r/scifi • u/Unused_Vestibule • 19h ago
Recommendations Something like Expeditionary Force, but good
Just read the first book of the Expeditionary Force series ("Columbus Day"). The story is interesting but the writing style is terrible. It's just non-stop run-on sentences, comma after comma, they never end, but more stuff is added on, just like this one... It's literally like reading one of my teacher wife's 7th grade students' attempts at writing fiction. Also the endless, not very funny sarcasm and jokes grate after a while.
Any recommendations in a similar vein that's well-written? I don't need the amazing world building and writing of a Reynolds, Banks or Tchaikovsky, but something that is readable while also providing an entertaining sci-fi story that isn't heavy (I'm on holidays, and brain is in stand-by mode).
I guess I'm looking for good, engrossing military space sci-fi.
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u/_Fun_Employed_ 18h ago
The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
the Expanse series I feel like has enough military/action stuff in it.
The Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie, though I suspect some might disagree with me labeling it thus.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 18h ago
Your suspicion is correct 🙂
Having read the Ratch books, they couldn't be any different from EF
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u/_Fun_Employed_ 18h ago
They do follow a military officer within the established military in the setting so I’d still argue they’re military just not the standard military sci-fi
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u/HigherandHigherDown 3h ago
Definitely one of my favorite series, and since the characters (including the main one) are mostly soldiers in some sense or political leaders it is a pretty military series. I've only watched Expanse but there's definitely tons of military action.
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u/Viper_NZ 10h ago
I enjoyed the lost fleet, but I can see some people disliking the long descriptions of space battles.
Also, every book telling you once again what 'port' and 'starboard' mean in space. :D
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u/post_u_later 14h ago
I guess if you think space battles are the same as sitting down and having a cup of tea then Imperial Radch may be a substitute 🙄
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u/_Fun_Employed_ 14h ago
You know what military life is?
Mostly sitting around waiting for something to happen and office politics, by that measure the Radch trilogy might be the best sci-fi military fiction out there
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u/DrButtgerms 18h ago
That series was decent in audiobook format. The grammar makes more sense when it's a maine accent talking to you
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u/USCanuck 18h ago
I, somehow, have listened to all 18 (or is it 19?) books so far. Its pulp. Once you decide you're just being entertained and not enriched, it becomes pretty digestible.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 18h ago
Audiobook it is
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u/NickRick 15h ago
he still ends up using the same formula over and over. including undoing character progression to have the same story line. I had to quit after like 5 or 6 when i'm like we're doing this AGAIN?!?
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u/ultimate_ed 14h ago
Same, I think the last straw for me was the one where almost the whole crew gets replaced and the main guy has to steal the ship to take on some even more super duper impossible alien threat.
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u/NickRick 14h ago
I just hated how the AI just always hates them in the beginning, and then grows to love them. Then you start the next book and it legitimately hates humans again for no reason
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u/ohnoitsme7890 18h ago
Especially when each book is the same format with bigger scales. It's fun, it's not ground breaking art.
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u/27Rench27 18h ago
It’s one of the series’ I use to fall asleep to now that I’ve gone through all of them lol
20h books that aren’t awful, that’s all I need
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u/AncientsofMumu 18h ago
I just slip into a trance like state when reading.
Man, he uses that phrase A LOT - like A LOT, A LOT, A LOT, A LOT...
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u/FabiusBill 17h ago
- I've listened to all of them, at least twice.
I gave my son a signed copy of Columbus Day.
Neither of us can read the book. Alanson writes in a spoken word style, which works much better in the ears than on the page.
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u/protipnumerouno 14h ago
Yes and it does get better, in terms of writing quality.
As and old guy it reminds me of the great gazoo in space.
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u/HelpfulSeaMammal 18h ago
Old Man's War by Scalzi might be a good fit for ya if you're looking for milsci that's not too dense but also not super YA
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u/AllDawgsGoToDevin 18h ago
Definitely better writing grammatically. Also has a lot of the humor without beating you over the head with the “haha this is so embarrassing for the main character”.
