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  • Valkyrie: Expeditionary Force, Book 9
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
4,582 global ratings
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4 star
24%
3 star
6%
2 star
2%
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2%
Valkyrie: Expeditionary Force, Book 9

Valkyrie: Expeditionary Force, Book 9

byCraig Alanson
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Top positive review

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Lynn
5.0 out of 5 starsOMG...what a wild ride...
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 24, 2023
Loved this book. It's the first in the series to which I've given 5 stars for the overall story. I actually listened to the audio version, even though I also bought the kindle version. RC Bray always gets 5 stars from me, but the story is usually just good...not great. This one kept me on the edge of my seat much of the time. It was nice to really get to know some of the supporting characters and to understand them better. I was also glad Craig was able to bring in new characters. I'm looking forward to Book 10 to see if we continue to enjoy them or if the insane AI of the Valkyrie snuffs them all out....whew...!
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Top critical review

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ab
2.0 out of 5 starsThe weakest of the 9 book series so far
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2020
I am very invested in this series. I have ordered all of the series, except this one, as an Audiobook. Because of the low reviews, I purchased this one as a Kindle book. That is a lot of money. I will say that the writing is addictive. Obviously. The books are pretty funny, especially for veterans. A lot of stuff we have personally have seen is presented hilariously. I mean an Army Colonel in charge of a starship. That is funny. Effectively there is a guy and a magic wizard. And they go on a science fiction adventure. That is the basic story.

Anyway, the big problem with this series is that it is 80% repetitive. You could remove the repetitive parts and shrink it down to like three books. If you read the other reviews of this book, which I have many people talk about the repetitive nature of this book. However, as an Audiobook to fall asleep too (or do some long driving), it is tolerable.

The other major problem is there no, and I mean no character development. Think of how the Hobbits developed in only three books. It was so far. By the end, they could barely stand living with the people from their homeland. A perfect understanding of PTSD, long before anyone talked about it. This book has no character development. None. Same jokes, same pattern, characters are one dimensional. And until the last book, nobody died—plot armor of adamantium. At least in this book, there are some bad guys with a back story, which are completely dropped by the middle of the book.

In this book, it felt like the author wanted to reveal a bunch of stuff at once. I think he had revealed many hints in the eight other books, but in this one, he just dumped all the answers on everyone at once. It was kinda of a letdown because we had figured out most of it, but it felt. Forced and sudden, and thus less valuable. Like sitting down to a great steak dinner, and then being told you must finish it in 5 minutes.

The side adventure in this novel that people have a problem with is also forced—starving kids. Everyone has to love that, right? Wrong. It is a weakness in modern storytelling. How many times have you seen in a movie, or read in a book where a "hero" will sacrifice all living children on the plant (or city, etc.) to save her one child. And this is presented as a "good" and heroic thing, not as an understandable weakness, but as a noble choice. See, stay on mission, make the hard decision, save tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of children, or run off and save one. You can guess the choice this author makes, and the heartburn people have with that. One of these days, a brave novel will show the horrid decision that military and political leaders (and simple military men) are forced to make. In real life. In a Sci-Fi setting. Like the Expanse (novels not show). There is a reason so many real leaders are grey or bald by their 30's.

Thus I give this book two stars. I would give the other books 1 - 7 four stars if you understand this is basically a long "graphic novel." The super-heroes nor the super-villain ever really change. And you are not looking for them. I would give the 8th book four stars. Something changed, and wow things can go wrong. This one. Very weak. And yes, as others here have said, the ending is the most Saturday morning cartoon ending possible. It was weak. And thus moves this from a 3 to a 2.

I do not write a lot of reviews. So I must have something to share to motivate myself to write anything that may help others. I should write more reviews, as I have found so many others very helpful here on Amazon.
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From the United States

Porcelain Throne Review
4.0 out of 5 stars A typical entry in the series
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 27, 2020
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In summary I feel this series has been worth a steady three stars, the books are compelling enough to turn the pages, but there are flaws. The audiobook narration however is top notch, RC Bray has done an amazing job and really sells the material well. That warrants an extra star, we're getting quite a bit more from this than a typical narration.

If you've been in this series for the past 8 books, you know what it's about: The Joe and Skippy show featuring a cast of varied characters. This book is another installment, with the usual mix of slow moving meta-plot with a side quest to save humanity from a hostile universe. All the usual criticisms apply: this series needs serious editing in two forms. First, it just needs some heavy proof reading, a few issues are making it to us readers, and there's a lot of repetition. Second, and more significantly, it needs the author to slow dow and evaluate the story arc, where it's going, and what the incremental value is in each of these installments. Fundamentally this isn't moving quickly enough, and I'm questioning why a few books exist. This book is no worse, but are all these sub-stories contributing to the plot or world building, or are they also-rans? Basically this feels like old ST:TNG episodes that are, at best, loosely connected. I feel like a novel series needs to have a strong focus, what works in TV doesn't work in books with a 15-20hr time commitment on my part. More importantly, each novel should be more self contained, this one feels like an end to Armageddon, some Valkyrie episodes, and then beginning of something else.

