a "monkey" had a good idea. This happens like half a dozen times in this book, and frankly, for a super-advanced AI who should be capable of playing 50 trillion games of go at once and still piloting a starship, Skippy is frequently petty, forgetful, and clueless. There's an obvious plot-related reason for this, as having the super-AI solve all their problems would make for a crappy story, but he can do magic tricks with space/time when it's convenient and then he's just a smart-ass talking beer can when it's not.
While it sounds like I'm complaining (okay, I am) this was a perfectly good space opera, with a few dread secrets discovered, escalating stakes (because of course Earth has to be threatened again), and a few side characters who get very few pages compared to Joe and Skippy. There's a lot of technobabble problem solving, some space battles, and boner jokes. The Expeditionary Force series will appeal to anyone who like long series or TV science fiction.
I will probably continue the series, but it does not have that pull that makes me think I'm going to love seven more books of this.
The second book was indeed an entire novel that could probably have made one episode of a TV series, or a few chapters of a full-length space opera.
This is a ripping MiLSF yarn which you will enjoy if you like ripping MilSF space yarns, but it's basically more of the same from the first book. Having saved Earth from the lizard-like Kristang, and discovered that the galaxy is full of patron-client relationships with increasingly advanced (and usually increasingly tyrannical) races at the top of the hierarchy, and humans being the new kids with the shit end of the stick, former Sergeant Joe Bishop has to take a UN-crewed captured starship back out into space on a quest to find remnants of the Elders, and the a network of super-advanced Elder AIs that their friend "Skippy" still believes is out there.
"Skippy" of course is the talking beer can who's actually a millions-of-years-old unbelievably advanced Artificial Intelligence, who can peruse all collected human knowledge in the space between breaths, as he never tires of reminding people.
And really, I got tired of Skippy. He was funny in the first book. His relationship with Joe (who's now a Colonel, and captain of a ship full of multinational SpecOps troopers) is supposed to be a sort of sci-fi bromance. They razz each other constantly, Skippy complains about how humans are so primitive there's a barely a difference from his point of view between talking to humans and talking to monkeys, and then Joe will come up with an idea to get the ship out of their current predicament, and Skippy will whine for a while about how much he hates his life because a "monkey" had a good idea. This happens like half a dozen times in this book, and frankly, for a super-advanced AI who should be capable of playing 50 trillion games of go at once and still piloting a starship, Skippy is frequently petty, forgetful, and clueless. There's an obvious plot-related reason for this, as having the super-AI solve all their problems would make for a crappy story, but he can do magic tricks with space/time when it's convenient and then he's just a smart-ass talking beer can when it's not.
While it sounds like I'm complaining (okay, I am) this was a perfectly good space opera, with a few dread secrets discovered, escalating stakes (because of course Earth has to be threatened again), and a few side characters who get very few pages compared to Joe and Skippy. There's a lot of technobabble problem solving, some space battles, and boner jokes. The Expeditionary Force series will appeal to anyone who like long series or TV science fiction.
I will probably continue the series, but it does not have that pull that makes me think I'm going to love seven more books of this.
May 3, 2017
Honestly, listen to this book. Don't read it.
The narrator turns the AI from a sullen teenager (in print) to the character that I believe the author actually had in mind (voiced).
I'll leave this at that, and just say that I'm disappointed and ecstatic at the same time. The former because the next book is not yet available in audiobook, the latter because it will be by the end of the month.
My only gripe is the repetition that exists on descriptions (moon dust) and minimal data dumps. A good editor/editing team would've picked up those things and torn them apart before making it to this stage.
Do yourself a service and pick this up.
The narrator turns the AI from a sullen teenager (in print) to the character that I believe the author actually had in mind (voiced).
I'll leave this at that, and just say that I'm disappointed and ecstatic at the same time. The former because the next book is not yet available in audiobook, the latter because it will be by the end of the month.
My only gripe is the repetition that exists on descriptions (moon dust) and minimal data dumps. A good editor/editing team would've picked up those things and torn them apart before making it to this stage.
Do yourself a service and pick this up.
March 17, 2017
I LOVED traveling through space and time with Colonel Joe, Skippy the Magnificent, and their merry band of pirates! The narration is AMAZEBALLS in this series and I can't wait until Audible makes the third book available!! I really can't even imagine reading this in print because I think so many of the nuances and exchanges would be totally lost. Can't wait to see what happens with all the new information we learned in this installment. Hurry up Audible!!!
September 30, 2017
Headed downhill
While the first book was entertaining enough the second is repetitive and boring. Skippy who was a good addition in the first book was nothing but a waste in the second. Every problem was solved in exactly the same way and 90% of the characters did nothing but ride along. Can't imagine bothering with book 3.
While the first book was entertaining enough the second is repetitive and boring. Skippy who was a good addition in the first book was nothing but a waste in the second. Every problem was solved in exactly the same way and 90% of the characters did nothing but ride along. Can't imagine bothering with book 3.
October 5, 2017
Love the idea, but the story is the same incident over and over again. Humans do something stupid, Skippy fixes. Skippy does something stupid, human fixes. The banter with Skippy could actually develop, but instead it is the same thing over and over and over again. The premise is so good...but execution not.