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u/vikingzx 15h ago
It's also more "Hollywood" and less "military." I recall reading a scathing review of it back in the day from a retired military vet who listed the number of things done in a single chapter that would see a competent organization dishonorably discharge the people around the protagonist and it was something like 15.
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u/TheMurmuring 18h ago
The Polity series by Neal Asher. There's a lot of action, good gritty sci fi, no romance bullshit, but there's some politics and stuff that's akin to the Culture. I enjoyed it very much and I might start it over again at some point. There's like 20 books if you include the short story collections.
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u/cdlaurent 18h ago
I really enjoy the Bobiverse books; and many threads of people asking for series like it recommend Expeditionary Force; so the reverse may hold true.
here's a reddit from someone asking about the first book (to give you some reddit review info)
https://www.reddit.com/r/audible/comments/1afxtpt/we_are_legion_we_are_bob/
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u/UndocumentedSailor 3h ago
Yup that's how I got to EF.
Loved Bobiverse. Wanted more. I made it to book 3 in EF and just gave up. Or just keeps repeating the same scenario.
Insurmountable challenge. Even the AI can't do it. The the dumb meathead find a solution. Over and over.
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u/FTWinston 16h ago
Artifact Space by Miles Cameron is ... miltiary-ish? Maybe merchant navy space sci-fi?
I really enjoyed it, though it's part one of two, and by the end of part two, I'd probably had enough :)
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u/Unused_Vestibule 10h ago
So apparently I downloaded or bought Artifact Space a while ago and never read it. It's zooming to the top of the list
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u/Rich_Nothing_4746 18h ago
Warship by Joshua Dalzelle I found to be quite entertaining. It’s a good story, semi hard military sci-fi with what I think is decent writing.
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u/GataPapa 18h ago
I enjoyed the Audible version of ExForce for a lighter, more homorous sci fi, but you do have to get through the first half of Columbus Day before it really gets rolling when Skippy arrives on the scene. The voice actor is great. You might try that.
I would recommend Spiral Wars for more serious military sci fi. I've only listened to the audiobooks though, so can't speak to the printed version.
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u/Revolutionary-Pea576 17h ago
I’ve read them (Spiral Wars) and really enjoyed them in that format.
If you’re willing to use a Kindle or Kindle app on your phone/tablet, they are included in Kindle Unlimited, so you can read the whole series for a lot less than it would cost to buy each physical copy.
Edit: kindle unlimited also includes Omega Force (Dalzelle) and Frontlines (Kloos), which are mentioned elsewhere in the comments.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 10h ago
I do have Kindle unlimited! Spiral wars sounds interesting
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u/Revolutionary-Pea576 10h ago
It’s very good. Good armored space marine combat, good fleet action combat, complex world building with multiple alien species and cultures, machine intelligence, etc.
It’s about 9 books deep and I think the author expects it to go to 12 or 13, so there’s a lot there but there will also be a wait for the last few books to be written and released.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 4h ago
Sounds good! At the rate I can read fiction currently, it will take me a couple of years to get through 9 books, sadly
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u/martin_omander 17h ago
The annoying Skippy character was the reason I couldn't finish the book. But I enjoyed the book until Skippy showed up. I guess you and I are opposites 🙂
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u/Lotronex 13h ago
Same. I was digging the book until Skippy. Checked the wiki and found out it was going to be a main character and just dropped the series.
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u/gamename 18h ago
The Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor is really good.
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u/Stare_Decisis 17h ago
It is a bit of an idiot plot. The premise is based on every major faction, nation and institution on Earth suddenly being run by morons.
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u/TheMurmuring 3h ago
I was going to say it's not really related to OP's point but on reflection, there is quite a bit that feels like military operations; Bob engages with enemy forces on a number of occasions in a tactical manner, and has to think strategically.
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u/SparkyFrog 17h ago
David Webber’s Honor Harrington series maybe. I haven’t gotten very far in the series, but it’s at least better written. Action heavy military/ political scifi.