While the book does wait until the very end to finally move the meta-plot along, let's be honest: if you've been reading this far, nothing that is "revealed" is unexpected. In fact all the breadcrumbs thus far just confirmed what you've probably been thinking about the nature of the species and major characters. The universe the author has been building has a few very noticeable quirks that readers should have been noting, and a lot of questions should have been asked. The ending suggests answers to many of those questions, without closing the story. While I'm upset at having all that dropped at the tail end only to go nowhere in this novel, I am choosing to take this as a sign that the author is ready to pivot to the main plot.

By now, we're way overdue for that.
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Chad Granum
4.0 out of 5 stars Departure from the "formula"
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 23, 2019
Verified Purchase
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!
70 people found this helpful
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Steve S
4.0 out of 5 stars one of the best yet
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 14, 2022
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Very engrossing, very suspenseful and action packed. Can’t wait to continue with the next book. “Five more words needed to submit”
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A. D. DeLong
4.0 out of 5 stars It depends on where we go next
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 23, 2019
Verified Purchase
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.
60 people found this helpful
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Viacheslav Vasiliev
4.0 out of 5 stars Cliffhanger was inevitable at some point.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2019
Verified Purchase
Spoiler Alert. Seriously, don't read.

The story starts at a decent pace, everything exploding and all, just what you'd expect from the Merry Band of Pirates. Nice light-hearted jokes, killer bedsheets and my fav uncle Edgar. Then... signs of the forthcoming banter about feelings began sneaking in. By the second half (the rescue op) the story becomes rather dull, and all of a sudden it explodes in your face with Skippy's revelation and the imminent death of everyone - and then THE END. I personally understand pretty well what the author had in mind with a set-up like this, BUT and it's a capitalized BUT - I now have a pretty good idea what'll happen in book 10. And worst of all, the Maxolhx investigation mission storyline (Illiath) just vanishes like it never started at all. Nevertheless, I'm NOT giving up on the story (hence 4 starts, not 2) and will be buying the next book. But something about storytelling needs revising, in my opinion.
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Texican
4.0 out of 5 stars Started well and Meh
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
Unlike a lot of other reviewers, I don't think the second half or the book was a waste or un-necessary, To me it showed that the Pirates have not forgotten the true objective of the Military to protect the weak and defenseless,

I do think that the Beer Can and Joe missed a good way to save the Earth with the worm holes, and maybe they will do it in the next book (no I won't give my idea here).

I di agree with a lot of my fellow readers that the cliff hanger ending of this book really, really sucked. To me. Craig violated the unspoked agreement between an author and his readers. He did not leave the book in a reasonable place. We can assume that Joe is alive, but that is about it.

I will probably read the next installment, but Craig better start knitting some threads together
2 people found this helpful
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ReaderOne
4.0 out of 5 stars Cliff-hanger ...
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
I am not sure why this book received low ratings. I thrive on cliff-hangers in serial books. This book, Valkyrie, has a doozy.
Sure, Alanson may have slowed the action a bit, made the volume more cerebral, but it had to happen to advance the plot.
There were a few lulls, a bit of repetition in the descriptions of the character’s personalities, but the build up was excellent, the end, certainly worth the expectations. I thought as I read the ending, “Oh my God!Craig, what have you done!?” But it was a good place to leave the pirates. I am hoping Alanson has the next book in the fast lane, because it is going to be a bumpy ride as we all wait to see what happens next. Not as bad as the one star ratings say. I like suspense and this book built a “by the fingernails” hanger.
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lazerbeam
4.0 out of 5 stars Did not see the ending coming!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
I've read all 8 prior EF books in the series and have loved all of them. I really liked this one as well until the very last page. I do not wish to spoil it for other potential readers but the author could have ended it a lot better than this. What was the author you thinking? The author did a real disservice to your loyal readers who have followed this series through it trials, tribulations and great humor. Oh heck, I'm going to spoil it for others, but it looks like you killed off the series. I hope not, but I can understand that an author just wants to move on and so something else. Hopefully the author can resurrect this series but it looks like its over. Still a great read to up until the final page... Would have been 5 stars otherwise.
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Tone
4.0 out of 5 stars Valkyrie is Incredible
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 25, 2020
Verified Purchase
One of the qualities of the series I love is the portrayal of the characters themselves. They are independent of the main protagonist in the sense that they have depth, backgrounds, dreams and desires of their own. I also appreciate the non-linear plot lines to the missions themselves, the intricate political and military situation of the main theater mirrors real life in a way that the reader can get lost in the story. Valkyrie in itself copies the same themes as the previous books in the series, but the change in direction of the story by the author signals a conclusion or a new dynamic for which I am very excited. Overall I cant wait for the next book, it is sure to be interesting.
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Michael Liedtke
4.0 out of 5 stars Overall a good read
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
I am not sure what everybody is upset about. 99% of the book was the same ol' same ol'. Impossible mission, figure out a daring plan then it all goes sideways and they persevere. They is some filler but there is always a ton of pointless conversation that I end up skipping over. Yeah, the cliff hanger is definitely a huge twist and maybe just what the series needed. I think at this point the story arch needs to move to resolution. The formula is a bit threadbare. But if you enjoyed the other books in the series, by all means read this one. It is a good read.
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