Columbus Day by Craig Alanson
Columbus Day: Expeditionary Force #1 by Craig Alanson
One of my followers recommended this book to me and I am so glad he did (thanks J.C.)! This book was a fantastic military Sci-Fi with plenty of action and plenty of comedy. It was a perfect book during my work commute because I was continually laughing and smiling even while sitting in crazy traffic.
Craig Alanson does an amazing job of world building and describing the several alien species introduced throughout this book. You really felt as if you were part of the action. Alanson also explained each scientific/astrological physics situation so well that his made up world and technology never seemed implausible.
Alanson created a lot of well-developed characters in this first book of the series. However, this book is really made by the main character and narrator, Joe Bishop. I love each of his thoughts, tangents, witty one-liners and his obsession with getting a cheeseburger. I get it Joe, I really do. And about a third of the way into the book you get a second protagonist that just adds to Joe’s charm. Some jokes are repeated throughout the book but they just get better and better as you read; I was never once bored. I would definitely recommend this book!
P.S. the audio book version I listened to was narrated by R.C. Bray and he was absolute perfection in delivering the lines and changing all the voices to fit each character.
Synopsis: We were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news.
The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn't even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren't our enemy, our allies are.
I'd better start at the beginning....