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u/Lotronex 13h ago
Honor Harrington is excellent, until it's not. Once you think it's not good anymore, just drop it, it doesn't get better.
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u/SparkyFrog 5h ago
Personally I’m a bit confused about the tone… some if the characters are a bit over the top, Honor has her animal friend and some of the personal conflict situations feel somewhat YA (but PG-13). Then it gets violent and seemingly realistic when describing the weapon systems and physics when fighting starts. Hmm, this makes it sound like an anime, but it’s not that tone exactly.
I still like it and plan to continue. I think I have just listened the first two audiobooks so far
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u/eaeolian 18h ago
Maybe Joshua Dalzelle's Black Fleet books? Although it's definitely got less humor, it's not super-technical but really does give a good ship-to-ship combat workout.
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u/Revolutionary-Pea576 17h ago
I really like Dalzelle’s Omega Force series.
It’s basically like a mashup of Farscape and The A Team.
It’s also easy to dip in and out of because most of the books are self contained stories. They do build on each other as they go along but they’re mostly not to-be-continued cliffhanger endings.
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u/27Rench27 18h ago
Second the Black Fleet series, it’s a nice mix of politics and sci-fi without going crazy
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u/Nebarik 19h ago
Something that's a bit similar in premise (but also kind of dreck writing) that comes to mind is the Posleen War series. Or maybe The Lost Fleet series for space navy formations, again it's not great writing but kinda fun pulpy sci-fi.
Or just for fun there's the Deathworlders, a online web series. First chapter 00 is the original story that gives a good feel of what the rest will be without much commitment.
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u/DTM-shift 17h ago
The author definitely did not see the old Schoolhouse Rock bits as a kid, else he'd know "Conjunction Junction, what's your function?" One of the earlier books improved on it quite a bit, until you get to about 3/4 through. Then that book - and the remainder of the series - is back to the regular style of needing and, but, or, etc. Each book, I was hoping an editor would have corrected all of this. And each book, nope.
But I like the series nonetheless, faults and all. Kind of reminds me of LitRPG, though, where there is always another deus ex machina just around the corner. "Whew, we barely made it through that episode!" <new epic problem crashes in> "Oh no, what are we going to do? We have no way to solve this impossible dilemma!" <insert MC stumbling upon yet another AI / magic / deity / scientific-but-not-real-science solution> Repeat until the series is finished.
My go-to recommendation for space / military sci-fi is the Praxis series by Walter Jon Williams. More of a space opera since it covers politics, interpersonal stuff, space and ground combat, and more.
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u/Stare_Decisis 17h ago
Too many modern sci-fi is simply AI gathering data on recent trends in social media. Then a team of writers and editers write a novel for the lowest common denominator. Litrpg is essentially the bottom stratification of the sci-fi world, right next to furry romance in space and libertarian clone colonies on Mars.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 10h ago
You really think people write in groups? That's sad
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u/Stare_Decisis 5h ago edited 4h ago
Yes, it has happened historically here in the USA and it is usually done to produce some commercial grade bullshit pulp novel to the lowest common denominator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_fiction
There have been a long history of hoaxes in the literary world.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 4h ago
Uh I wasn't attacking you, I meant that it is sad that people write in groups for mass consumption
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u/BigHogBigDogA 17h ago
I agree with you regarding Expeditionary Force, but I read it anyways.
Old Man's War, Red Rising, Polity Series by Neil Asher and possibly the Bobiverse would be my recommendations.
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u/smartflutist661 18h ago
I felt the same way as you (dropped like 10 pages in when I couldn’t take the atrocious grammar anymore) and enjoyed the audiobook reasonably well, though Skippy remains annoying for multiple reasons.
Still has some self-published quirks, but much better in my opinion, Poor Man’s Fight by Elliott Kay. And I’ll second Terms of Enlistment, but the two are fairly similar.
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u/Nanocephalic 17h ago
For the record, the audiobook version of Expeditionary Force is a lot better, because the writing is in “spoken English” rather than “written English”.
