Paperback, 303 pages
Published Sept. 18, 2017 by Independently published.
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, …
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....
I’m a sucker for space operas and I found this series at a time I really needed long entertaining audiobooks. I’m going to put 5* to all the series in the book.
Columbus Day is an introduction to the Expeditionary Force sci-fi universe, and it's slow. It's barely science-fiction to start, beginning with present-day first contact with an alien species. We spend time waiting for human society to grow up, recognize its place in the cosmos, and slowly upgrade its technology. To add insult to injury, the sole narrator is an American ground pounder who constantly reminds us of his simple origins and lack of ambition, all the while narrating with an aw-shucks attitude. The charicature of a down-to-earth, non-intellectual everyman is almost comically laughable.
I'm being unfair, but those two points produced a wall that I needed to overcome, without quite knowing what's on the other side. How could this mediocre slog be worth (as of 2023) fourteen additional novels?
And then I got it. Halfway into the novel and the story truly began. The back-half is everything I wanted: …
Columbus Day is an introduction to the Expeditionary Force sci-fi universe, and it's slow. It's barely science-fiction to start, beginning with present-day first contact with an alien species. We spend time waiting for human society to grow up, recognize its place in the cosmos, and slowly upgrade its technology. To add insult to injury, the sole narrator is an American ground pounder who constantly reminds us of his simple origins and lack of ambition, all the while narrating with an aw-shucks attitude. The charicature of a down-to-earth, non-intellectual everyman is almost comically laughable.
I'm being unfair, but those two points produced a wall that I needed to overcome, without quite knowing what's on the other side. How could this mediocre slog be worth (as of 2023) fourteen additional novels?
And then I got it. Halfway into the novel and the story truly began. The back-half is everything I wanted: a universe to explore and spaceships getting you there, fantastical alien beings and lots of advanced technology. The cast's military background does mean all technology results in pew-pew battles, but like the best books of this subgenre, fighting a war requires you to be solving problems that Alexander the Great would recognize: logistics, tactics, morale etc. It was an incredible ride that pulled no punches, and now I'm ready for the next book.
There's a universe where an editor recognized what's special about Columbus Day, and helped the author cut through the slog that was the first half of this book. We didn't get that universe. Here's my advice: skim, slash and skip through the first-half of this book. There's gold on the other side, and you'll know it when you see it.
Recommended with reservations.
Good fun read, with a classic science fiction feel, while modern in mindset. Looking forward to reading more.
A pretty generic but entertaining military sci-fi. I'll probably read the squeal.
Aliens invade, other aliens attack the invaded aliens and people are like "yay we're saved we love you" etc. Anyway from there on in the protagonist goes to fight for savior aliens on a distant planet (client species pyramid, we're at the bottom), and through a series of unlikely events he ends up saving the human race from this mess.
All of which is pretty predictable and generic, what makes it fun is that it doesn't take itself seriously, I genuinely laughed out loud throughout this book. It's silly, the characters are irreverent, and I think that makes it work.
It's still a standard but story and somewhat predictable, but it's amusing, and fun to read.
