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Valkyrie: Expeditionary Force, Book 9 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Craig Alanson (Author), R.C. Bray (Narrator), Podium Audio (Publisher)

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After saving the world many times, the Merry Band of Pirates have accepted the inevitable: Earth is doomed.

All they can do is try to bring a few thousand people to safety, before vicious aliens arrive to destroy humanity's home world.

No.

There is one other thing they can do: hit the enemy so hard that the aliens will regret they ever heard of humans.

Listening Length

19 hours and 45 minutes
Author

Craig Alanson
Narrator

R.C. Bray
Audible release date

February 4, 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Podium Audio
ASIN

B082LRPKWD
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	19 hours and 45 minutes
Author	Craig Alanson
Narrator	R.C. Bray
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	February 04, 2020
Publisher	Podium Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B082LRPKWD
Best Sellers Rank	#1,383 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #17 in Military Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #44 in Space Opera Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #48 in Military Science Fiction (Books)

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3 star		5%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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Kevin

A chore to read. A disappointment and repetitive. First half was decent.

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

I'm pretty upset. I'm not going to lie. I download and binge the books as they are released. Pulling all nighters...

I've been patient. I've been calm. I've defended the series from justified criticism... but I'm so disappointed with this book. Half the book was nothing but filler that didn't need to be there.
The first half of the book had me fist pumping the air.
The second half made me tired, annoyed, upset, and honestly it was a chore to finish the book. I've never felt so bored and annoyed by an author's choice to create a problem that doesn't need to exist, ONLY TO THEN SHOEHORN the advertised revealing of everything. It felt unnatural. And it was as if he simply got tired of writing the filler and just wedged in the reveals.

It made me mad that the MBOP also never seem to actually show appreciation of Skippy. They are jerks to him. Yes he's a jerk at times, but look at some of the statements towards him.... I cannot recall a genuine thank you or anything. It's unnatural and a poor attempt at foreshadowing.

The ending.. I'm glad we know, but I'm certifiably mad that Craig decided to waste the second half of the book on some mission that did not need to be in the book at all. There's literally no reason for that problem to exist.

I'm so tired of the filler dragging the books out. Honestly, I'm seriously debating giving up on my second favorite book series. I'm a diehard fan and have read each book at minimum 4 times each.

The cliffhanger wasn't clever or exciting, it was annoying. We deserved better after waiting so long for answers.

I'm genuinely disappointed that after everything, our heros have yet again waste their time, nothing matters, no one respects Joe for some darn reason, and he still might not get the girl. It's been 9 books, do your thing or get off the pot with the relationships.

The repetitiveness of the story arches and the repetitiveness of the books plot points is unnecessary and filler. We get it, the earth is doomed. Okay. You told us that 7 times in the last 20 pages. We.get.it.

171 people found this helpful

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bltth26

Cliffhanger

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2019

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I have been reading this series in the hopes that humans would eventually be able to actually develop their own tech. And once again I am let down.

I am also seriously angry about the ending. I would never have read this book had I known beforehand.

In my opinion it’s time to just let this series go by the way side.

118 people found this helpful

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Brent David Jones

Awful Cliffhanger

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2019

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To change from no real cliffhangers in a book series, to a major (negative), character-redefining moment to end a book, is not great. Really disappointed and questioning if I have the desire to read this series anymore. Wish I had not read this book.

98 people found this helpful

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Chad Granum

Departure from the "formula"

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2019

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People who read this series only to re-experience the "formula" of the previous books: "Oh no, emergency, wallow in agony, hey here's an idea, Book fixed!" Will not be disappointed, we have a bit of that for the first half. People who are tired of the formula and want the story to move on and do something different, you will REALLY not be disappointed, wow. People who want to know more, have questions answered, etc... there is even a (very) small nod to you at the very end to keep you happy.

That said, if you like the ending, and are not angry/devastated, than I wonder if you actually read the first books? It is good to feel negative things because of the ending. BUT PLEASE!!!! do not direct that anger towards Craig, give him the benefit of the doubt, expect that the next couple books will pick up where this left off, and pay off in the end. IF the next few books do not pay off and he goes Game Of Thrones on us then maybe come back and say "This is where it all went wrong". But for know be thankful that an author has given us a series so good that this book is able to punch you in the gut, that shows how much he has already touched your soul. Recover from the punch, and lets see where it goes!

Then again some people live to complain and be unhappy, no pleasing you in that case... Except Craig did please you! He gave you another place to shout your endless complaints into the void for us to ignore!

