Audible Book Review: Mavericks Expeditionary Force, Book 6, by Craig Alanson

I enjoyed this sci fi, military adventure.

Mavericks Expeditionary Force, Book 6
By: Craig Alanson
Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 17 hrs and 21 mins
Release date: 09-25-18
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: Adventure, Military, Space Opera
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
The remnants of the Expeditionary Force stranded on the alien-controlled planet "Paradise" get a chance to prove themselves, in a simple off-world training mission with a ship full of teenage alien cadets. When the mission goes horribly wrong and the survival of everyone on Paradise is at risk, the Merry Band of Pirates may have to come to the rescue. Unless they get killed first....
©2018 Craig Alanson (P)2018 Podium Publishing

Review:
Colonel Joe Bishop is still exchanging barbs with the elder AI ‘beer can’, Skippy. The pirate crew of the Flying Dutchman are hoping to go home to earth but first they must deal with an energy virus that threatens to eat through the patched together ship. Skippy determines he can eliminate the virus but only after all the systems are turned down… which means removing the humans from the ship. Doesn’t’ that sound like a piece of cake?

Meanwhile, the Mavericks, led by Emily Perkins, are back on Paradise trying to prove to the Ruhar that the humans can contribute to their military force. Perkins and her handful of human soldiers are hoping to impress the leaders as they participate in training exercises in space. Suddenly the training ship finds itself the sole survivor of an attack and the humans get to help save the crew.

The author does a good job of showing the lonely burden and struggles the captain as Joe deals with coping with the unknown and resisting temptations. This is balanced with the continued snarky humor between Joe and Skippy. It is apparent that the Mavericks are a branch off that allows the development of additional characters. I enjoyed both threads of action and look forward to more in the series. I recommend this to fans of military space opera.

Audio Notes: It is such fun to listen to this series narrated by R.C. Bray. He has provided the characters with distinct voices, even the aliens. I totally enjoy and recommend the audio experience.

Source: 11/18/2021 Audible October Credit. This qualifies for 2022TBR, 2022Audiobook and 2022Alphabet goals.

Prior book reviews:
Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force, #1) by Craig Alanson, Rating 4.5
Audible Book Review: Spec Ops, Expeditionary Force, Book 2 by Craig Alanson, Rating 4.5
Audible Book Review: Paradise, Expeditionary Force, Book 3 by Craig Alanson, Rating 4.5
Audible Book Review: Black Ops, Expeditionary Force, Book 4, by Craig Alanson, Rating 4.5
Audible Book Review: Zero Hour, Expeditionary Force, Book 5, by Craig Alanson; Rating 4.5.