Columbus Day

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Martian by Andy Weir, and the movie Independence Day all have one important aspect in common - humor. Without the levity, all three would be boring and forgotten works left in a drawer somewhere. Reading the humorous description of the first book in Craig Alanson's Expeditionary Force series, Columbus Day, I knew I had to read it and wondered why I had not read it before now.

The Ruhar attacks the world on, you guessed it, Columbus Day. We thought we were saved when the Kristang flew in and attacked the Ruhar. We else were we to do but pick the side of the guys who saved us. As we quickly learn, we made the wrong move.

Having the narrator of The Maritan, R.C. Bray, narrate Columbus Day was a stroke of genius. He again proves he can skillfully deliver snarky, "American" humor while making the end of the world as we know no laughing matter.

To date, there are ten books in the series, but Alanson ended it at a point in the story Columbus Day could work as a stand-alone novel, although readers would be remiss in not continuing,

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/10/20.

Who knew I loved space operas because I LOVED this book. I was already captivated even before I read the book with its concept. I love first contact alien stories and this book delivered and more. We followed Joe Bishop, a military man, as an unexpected alien attack occurs in the his hometown in Maine. Although this starts off with an attacked, the novel quickly expands its world by introducing us to different planet and multiple species.

I read this as an audiobook and the narrator does a FANTASTIC job with it. From chapter 1 I'm engrossed into what happening and very quickly like the characters. The author does a wonderful job in having a wide range of character and made me very partial to a particular Ruhar family. I think he does a wonderful job in explain the grey in war. I empathized with almost every species we encountered, even some of the bad ones. I also really enjoyed the comparison of military officers and average normal folk.

Beware that there is some military jargon which some new sci-fi readers may find boring but I personally had no problem with it. There are parts of the novel which slow for me or parts which I wan't as invested in, but I think most of the problems that the book has is solved by the second half.

I would highly recommend this to any sci-fi fans out there. I also think this is a great introduction to space operas as it not only has action packed scenes but also deals with the political intricacies of war.

Columbus Day is sci-fi for people who like military fiction, and military fiction for people who like sci-fi. If you like either one of those genres, and you like a nice serving of low-brow humor, you'll probably like this book.

Yes, the main character is a US Army veteran, and there's a lot of talk about the chain of command, and Army titles, and training, and marching, etc. And there's a lot of jokes about MREs and body odor. But there's also, by the end, almost a dozen different alien races operating in an elaborate client-patron relationship that sees Earthlings hopping all over the galaxy.

It's a complex space opera involving the attempted subjugation of the human race, as experienced through a sometimes-cheeky grunt with a good sense of humor... and a talking, omnipotent beer can for a friend.

I recommend it.

There are so many ideas here, and the author goes through them like they're potato chips. Some of these ideas are so solid that they would have been the climax of a lesser book. So many set pieces and cool twists and neat little touches that enrich the universe. It elevates the book beyond its workmanlike prose, and I found myself easily shrugging off its quirks -- overused phrases, redundant dialogue, and frequent ramblings about this or that. It's a good one. And it's only the first in a 10-book series! Yikes!

Thank you so much to the author and NetGalley for a free copy of the audio book in exchange for a review. I'll likely be purchasing the rest of the series,

In this first book of an 11 book series, Joe Bishop finds himself being swept up in an interstellar battle that begun on Columbus day.
Normally I don't like military books, but when aliens are involved, that is definitely the exception. This is a fast paced novel, with one of my favorite tropes, a sassy AI with a mind of his own. Now I need to hunt down book 2!