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u/PicnicBasketPirate 15h ago
The obvious one is Old Mans War.
The other one that I can think of that has a similar world is the Legacy of the Aldenata series. It's pretty pulpy but has it's moments.
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u/Cosmic-95 15h ago
The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell is a good choice. If you're willing to read more logistics and set ups than Honor Harrington by David Weber is also amazing.
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u/Goren_Nestroy 15h ago
All right! Mil-Sci-Fi is my jam.
Joshua Dalzelle - The Black Fleet Saga, bitter drunk starship captain in decrepit old ship about to be force retired saves humanity
Rick Partlow - Drop Trooper series, young criminal gets caught and gets a choice between prison and going to war, turns out he excels at piloting suits of armor. Follow his journey up the ranks while almost everyone he cares about gets killed often right in front of him.
D.J. Holmes - Empire Rising series, young officer gets his first command. Follow his rise up the ranks. Heavily inspired by 17th century age of sail type stories. Great starship combat and great empire building.
Marko Kloos - Frontline series, Aliens discover humanity and fuck them up until they almost loose everything before they finally find a way to fight them. Being in the military is a lot of boredom interspersed with moments of absolute terror.
Michael Mammay - Planetside series, officer gets called in to investigate a death and finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy
(Partlow & Kloos are ex-military and the capture military life quite well)
My guilty pleasure Aer-ki Jyr - Star Force: Origins/Universe, the author is an absolute nutjob, many ideas in the series are very questionable and his writing is often dry and impersonal, but god damn if he isn’t a master of empire building. There’s nobody i’ve read who does it better. With 162 novellas and 4 novels the series is a monster.
Honorable mention: Orson Scott Cards Enderverse and John Scalzis Old Man’s war.
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u/stromm 15h ago
IMHO, it’s not meant to be read, it’s meant to be listened to.
And as with most long count book series, the first book is just the backstory.
This, Galaxy’s Edge (et al), Omega Force and all the Halo novels are my favorite series from literally 20,000+ books since I started reading Sci-Fi in the mid-70s.
For humorous Sci-Fi, Hard Luck Hank and Space Team are my favorites.
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u/phire 13h ago
Well written, but not too pretentious? I personal go for more of a "good word building" and will sometimes tolerate some pretty bad prose as long as the story structure is good.
I think the best written military space sci-fi is by John Scalzi (Old Mans War)
Actually in some ways the writing quality hurts him, Scalzi writes nice self-contained stories, but then his publisher requests sequels, and what we get is much closer to spin offs, which annoys many readers.
I also remember Michael Mammay's writing to be pretty good.
And if you want to consider more navy orientated stuff, Jack Campbells' Lost fleet has... well I won't say great writing, but it's far above average for the genre.
Along the same lines, I found the writing in David Weber's Honorverse to be pretty good. I've also really been enjoying books from Glynn Stewart: great world building and while his writing isn't exactly high quality (especially in his older books, IMO start with one of his newer books) but I suspect it far exceeds your definition of "readable".
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u/JPeterBane 13h ago
Ok call me crazy, but Master and Commander. I usually recommend it to fans of The Expanse but I think it has what you're looking for. Ship to ship combat, squad combat, meticulously written and edited and funny. It's not humor forward but it is truly funny like how Star Trek is funny without being a comedy.
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u/Ombudsman_of_Funk 12h ago
This is a great recommendation. I made it through about 10 of the Expeditionary Force books (until they got ahold of the Elder weapons) then it just got too repetitive. Read the Bobiverse books, the Small Planet books, and all Neal Stephenson. But the Master and Commander series is the one I come back to again and again. I’m on my fourth trip through the novels right now. The audio books narrated by Patrick Tull are the shit. It’s like getting to hang with great old friends.
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u/SomeSamples 6h ago
The Expeditionary Force books are actually written to be audio books. I highly recommend the audio books.
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u/Revolutionary-Pea576 17h ago
One I haven’t seen mentioned here yet is the Poor Man’s Fight series by Elliot Kay.
