Columbus Day cover art

Columbus Day

Expeditionary Force, Book 1

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Columbus Day

Written by: Craig Alanson
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
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About this listen

Nominee, Audie Awards - Audiobook of the Year, 2018

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.

©2016 Craig Alanson (P)2016 Podium Publishing
Adventure Fantasy Fiction Military Science Science Fiction Transportation Funny Witty Star Wars War Comedy Military Interstellar Space Jokes Artificial Intelligence Space Military
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What listeners say about Columbus Day

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A perfect story for audible

I'm not normally a fan of first person perspective stories, but here the conversational writing style blends perfectly with the audible experience. This is not 'having a book read to you' it is 'having a veteran tell you about their incredible life experiences'. I feel like I'm really there, by which I mean: there in a lounge listening to protagonist Joe Bishop tell me about Columbus Day and what followed.
As for the story itself - this is a very large tale and as a result things change quite a bit over the course of the story, both in terms of tone and scale. At the start of this story you might be tempted to think 'this is a story about an alien invasion of earth' and later 'this is a story about humanity fighting on other planets' and then 'this is a story about a band of space pirates'. Best advice: don't try to box the story, let it take you on its full and complex journey. If you can't meet it on those terms, if you insist it settle into a particular archetype, then you'll feel the story takes a long time to 'get started'.
My last, and probably most important recommendation, is don't stop listening until you've met Skippy. If you get to the end of the first chapter with Skippy and you're still not sold, then this book isn't for you. For most listeners I doubt that will be the case. #Audible1

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Great book!

fantastic start to the series, Ch 10 Skippy is absolutely hilarious, bring on more books! Narrator is perfect...now off to enjoy some sludge and start book 2

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Fantastic genre crossover

An incredibly well written, and exceptionally narrated sci-fi action comedy masterpiece of an Audible production.
I highly recommend Columbus day

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Amazing read

If you love sci fi and long reads this is it... Trust me. This and dune.

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Outstanding

By far the best audio book I have listened to. The writing is fantastic. RC Bray’s narration and his different character voices are so good. I loved this whole experience. Can’t wait for book 2-7.

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great choice

awesome, keeps you attention, great balance of humor and dramatic storytelling. Well read, kills the time on long drives.

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100 books in , this is one of the best

I love sci fi but this book made me love it 10x more. Peppered with adult +childish jokes, bloody combat scenes and starship military combat. Would not recommend if your not a fan of action / military stories

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Very enjoyable

Super fun book. . An easy listen with plenty of action and humor, plus the narration was fantastic
I struggle to get into fiction these days, but this was more addicting than I care to admit.

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old school Sci fi!

Very well written! The descriptive style works and the narratator brings it all to life.
I had a few cringe moments with some politically incorrect descriptors but they weren't repeated as the book progressed so I give the writer a break on that.

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A good yarn

I haven't laughed this hard or this much during an audio book in a long time. Totally worth it!

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