• Zero Hour

  • Expeditionary Force, Book 5
  • By: Craig Alanson
  • Narrated by: R.C. Bray
  • Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (39,494 ratings)

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Zero Hour  By  cover art

Zero Hour

By: Craig Alanson
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
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Publisher's summary

United Nations Special Operations Command sent an elite expeditionary force of soldiers and pilots out on a simple recon mission, and somehow along the way they sparked an alien civil war. Now the not-at-all-merry band of pirates is in desperate trouble, again. Their stolen alien starship is falling apart, thousands of light years from home. The ancient alien AI they nicknamed Skippy is apparently dead, and even if they can by some miracle revive him, he might never be the same.

©2017 Craig Alanson; 2018 Podium Publishing

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What listeners say about Zero Hour

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Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33,228
  • 4 Stars
    5,345
  • 3 Stars
    750
  • 2 Stars
    125
  • 1 Stars
    46
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34,294
  • 4 Stars
    1,957
  • 3 Stars
    153
  • 2 Stars
    28
  • 1 Stars
    11
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    28,646
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    6,022
  • 3 Stars
    1,344
  • 2 Stars
    179
  • 1 Stars
    76

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • KM
  • 02-14-18

The middle sags with repetition

Another great performance from RC Bray, and Alanson gives him plenty of characters to play with.

However, the story really becomes tedious with repetitive situations that prevent the story from building any momentum. Here's the pattern: The crew faces an insurmountable problem, Skippy apologizes, at the last minute Bishop comes up with an idea, Skippy says it's stupid, Skippy realizes it can work, Skippy complains about being outsmarted by meatsacks, the solution works, almost immediately a new problem is presented. Repeat a couple dozen times. At no point do we wonder if they will be successful. The big picture can never form because we spend 10 - 20 minutes listening to the details about the problem, along with nearly identical dialog. This has been a signature part of previous books in the series, but this book seems to be especially over-written.

It is frustrating because there are some potentially great plot lines. It feels like the author is deliberately stretching the story, so it feels watered-down. Like the boy who cried wolf one too many times, the repeated use of the same story mechanics has erased all emotion from this book.

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273 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Monkeys kick A**, but......

I love this series, but the story is getting bogged down in the usual rinse and repeat cycle. Skippy and Joe's relationship is still as engaging as ever (it even gets a bit emotional), but I wish some of the other characters had time to flex their wings, in particular the no nonsense Sgt Adams. The "Roach Motel" was a wasted opportunity to get some long overdue answers to questions brought up in the other books.

There is still a few laugh out loud moments and it was a enjoyable listen.

I hope things come to a head in the next book.

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98 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

hire an editor

so much repetition and boring details.
I'm a sucker for the plot and idea but golly, just use a red pen and get rid of a few paragraphs and internal dialogue. we get it! there lots of internal thought process about keeping humanity's space flights on the DL but u don't need to bring it up Every timeeee.

otherwise a lovely book idea.

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52 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Getting Repetative

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I really enjoy these books but the author has to build some additional & unique plot lines into the stories.

This book suffered from 1) impossible situation 2) stupid monkeys/etc 3) sad moments/introspection 4) stupid monkey idea 5) fabricated supertech fix. Repeat for 10 hour narrative.

I like the characters, I think the narrator is perfect for the material but the author needs to stretch and present a better storyline. I WANT him to do better.

Another like this and I wont bother to buy/read the next.

Would you ever listen to anything by Craig Alanson again?

yes

Have you listened to any of R. C. Bray’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Good

Was Zero Hour worth the listening time?

Meh

Any additional comments?

Awesome opportunity to do some great things with this universe and cast of characters.

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48 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Let’s Be Honest

Oh yeah, still an entertaining series w/ lovable and snarky characters, but the least of the series, and the overall progression of story arc seems to be stuck in the mud.... Imo still fun and an absolutely excellent listen, and I’ll continue w/ the series, but would like to see a little more in the upcoming...

