Ground State

Expeditionary Force, Book 19

By: Craig Alanson

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

The mission to destroy the enemy Gateway was literally a smashing success.

Except the Pirates were too late, and now not one but two of the enemy are loose in the galaxy. And they are equipped with starships more powerful than Valkyrie. A direct fight would be hopeless, so the Pirates must rely on wacky ideas from the mushy brain of a monkey—and some serious sketchiness.

The Expeditionary Force saga continues in book 19 from epic sci-fi writer Craig Alanson and narrated by none other than R.C. Bray.

©2025 Craig Alanson (P)2025 Podium Audio

Wash, rinse and repeat

I have enjoyed the series, although the last three or four books are just blurring into each other. I’m about halfway through and I find myself mentally wondering off during the same conversations that they have had. I have one more in me. I hope he wraps it up.

a looooooong time...

I was 69 when I heard book one. Now, at 79 I hope I will live to hear book 20.

Felt like a return to old form

I love this series. I love the format, regardless of if it's considered repetitive or not because not everything has to be some brand new art of storytelling. I enjoy what this series does: how the characters grow and evolve, how they interact together, and the cooky ideas they come up with and execute.

That being said, I do feel the previous two entries felt a lot like "Oh we are so screwed" the whole time and remaining on the edge of "We don't have a clue what to do" which did get a bit repetitive. Ground State flips back to earlier ExForce where they had a seemingly insurmountable challenge, but the Pirates had a working plan that required thinking on the move. Yes, despair was involved but that's just SOP for the Merry Band of Pirates.

Several points throughout the book had me on the edge of my seat. And as it neared the end (no spoilers) I kept feeling like another shoe was gonna drop. I hadn't remembered hearing if this was meant to be the final entry (again) or not (mild spoiler: it's not). But as it got closer I knew something had to go wrong...and holy **** was I right! I'm dying for Book 20 already!

The humor and the sci-fi combination is amazing. Cannot wait for the next book.

Cannot think of a thing. What could anyone possibly complain about? The story is a perfect blend of sci-fi and humor, it is engaging and just when you think you know what is happening you get something totally unexpected. It doesn’t get any better.

Another fun adventure with Joe and Skippy

A few recording bloopers weren’t edited out but RC Bray is always my favorite narrator and it’s good to know he’s human