June 17, 2017
I can't put this series down. I found it because it's read by my favorite narrator on audible (RC Bray who also did The Martian). The plot is fantastic and the characters are amazing. Everyone needs Skippy in their life.
April 15, 2023
A Lighthearted Romp with Stargate: EF-1
SpecOps is a fun space adventure with a military angle. Defying easy categorization, it's most similar to the Stargate series, where professional infantry explore the universe and slowly help Earth improve its technology against near God-like opposition. Even the tone is the same: lighthearted, full of witty banter, and set in some complex military scenarios.
Despite the comedy duo of our main characters, victories are won through clever rule-bending or extrapolations of known limitations. The author has thought through what technology can and cannot do, and everything is internally consistent. As a reader who demands self-serious novels, this is something I look for in the worldbuilding of advanced technology.
But while the author avoids treating his worldbuilding like a joke, Skippy the AI's comedic presence and caustic personality will decide if you like the Expeditionary Force series. He was the big twist in Columbus Day and, in my humble opinion, the key differentiating factor that distinguishes this series from other SciFi novels. I enjoy the buddy-comedy of Skippy and Bishop, and if you didn't like them in the first novel, the second won't change your mind. Additionally, Skippy's incredible competence robs the novel of tension. I'm not emotionally bought into any of the dangerous situations, and that's unfortunate since the cast is in constant peril.
The sequel is far better paced than its predecessor, with scene after scene of action. It's odd then, that the plot is still missing direction. There's no overarching story, and unlike Columbus Day, the author doesn't reveal any twists that are particularly surprising. So while the writing has improved and this book is better than the former, there's still something missing as you move from chapter to chapter.
SpecOps is an entertaining and funny novel set in a serious scifi universe. Unfortunately, a good laugh is all you'll get. The novel lacks tension, excitement, and even a good villain to hate.
Recommended with reservations.
SpecOps is a fun space adventure with a military angle. Defying easy categorization, it's most similar to the Stargate series, where professional infantry explore the universe and slowly help Earth improve its technology against near God-like opposition. Even the tone is the same: lighthearted, full of witty banter, and set in some complex military scenarios.
Despite the comedy duo of our main characters, victories are won through clever rule-bending or extrapolations of known limitations. The author has thought through what technology can and cannot do, and everything is internally consistent. As a reader who demands self-serious novels, this is something I look for in the worldbuilding of advanced technology.
But while the author avoids treating his worldbuilding like a joke, Skippy the AI's comedic presence and caustic personality will decide if you like the Expeditionary Force series. He was the big twist in Columbus Day and, in my humble opinion, the key differentiating factor that distinguishes this series from other SciFi novels. I enjoy the buddy-comedy of Skippy and Bishop, and if you didn't like them in the first novel, the second won't change your mind. Additionally, Skippy's incredible competence robs the novel of tension. I'm not emotionally bought into any of the dangerous situations, and that's unfortunate since the cast is in constant peril.
The sequel is far better paced than its predecessor, with scene after scene of action. It's odd then, that the plot is still missing direction. There's no overarching story, and unlike Columbus Day, the author doesn't reveal any twists that are particularly surprising. So while the writing has improved and this book is better than the former, there's still something missing as you move from chapter to chapter.
SpecOps is an entertaining and funny novel set in a serious scifi universe. Unfortunately, a good laugh is all you'll get. The novel lacks tension, excitement, and even a good villain to hate.
Recommended with reservations.
July 24, 2020
3.5* rounded to 4 because the narrator on audio is absolutely spectacular.
Not quite as good as the first book but still an enjoyable romp in space.
Where the first book succeeded with action and developments in plot this one decided to slow it down a little with a more exploratory type story. There was excitement and tense situations, but for sure not quite as fun as the first.
The banter and dialogue continue to be a joy to read, or in my case, listen to. Without the fun characters and humor along the way this book would NOT have been nearly as good as it was.
With another cliffhanger ending though I'll be happy to read more of this series. RC Bray is at the top of his class in narration and unless the story takes a massive plummet I'll be happy to listen to his impressive narration of the story.
Definitely would recommend the first book, this book is more middle of the road, but I'm inclined to believe the story continues to be fun with some books being better than others herewhich means it's gonna be worth the investment overall I think.
Not quite as good as the first book but still an enjoyable romp in space.
Where the first book succeeded with action and developments in plot this one decided to slow it down a little with a more exploratory type story. There was excitement and tense situations, but for sure not quite as fun as the first.
The banter and dialogue continue to be a joy to read, or in my case, listen to. Without the fun characters and humor along the way this book would NOT have been nearly as good as it was.
With another cliffhanger ending though I'll be happy to read more of this series. RC Bray is at the top of his class in narration and unless the story takes a massive plummet I'll be happy to listen to his impressive narration of the story.
Definitely would recommend the first book, this book is more middle of the road, but I'm inclined to believe the story continues to be fun with some books being better than others herewhich means it's gonna be worth the investment overall I think.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 841 reviews