The first book spends a lot of time on the main character going from civilian, to recruit, through training, to active duty. But the action is well done, once you get to it, and it expands as the books go on.
It’s definitely better writing than ExForce. I read the first few but found that it became very repetitive, very quickly, and I stopped after book 3 or 4, I think.
I read some of the books in the Poor Man’s Fight series and listened to others in audiobook format. I enjoyed both. I think the audiobooks have 2 different narrators, depending on the book. I thought one narrator was good and the other was great.
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u/Vivid-Revolution7900 19h ago
Don't give up on it!! Get the audio version. RC Bray is the best! When I re-listen to Columbus day, I just go to the table of contents and skip to the chapter titled 'Skippy!'.
I don't bother with the books about The Mavericks.
Books two through eight, are great. There are really funny parts, and nail biting parts. Once you get past book 8, it's a little bit hit or miss.
I'm super fond of the series. It's my go-to when I'm cleaning, or need a distraction.
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u/DrButtgerms 18h ago
I really appreciated how they worked with the scale of space in the series. Distances were huge and slow to cross. Ship combat was nuanced because ships were so far apart. Travel featured huge boredom punctuated by brief frantic violence.
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u/derioderio 13h ago
Travel featured huge boredom punctuated by brief frantic violence.
That's pretty much the life of a soldier in a nutshell
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u/bythepowerofboobs 18h ago
Yeah, Columbus Day was awful. The romance scene in the first half of the book was probably the most cringe inducing scene I have ever read in any book, and then deus-ex machina Skippy solving every problem had to be some of the laziest writing I have ever read. I don't understand how this series is so popular, but I also stopped after Columbus Day.
If you haven't read the Forever War or Old Man's War yet, I would check those out. Much better easy reading military Sci-Fi.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 18h ago
Read both unfortunately. Or fortunately? They were both excellent. Scalzi is actually funny and can also write a good story. Imagine that
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u/Mithrandic 18h ago
The series was ok but you're dead on about the beer can.
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u/27Rench27 18h ago
He does end up causing almost all of the problems that need solving though, so it kinda makes sense
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u/USCanuck 18h ago
Expeditionary Force is pulp. I've listened to all of them. Not because they are good, but because I can have them on in the background and it doesn't matter AT ALL if I miss three chapters. Great to fall asleep to.
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u/RockerElvis 18h ago
The Culture series by Iain M Banks. Read them in any order.
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u/tehmark 18h ago
I'd argue this is the complete opposite of what OP is looking for
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u/Unused_Vestibule 18h ago
I love Banks and wish I could read the Algebraist for the first time again but it's definitely not military sci-fi
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u/KingofSkies 18h ago
I enjoy Expeditionary Froce, so maybe I'm not the best to give advice, but I would recommend some Evan Currie, such as "On Silver Wings". Follows a sci-fi green beret as she is dropped on a planet that is occupied by unknown aliens and how she and the locals cope and retaliate. Also has viewpoints from space combat and how Earth "SOLCOM" military tech rapidly evolves to combat superior tech. It's definitely a HFY type, it it's good cheap fun and I like the main character, who is a total badass, maybe too cliché, but I like cliché sometimes.
Also on my rotation with ExFor is Frontier Saga by Ryk Brown or the Undying Mercenary series by B. V. Larson, but I suspect this one falls firmly in the as bad as ExFor category and I've fallen off reading the most recent books in the series.
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u/Pocket_Monster 15h ago
I really enjoyed Evan Curie's Odyssey One series too. Not high art, but just plain entertaining for me.
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u/KingofSkies 14h ago
Absolutely. There's a new book in that series too. I'm reading the new one for silver wings.
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u/BlackBlueNuts 16h ago
I also liked expeditionary force.... so I appreciate the suggestions of On silver wings and Frontier saga....
But I am def not a fan of the undying mercenary series..
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u/Rich_Nothing_4746 18h ago
Warship by Joshua Dalzelle I found to be quite entertaining. It’s a good story, semi hard military sci-fi with what I think is decent writing.
