Zero Hour (Expeditionary Force Book 5)

Overall I really liked this. some of the plot elements and dialogue dragged on a bit. I really like that as the story progress's the Flying Dutchman continues to deteriorate which limits the crews options.
One thing that really bugged me about the story is that they never investigated the mystery planet in the Roach Motel system. they are on their way to check it out and then get sidetracked and then just forget about the planet. With each book the mystery of the Elders grows. Hopefully we'll start getting some answers soon.

Skippy and Joe pulled another one out of their a, er, hat. So many adventures. Would be remiss without mentioning my favorite Skippy-ism. Gotta love the Maxolhx. Give it up for Mr. Snuggles, that cat can really dance! LMAO, There will never be another Skippy. Another excellent adventure. As a reader before me mentioned, we are consigned to more shore leave. The Dutchman doesn't sail again until June. Keep 'um comping Craig!

Series. What new curves ,is the author going to throw next? What type of troubles are the merry band of pirates going to get into , then out of in the future??Is the worm really dead? Can Skippy keep the cobbled together ship flying? Will he find his true original programming/purpose? What/who is the next threat to Earth? I'm waiting for lots of answers. I have always enjoyed this series of books from the start, to the next threat, adventure,joy the Merry band of pirates face. Thanks to the author!! Jeffery Ross Harris.

Still going strong, as I mentioned on my review of Book1 of the series there are some obvious things that are missed so the protagonist had be the creative thinker vs the AI, but does not distract from the overall story much. The banter is getting a little old but still worth reading.

I don’t know what surprises me more. That these books are so entertaining or that he writes them at such a fast rate. He makes a little nod to the sci-fi universe in general, which I liked because it shows he’s as much a fan as the rest of us. If little mistakes here and there overly annoy you, suck it up. There will be a typo here and there but nothing major.

I actually laughed out loud multiple times reading this book. In fact I love the humor in the whole series. It has serious points life and death spacebattles and a lot of fun banter between the main characters.

The Expeditionary Force series with the awesome AI in a shiny beercan just keeps getting cooler! Start NOW with the first book and go ahead and buy the whole series - you'll binge read it and cannot put it down!

Got into expeditionary force on a reading sample and have been hooked ever since. Many a time I'll laugh out loud at the characters banter. The substance of the book is enthralling and smart.
Can't wait for the next one.

superb! rather than becoming stale and following well worn tracks and dialog, the characters evolve. especialy skippy and thats gotta to tough to do for a super ingelligent AI characyer, even if hes a beer can...

Got into expeditionary force on a reading sample and have been hooked ever since. Many a time I'll laugh out loud at the characters banter. The substance of the book is enthralling and smart.
Can't wait for the next one.

superb! rather than becoming stale and following well worn tracks and dialog, the characters evolve. especialy skippy and thats gotta to tough to do for a super ingelligent AI characyer, even if hes a beer can...

The narration is fabulous! I can't imagine these books without R.C. Bray; he makes all the characters come to life. Also love the storytelling, the interactions between Skippy and Joe are immensely entertaining.

There was to much filler, whereas I felt the book getting kinda slow at parts. I hate the paperback book, it was a nightmare to read from. But overall it is still a classic Joe and Skippy adventure that I never get enough of.

This series was / is one of my favorite. But this latest book had me skipping entire paragraphs at a time and pages of material. The author has taken it upon himself through the words of the main actor Joe bishop to take any 1 simple sentence of plot advancement and spend thousands of words instead on pointless drivel and meaninless.

The net effect is about 5 minutes of plot taking hours to sludge through. It is evident and clear this is being done to increase the word count and keep the plot going. This is such a shame.

Love the characters, but this series is not progressing. In fact, it's going backward. Humanity is not any closer to self-sufficiency. The merry band of pirates have made no great leaps either, and their one and only star ship is more rickety and obsolete than ever.

Count chocula makes consistently good decisions, is reasonably nice, and yet is still portrayed as a semi-bad guy.

No progress at all in solving the big mysteries.

In fact, I am beginning to question the author's commitment to concluding this series at all.

As a result, there's no way I am going to even think about starting on Mr. Alanson's new series. Show some commitment to finishing what one started, please.

It's different from the previous books, although judging from Book 4, one can sort of guess the direction of where book 5 was going.

Book 5 is... fun to read(as always), it has some good jokes, some jokes i didn't get, and some corny ones, but this book is definitely dragging and does not "advance" much of the plot, a good part...perhaps 75-80% is just constant bickering and filler-jokes.

In parts of the book, I found Chokula to be insanely annoying, just get him offed in Book 6.

I hope the author focuses more on plot progression and less focus on selling Skippy merchandise in future books.

I had the pleasure of receiving a pre-release copy of Zero Hour.

Going in, it had me wondering Is Joe Bishop’s luck running out? What will happen to to the Merry Band of Pirates without Skippy? Will we finally meet one of the Apex species, and who the hell are the Wurgulan? Thankfully, all these questions are answered, and more.

Expeditionary Force is becoming my all time favorite Military Science Fiction Book series.

Looking forward to the audio version release, narrated by R.C. Bray... sooner rather than later.

Great storytelling by Craig Alanson.

This book revolves around three key elements; one, restore Skippy to its former glory, two, build a spaceship out of a collection of parts from derelicts, And three, getting on and off a heavily protected planet.

The books in this series are becoming somewhat formulaic. Insolvable problems arise, doom appears to be certain, our hero thinks up a goofy idea, and Skippy the advanced AI manages to implement it.

By now I would’ve expected a realization that the crew needs a new and better ship, and must find a way to get one before the old ship falls completely in to ruin.

Finding the Expeditionary Force series was a lucky accident! I was skimming new sci-fi/military works and came upon the first in the series. Hamsters from space? Seriously? I had to read this and was hooked. I have eagerly read each volume more than once and had anticipated book 5 for months. I was not disappointed to say the least and will happily keep reading as long as Mr. Alanson keeps putting tales of Skippy and his Monkeys out. If you've gotten this far in the series you don't need a synopsis you need an official Merry Band Of Pirates shirt! Mine is on the way. Thank you Mr. Alanson for this exceptional escape from reality.

Love the writing and style, the banter between Skippy and Joe is funny and refreshing, even after 5 books it makes you smile at times, well done!
The overall plot is good, but maybe could be moved faster at times, while it is not THE best book(s) I have read, it is great entertainment and gives you lots to think about!
Joe has lost of the depth that was starting to develop in previous books, as do some of the other characters, would love to see more into their personalities.... but it is fun and great read. Thank you!
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