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46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Poor

What would have made Zero Hour better?

I love the story line but come on, we know the characters, you could of cut 8 hours off and had a better story.

What could Craig Alanson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

story line cut to the last 6 hours and go forward.

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

Great

What character would you cut from Zero Hour?

none

Any additional comments?

I will continue to listen to the story but come on at this point we know everything we need to know just write a better story.

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45 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Returning - needs more 3-D people and plot

About 3.5 hours in, and been bored all the way. Not one laugh yet. So much talking and a battle scene that just dragged on and on and nothing new or inventive.

This has been a fun series, I've put about $50 into it and a lot of time, but by now there should be some very fleshed out people in the series. Banter is fun, but there have been fewer fun cultural reference jokes than before. And, if there's a plot here, there should have been some interesting twists and turns by now. Nada.

Checking the iPod, there's 13+ hours left to go, and I am not willing to spend more time on this. Or money.

It's been fun.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Old formula gets old quickly

Great performance as usual by R. C. Bray. Every single character has their own voice and easily distinguishable from one another. But unfortunately formula of Joe coming up with crazy ideas becomes stale, because it's just the only way this book handles character's problems. Suspense is basically gone. I personally don't feel the stakes any more. Otherwise, great book

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

how many times have I said get on with it?

I think the author is trying to fill a required word cout much like an undergrad in a creative writing class. characters get sidetracked why discussing important matters the author takes a side track from pointless dialogue do you have unnecessary context. really you don't think we know what the gingerbread house? you have to remind us it's from the story of Hansel and Gretel? there's that and then there's a limited abilities of the characters to express themselves. major Sims only ever Cocks her head. sometimes she does twice in a row which makes me think she double cocks it and it's now resting on her shoulder. Colonel Bishop can only pump his fist in excitement and hit his forehead on the desk in frustration. random characters can only bump Fists. it's Skippy can only call people dumb dumb. the characters coming in so other characters by calling them MF ER you know instead of actually using the two words like we're in 6th grade. I've developed so much resentment Colonel Joe that I honestly want to see him fail. but nobody ever fails because they have Skippy there's never any chance of risk you never think a character is going to die or even stub their toe. I could keep on going but I'll just finish by saying this Series has become very tiresome.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just keeps getting better and better

I have been reading sci-fi, on and off, since I was a young teenager and have continued to do so as an Audible member. I buy a fair amount of sci-fi, but almost never buy all of the books in a series since the plots are generally not interesting enough to hold my attention through multiple volumes. That has not been true for this series.

I bought the first book out of curiosity, and the second book because I wanted to know what happened to the characters. After that, I was completely hooked and have bought all of the main books (but not volume 3.5 as it does not concern the main characters) as soon as they were available. As the storyline progressed I had expected to get tired of the characters or, at least, of the continuous series of catastrophes, but have not. In fact I find myself increasingly drawn into the story and concerned about the future of the individuals involved, including Skippy, the alien AI who has become as much of a real character to me as any of the humans.

Even more interesting are the open background questions that have not really been addressed - why is Skippy's memory missing information about his past, why have planets been moved out of their orbits, why and how have Elder cities been destroyed and equipment ransacked, and what really happened to the Elders? I keep thinking that the series, in its own time, may continue to pry loose some of this information but suspect that it may take a lot more books for some of this to become clear.

In some ways the missing information about the Elders has been more intriguing than the individual plots themselves but, as always, it is the back and forth between Skippy and Colonel Joe that forms the backbone of the book. Mr Alanson has done an absolutely wonderful job in making the new books fresh, in changing the crises just enough to keep them from getting repetitious and in keeping my attention.

R. C. Bray's narration is a large part of why I find these books so interesting. I started reading the Kindle version of this volume and found it lacked the humor and interest of the Audible version, and I suspect that without Mr Bray's wonderful narration I would have lost interest long before now.

Now, where is book 6?

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23 people found this helpful