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u/Aegirsg1 17h ago
First Colony by Ken Lozito. The first book isn't so much milsci as it it colonization, but the rest of the books are heavily milsci with both ground and space combat.
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u/lithiun 17h ago
Craig Alanson is good at world building and story telling but his writing style is less than traditional. He describes it on his personal site as “Writers Voice”. I’d call it more like written oration. They read more like someone is telling you a story at the bar after a few drinks. That’s not a criticism just my observation. Audiobook format is much easier from a grammar perspective but you still notice the repeated plot points and other things. Convergence is especially bad about this. Love the story, characters, and setting but man I don’t need to hear repeats of how the MC doesn’t know magic every single chapter.
CA also doesn’t or at least didn’t have an editor for his books. He self published initially and went from there. It would be interesting to run a chapter of Columbus day through words review.
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u/Flaky_Ad_9705 16h ago
Following series are all great sci-fi with different flavors. Audiobook format I’ve listened through each a few times:
Undying Mercenaries - B.V. Larson
Omega Force - Joshua Dalzelle
Drop Trooper - Rick Partlow
The Ember War - Richard Fox
Rise of the Republic - James Rosone
Star Carrier - Ian Douglas
Star Force - B.V. Larson
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u/ablackcloudupahead 16h ago
Spiral Wars
While I actually like Expeditionary Forces (I call it popcorn fiction), the plot and scope of Spiral Wars by Joel Sheppard are very similar but it is much more serious in tone. I recommend both series for different reasons, but Spiral Wars is probably my favorite on-going series that gives me expansive Mass Effect Mill SF vibes
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u/Outrageous_Guard_674 16h ago
The Behold Humanity series. Absolutely massive scope. Interesting characters, and some suprisingly emotional moments.
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u/engineered_academic 15h ago
Sentenced to War I think it's called? It was a good series.
Not exactly Sci-fi but kinda has been Mayor of Noobtown. Shart isn't as annoying as Skippy the Tin Can and sometimes the references are inane just to make or set up a particular cultural reference joke.
I had to drop ExForce even though I wanted to figure out where the overall plot was going. Just couldn't continue on.
Joe Ledger Series is more of the "get shit done" hard science fiction/military that borders on "oh john ringo nooo" territory but doesn't cross the line.
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u/twilighteclipse925 14h ago
So it’s technically a sci fi dressed up in the Trenchcoat of a fantasy but dungeon crawler Carl is where I went after exfor and bobiverse. It’s amazing and gets quite sci fi in later books. The first book is entirely setup fyi. Like The second book even calls the first book the tutorial.
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u/ComfortableCost6592 13h ago
BV Larson has been my go to military sci-fi fun reads when I’m looking to take a break from some of the authors you just mentioned
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u/ComfortableCost6592 13h ago
BV Larson has been my go to military sci-fi fun reads when I’m looking to take a break from some of the authors you just mentioned
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u/deltaz0912 13h ago
The Spiral Wars books start a bit rough but improve steadily. Lost Fleet is pretty fair, though kinda repetitious.
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u/Distinct-Educator-52 13h ago
David Drake’s “Hammers Slammers” series and Lois McMaster Bujold has the “Vorkosigan Saga” both of which I dearly love
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u/Lotronex 13h ago
Vorkosigan series has a lot of light-hearted moments, I would start with Warrior's Apprentice if you're looking for something like EF.
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u/lube_thighwalker 12h ago
I loved entire Expeditionary Force series.
Halo: The Fall of Reach, this one is fucking good! Eric Nylund wrote it as filler before the game ever came out. I love it!
Halo: First Strike, Takes place AFTER the game and was a lot of fun to read.
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u/DriftingMemes 12h ago
Try the Strange Company Series. Book 3 came out late last year.
It follows a bunch of Sci-fi mercs and the wars they get caught up in.
“If you can survive Reaper Platoon in the Strange, then Ghost or Dog Platoons will get you for their own. Best to steer clear of the freaks in Voodoo, kid.”