69 people found this helpful

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A. D. DeLong

It depends on where we go next

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2019

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A lot of the reviews for this book are pretty bad and I understand why many feel that way. I am not feeling quite as harsh as many of them about it.

My feeling is that whether or not this book is worth reading totally depends on where the story goes next. It's not somehow worse than the previous books really, but it does end on a cliffhanger. That is annoying to many people. On the plus side some lingering questions are answered though.

At a surface level it does seem like more of the same. The usual banter and relationship dynamics we've seen in the other books are there. But, I think in this book there is more going on beneath the surface than the previous ones. It is undeniably darker in many ways.

I am glad that the story has finally moved in a direction at all. However, I am not clear on what that direction is yet.

My final verdict is that if you have read the entire series until now, you should also read this book. If you aren't sure whether you want to continue the series and are on the fence about this book, then wait until the next one comes out so you can resolve the cliffhanger at the end of this one.

58 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Out of character cliffhanger ending

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2019

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The ending is a Back to the Future II - style "To Be Continued..." , which is to say an incomplete book that you get to pay full price for.
That said, the ending was so out of character for one particular primary character that it was more a "WTF ending" that made me think hard if I even want to continue reading the series.

52 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Jarrak

Didn't see that coming!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2019

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WTF and You've got to be kidding me!
Those were my initial responses to reading the last line in the 9th novel of the excellent Expeditionary Force series written by Craig Alanson. Many a time a TV show has left you with a season finale cliffhanger that has you cursing the writers and producers but it's rare in a novel but Craig has managed to do so with Valkyrie. Naturally I am intensely interested in how our favoured characters are going to get out of this situation but it really did put a damper on the immediate joy of christmas after putting the kindle down. On the upside I needed a stiff drink so swings and roundabouts.
As for the novel itself, well after the terrible toll taken by Armageddon the Merry Band of Pirates have risen to the challenge and addressed the cold fact that Earth may indeed burn but any small victory is a victory when you consider the incredible obstacles a whole galaxy can throw up against them. I've got to admit the beginning of the novel had me laughing like an idiot which is no small feat given the low point (plot wise) we were in but it all kinda makes sense and that's something Craig proves himself capable of time and time again when creating situations and solutions to entertain us. Naturally Joe and the rest of the pirates face the dilemma of using their battlecruiser to maximum effect when faced with a senior species who begin to ask the right questions as to who is striking their ships but when intelligence indicates a few hundred human prisoners are being sold for bioweapon research there was never any doubt no matter what they risk they would find a way to help.
Valkyrie is without a doubt a valuable addition to the series and draws a line in the narrative, where is goes from now only Craig knows and while I have some trepidation I'm along for the ride.

3 people found this helpful

PJL

Entertaining SF

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

Book 9 - bargain entertainment when purchased audible narration £3.99 from Amazon to help fight the boredom of the Coronavirus lockdown With The Merry Band of Pirates have accepted the inevitable: Earth is doomed. All they can do is try to bring a few thousand people to safety, before vicious aliens arrive to destroy humanity's homeworld. No. There is one other thing they can do: hit the enemy so hard that the aliens will regret they ever heard of humans. Would have preferred a better final chapter.

R Price

Dont get your hopes up, but enjoy anyway

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

Ok, thats rather a clickbait headline for a five star review, but thats how I feel. This book was billed as "Skippy's book of revelations" by the author, and if thats what you are reading this book for then you can essentially skip (hehe) 90% of the book - the revelations are fired at you in quick succession with little expansion in the last 10 or so pages of the book.

I follow this series religiously, and I read the books for both the plot and the character interaction and development - this has all of that in spades, but it does come across as very "samey" in the middle part. We start off with a setup for the end of the book, but the middle part is very similar to the rest of the series - theres an impossible and time sensitive problem to solve, how do our merry band solve it? I got bored during that part because its basically what most of the other books in the series cover and its getting old.

All that said, it sets up the next book well, and I shall await it with bated breath.

D. Marsh

Similar battles but with a big ending

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2020

Verified Purchase

A good read and entertaining as ever, but some annoyance that their difficulties are repeats of already covered storylines - earth in the do do, paradise in the do do, earth again in the do do etc etc. This changes however when squeezed within the last 3% of the book, their situation becomes more hopeless than at any point beforehand. Book 10 will certainly be a interesting read 😊

One person found this helpful

Boatmanken

Just another Tuesday

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

Another exciting adventure for the merry band of pirates trying to save earth they now find a colony of humans held on another planet by the Kristang, will they save them and can Joe get a cheeseburger to go with his coffee?

One person found this helpful

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Valkyrie: Expeditionary Force, Book 9 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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