Paradise

Expeditionary Force, Book 3

By: Craig Alanson

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

While the crew of the starship Flying Dutchman have been trying to assure that hostile aliens do not have access to Earth, the UN Expeditionary Force has been stranded on the planet they nicknamed "Paradise".

The Flying Dutchman is headed back out on another mission, and the UN wants the ship to find out the status of the humans on Paradise. But Colonel Joe Bishop warns that they might not like what they find, and they can't do anything about it without endangering Earth.

©2016 Craig Alanson (P)2017 Podium Publishing

running out of ideas...

Loved book 1, book 2 seemed long winded but still had me and this book leaves me wondering if this saga is done with me. I enjoy skippy but he has become very meh... same old same old and Bishop's interactions with him have become underwhelming. Perhaps some more drama between the two...? Idk... I guess I want more elders... or introduce the superior species.

Performance is in my opinion the best around. I Really enjoy Bray's work. He brings characters to life.

I'm a fan of both Alanson and Bray. But book 1 is still the best by far.

Slowing down but still great

This series is full of laughs and Joe and Skippy share an entertaining relationship but it may be time to come up some new dynamics for the two. Grrr Joe how did you out smart me again is getting a little old.

This is a bridge Novel

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

While the reading by R.C.Bray was excellent, I can't say that I enjoyed this story as I had enjoyed the first two books in the series. It bounces about from Paradise to Joe, To Paradise to Joe every few minutes. The first 5 hours was a chore to get through.

Has Paradise turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all. All series sometimes takes you in directions, or just seem to stall on certain events as the author gets his bearings.

Any additional comments?

I don't want to give away anything here, and I certainly do encourage readers to give this series serious consideration, but Alanson could have made this into a shorter story, and I hope the next book in the series will not stall out and become so repetitious as this one was.

Repetitive

Narrator and story are great. I absolutely loved the first book and immediately bought the second because of it. The second was a bit too much arguing between Joe and Skippy and what seemed (in my opinion) to be a lot of added filler that did very little for the story. Because of this I was fairly hesitant to listen to the third but I really wanted to know what happens and unfortunately it is quite similar to the second book.

I did enjoy how the book jumped to different perspectives of characters and even alien races however, I feel as though it was just filler for very mild plot influences. still way too much Skippy and Joe arguing about predictable crap that could be reduced quite a bit so the author could add more to the story. it's makes you want to scream get to the point several times

I was really hoping the author would reach a point of the elders/Skippy making some headway. instead the whole book seemed to come to a disappointing end and a cliff hanger that doesn't really entice me to want to listen further. I really like the story I just wish there was as much action as there is talking/arguing.


I just finished the first book of the Fear the Sky saga which is a kind of similar story line (minus the space travel) but I enjoyed that book much more and recommend it.

R C Bray never disappoints.

the overall story was a 3.5 stars for me. There is a good bit of action, some interesting and unique scenarios, but the dialogue between Skippy and Joe gets a little old. It just follows the same and repetitive formula; There's a sticky situation, Skippy the super duper artificial intelligence can't find a solution, Joe a monkey brain human comes up with a clever solution, Skippy hates himself and bemoans his existence. repeat this 1000 times and you have a book. That said the banter and scenarios are interesting, the characters are fun, and I found the book to just be a great listen in the background while doing other things.

Great writing and reading

I have been waiting for this third book and it didn't disappoint! I have loved this whole series so far. Many times I literally laughed out loud.

Best Sci-Fi trilogy I have heard to date and the reading and interactions between characters are done to perfection! Bravo

Better than Book 2

I wrote a review for Book 2 of the Expeditionary Force that basically said it was terrible, and that I hoped Book 3 would be better. I don't know why I bought this book, to be honest. I had low expectations. But I did buy it, and listened to it. My expectations were slightly exceeded.

First, R.C. Bray is excellent. I think that's a given at this point, but I'm still perfectly happy to listen to him for long periods of time.

Otherwise, this one was better than the second Expeditionary Force book, but not drastically so. Alanson still repeats the same jokes over and over. His problem solving usually involves introducing solutions that are impossible according to modern physics, and then uses hand-waving/"you monkeys aren't smart enough" to explain why it worked. It's poorly done science fiction by any measure. And his books feel too long, as if he is purposefully adding material to extend the length of the novels.

I think three stars is accurate for an overall score, with the performance being what keeps bringing me back.

These books are so much fun

Let me just get it out there. I'd read anything that had Skippy and Col. Joe at the heart. Their relationship grows in this installment, but the humor and wit are still at its core.
The story picks up where book 2 ended. There's a brief period back on earth, but the real begins once the Flying Dutchman is back in space.
This plot has some good twists and turns, but in the end the plot is just the way that we get to ride along with Skippy and Joe. And what a fun ride it is.