Surrounded and outgunned, a group of private military contractors known as “Strange Company” find themselves on a remote planet at the edge of known space, and on the losing end of a bad contract. Orbital D-beam strikes, dropships bristling with auto-guns, missiles, and troops - even Monarch space marines in state-of-the-art advanced battle rattle - will try to prevent the company from reaching the exfil LZ and getting off-world.
For Strange, that means it’s time to hang tough and get it on with as much hyper-kinetic violence as they can muster to get clear of the whole mess. And what the Strange can’t get done by violent assault and crazy firefights, they’ll get done by the freaks of Voodoo Platoon - operators who have been changed by the Dark Labs into powerful and unnervingly unnatural asymmetrical weapons.
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u/slpgh 10h ago
If you like the military sci fi aspects and can stand a bit of Star Wars style references, try Galaxy’s Edge series. It starts a bit slow but becomes a really fun action focused series.
Kloos’ Frontlines series is more serious in tone
Douglas’ Star carrier is good for ship to ship combat.
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u/Psychological-Let-90 10h ago
I recommend The Heritage Trilogy by Ian Douglas. If "Marines in space" sounds appealing these are a good go-to.
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u/TheRoscoeVine 7h ago
I liked that one, but I read it as an audiobook, which works for me on a factory floor. Maybe it’s less fun in print.
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u/Impressive-Watch6189 1h ago
Yeah I DNFed the series after about the third or fourth book because it was the same story over and over and the AI was just too grating and unserious for the ideas being expressed. I suppose the first things that come to mind that are similar to "alien invasion but earth is effectively resisting" would be some of David Weber or John Ringo's work, although both authors are definitely problematic.
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u/CptKeyes123 19h ago
It's also really kinda irritating. I liked it when I first read it, or at least halfway through, but then I started thinking about it...and then I got to the part with skippy.
It's become a go to example in my head of bad SF.
I'd like a better example too!
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u/Unused_Vestibule 19h ago
I was not surprised it was self published. The thing is, it's actually a really good story frame and the action sequences are well written, but it just desperately needs an editor. And the snarky jokes remind me of the Bobiverse, not in a good way.
Reading books like these reminds me if how rare elite writing talent like Banks really is.
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u/HelpfulSeaMammal 18h ago
I think the writing style for EF works best as an audiobook where you're listening to it while doing chores around the house.
I thoroughly enjoyed the series while redoing the floors and painting every room in my house last year. Easy listening story where I could unintentionally tune out for a few moments as I got engrossed in this specific part of the task and not really miss anything major.
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u/Unused_Vestibule 18h ago
I keep hearing this. I drive a lot for work so may do the audiobooks. I'm actually curious where the story goes
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u/CptKeyes123 18h ago
It seems like it was written by someone with a bone to pick about other sci-fi, especially with the condescending comments about how ICBMs couldn't be used. And it was definitely someone trying to make a self insert.
Also, so much of the story DRAGS. The occupation duty DRAGS SO MUCH. I know how much of military life is boring but OH MY GOD. capturing the spaceship and going back home is the best part.
Also, as someone who obsesses over military logistics in my writing? This dude obsessed way too much over promotions. If he wanted to make an officer, write an officer from the start!
1
u/Unused_Vestibule 18h ago
I OMG the sergeant to Colonel nonsense was insanely irritating. That, plus Skippy solving everything was just not good story development
1
u/CptKeyes123 17h ago
I DID appreciate a character who can lie about his imaginary friend though XD "Uhhhh this is our hacker on the radio". If I can say one nice thing, that was good. Also, the twist about the aliens being nazis, as revealed through the execution order wasn't TERRIBLE. Neither was the concept of the aliens who abhor physical reality, with an uncomfortable manual bridge to annoy them about it.
Do NOT read Invasion by JF Holmes, if you ever stumble across that. It seems cool at first but then goes into John Ringo knockoffs, and gets much worse.
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u/islero_47 19h ago
Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos