Fallout

Expeditionary Force, Book 13

By: Craig Alanson

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 22 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

The Expeditionary Force saga continues with Fallout, the eagerly awaited sequel to number one Audible-ranked and New York Times best-selling Breakaway, from an epic sci-fi writer at the top of his game. Join the millions of listeners who have enjoyed R.C. Bray’s hilarious portrayal of Joe, Skippy, the Merry Band of Pirates, and so many other unforgettable characters.

The problem with lying about having a super weapon is that the bad guys might believe they have nothing to lose by doing something stupid that both sides will regret. Or, they might just call your bluff. Either way, the Merry Band of Pirates need a plan to deal with the Fallout.

©2021 Craig Alanson (P)2021 Podium Audio

How much more epic can this get???

I probably need a full month to just process everything I read. I am impatient. I can't read a book of this series (or the Dresden Files series if we are being honest) and do it in a normal fashion where I only read a little bit at the time. For one, I am too invested in the story, for another, the fast pace and non-stop action make it hard for me to encounter a natural breaking point (chapters? what are those?). So what did I do? I took the entire day off, cooked, walked, shouted, then sadly washed the dishes, as I listened to RC Bray's spectacular narration and immersed myself in the book.
However long it takes me to do a full analysis and update all of my theories about what the heck is going on and how it's going to end, I need to share how amazing this book NOW!
Seriously, it's that good. Like, you'd think after 13 books the whole "new crisis, despair, inventive solution + space battles and a few dirtside adventures" formula would get old, but dude, it doesn't! The cast of characters grows with each book and it makes it all the more interesting.
I can't go into spoilers (which sucks because I very much want to go into detailed spoilers of everything so I can explain very clearly why this book was worth the binge) but I'll say this: I like that in this one it's not about outsmarting someone but continuing to fix mistakes and I do like that we are slowly getting more hints about the whole thing. I can't wait to get book 14 and get some explanation for that ending so be advised, this one ends in a cliffhanger and it's not a small one.
Non spoilery thoughts go like this:
- good adventure
- extremely entertaining hijinks
- few hints, more questions
- excellent narration (as if it isn't obvious)
- Bilby is still a cool dude
- I wanted more Joe and Margaret
- I kinda missed Nagatha
- The Ethics and Compliance Office is still awesome
- I liked getting more insight into the spiders and kitties


Tl;dr: It's a great new addtion to the overall series, I thoroughly enjoyed it 5/5⭐

Those ship's names........😂🤩

I actually feel disappointed that the Jeraptha are a fictional race of aliens.😞
I don't know how Craig Alanson dreamed up the fleet names for the Jeraptha ships; I laugh every time I hear a new one.
Also, Scorandum and Kinsta are hilarious. Some of the best dialogue in the Expeditionary Force books is between the Ethics and Compliance officers.
I hope C.A. does a spin-off series with this sketchy group of characters. It would be amazing 🤩

excellent story, good to have it back!

i love the expeditionary force, the books remain great, admittedly with a few small hiccups, and insane shrieking fans going in weird directions. the story continues pretty well and we get more from characters like sims showing her personality and growth. if youve reached book 12, then your likely to enjoy this one.

People are to critical

I really love these books. I don’t understand how people can’t sit back and just enjoy the ride they take us on. Yes these guys find themselves in one jam after another and have to work their way out. The way I look at this series is kind of like a sitcom each book has its own set of dilemmas but there is a deeper story behind it too like the old ones and skippy’s memories. The Author is building a world here and I for one love it. So with that out of the way the only thing left is to say thank you sir may I have another.

best book in the series

I had in previous books given up all hope on this series but this book resurrected it and was fantastic from beginning to end

Pins and Needles

Best one yet. Wow, I'm still in shock. The final book is going to be bonkers. R.C. and Craig, keep up the great work. 👍

I hate Craig Alanson and RC Bray

Guys. You better be working on book 14 now and I mean no vacation. No time off. Work extra hours like the rest of us under this economy. We are working a lot of overtime like fifty minimum hours per week. This is your call to action. Make book 14 happen. Now.

Great book!

love the story is moving ahead at a nice place and not trashing the crysis of the day a few of the books got stuck in.

Of course RC Bray is great with the audio and brings the characters to life.

Purr-fection if you're not a rotten kitty

Perfection there isn't really anything more to say. I honestly thought the books were going down hill but Craig and RC did perfect!

Power up as usual

This book was an interesting read. The stakes couldn't be higher in this book with not just survival of humanity but all life. However the conclusion of this book seems to be that the author is basically saying bow down and worship these guys. Humanity should be the central power of the universe. While I appreciate the drama that Alanson does. He does seem to forget about plotlines that he setup. For example the whole betrayal that happened and now more power to humans seems odd. Also the series as a whole has always done a one way winning streak. The main characters cannot suffer any defeats and other people in the stories pay the price. The story had so many plotlines going that they just seemed too much and Alanson had to bring the story back by creating a new plotline. Also for some reason his stories always seem to have characters that have a hivemind. Politics and people do not work that way and he brushes this off as 'pass it along". This was an exciting book, but there are so many things happening that just gotten out of control. I am writing a review and this my opnion. I have enjoyed the series and hope it continues. Except I do not agree with the whole lets make MC characters be gods or humans. That never goes anywhere good. Another thing I do not understand why Alanson made the Rindulu bad guys. They have not done anything to humanity other than denying access. Yet MC just causal killed hundreds if not thousands of their people. If Alanson shrugs it off as just business that's just not how living beings work. We get it humans don't like being controlled but you don't have to slaughter people to get your way. Also in the books Alanson proved that humanity was not trustworthy so giving more power to someone you don't trust makes total sense as Skippy would say.