And the end sets up book 4.

Finally, RC Bray is absolutely perfect for this book. He's an awesome reader. He gives each character unique, memorable voices. But it is more than that. RC captures the essence of the story. He didn't miss a beat. I don't know if the book would be as good as it is without his talent at telling the story.

Skippy is AWESOME

I absolutely loved this book. The author has forever ruined A.I.s for me. I want all A.I.s in sci-fi to have the Skippy attitude! Seriously it was a great story.

Serious lack of story progression.

Nothing new and interesting in this book. The author should have expanded more on the elders and higher order species... Boring rehash of prior books.

Skippy De Doo Da!

My oh my what a wonderful book. These are just such great fun. Powered by the thoroughbred that is RC Bray there are likeable characters, plenty of action and actually some reasonably clever popcorn sci-fi ideas.

Of course there is also Skippy the vastly intelligent alien AI beer can through which most of the delicious humour is delivered. Highlights in this one include him giving Joe some "live" relationship advice and a little fashion parade including a false moustache which had me genuinely laughing out loud.

At some point I have to believe that this might start to seem repetitive . . . no sign of it yet though!

an alright space opera story

the constant repetitive smack talk from the elder AI spoils an otherwise relatively entertaining story.

its skippy time

Would you consider the audio edition of Paradise to be better than the print version?

Craig Alanson is the master of sarcasm especially when its delivered by R C Bray, this is the third in a series which just gets better and better, the story keeps you going but its the interaction between Col Joe and his omnipotent little beer can is superb and when delivered with R C Brays dulcet tones brings everything to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

has to be Skippy the magnificent, no other character can be so sarcastic yet with a roguish quality.

What about R.C. Bray’s performance did you like?

i have listened to a lot of R C Brays work and this narrator is the best.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

how can you get moved by a beer can calling you a dumb monkey all the time lol

Any additional comments?

superb work by craig and R C dont keep us waiting for the other books.

Much better this time around!

Which character – as performed by R.C. Bray – was your favourite?

Joe, as always ;)

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book much more than the previous two, less of Skippy calling everyone Monkey's every third word, lots of action, a better plot with the story taking place in two locations. Not sure what the point of Count Chocula was in this book as he didn't have much of an impact but aside from that I was engrossed in this. Plus a cliffhanger? :(

Amazing listen

Being the third book in the series I was worried that the humour would start to get old. It's safe to say that this is not the case. Love listening to Skippy and the crew and can't wait for the next book in the series. Keep up the amazing work.

To similar

The boss need to progress more, introducing the other alien races. It is constant problem, joe comes up with idea skippy couldn't think off and they carry it out, anything that is impossible is done by skippy magic and done. This was the same in the other book the story needs to move on with the more advanced alien races and what happened to the elders etc

Still a lot of fun

Definitely a fun series with plenty of likable characters, but we need to ease off on Joe having ideas Skippy hadn't thought of. This has been taken to a knowing level in the third book and is a little overused.

Doesn't stop it being fun.

Fun and enjoyable

Ive just listened to all three of the books on the trot. Found myself chortling and with a smile on my face for 40 hours, I really am going to stop reading negative reviews on Audible. This was everything I wanted in a series of novels pure funny escapism. And there is a fourth novel in paper or kindle form, hopefully to be on audible? Do I wait or get the kindle version? Mmm

Even a stinky monkey can be clever. If not genius.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes from R C Bray`s great delivery to the writer`s character driven story line. Makes this another great addition to the sci-fi genre. I have recommended this to dear friends I believe would appreciate the pop culture and story driver narrative.

What did you like best about this story?

The character interaction and personalities are well rounded and lend themselves to the story. The verbal comedy is fluid and well scripted.

Which character – as performed by R.C. Bray – was your favourite?

He does "Skippy" like no one else could and pulls it off brilliantly!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I fought for my right to listen to audio books whilst at work and great books and delivery like this vindicate my conviction.Even if my colleges just don`t get the audio book buzz.But all they care about is golf and football. Good luck with that.

Any additional comments?

I found this series through the narrator rather than the author. Just shows the power of a great voice actor on the right story can drawn fans to new authors. The writing deserves credit for a top notch story to. Loved every adventure minute of it.

too many references to not guessing monkey ideas

the repeated lines where Skippy gets angry for not having the ideas that the human 'monkey' characters had gets a bit grinding after a while. plus there seems to be a bit too much lag in telling the story in the middle of this book. possibly due to a lack of a real story.