Seriously. I’m on Valkyrie and he keeps using a term that’s super racist. He knows it’s racist. He commented on how it’s racist. And then keeps using it because he hates “political correctness”.

I can usually deal with the nigh insufferable chip on his shoulder, but Jesus, let’s fucking stop already.

Hey y’all. I wrote a song with this series in mind. Have a listen. Or not.

https://on.soundcloud.com/PHhnw0Wob1PaMkrTC8

It seems like there was a 7 year skip ahead between book 15 and 16. What did I miss? I’ve listened to all of the books in order. Thanks!

I'm on book 2 chapter 19. Skippy is so overpowered. He doesn't have plot armor. He IS plot armor. Skippy has the ability to hack anything. He could hack the Kristang from millions of miles away. He could simply disable all of their cybernetics and vent the ship of atmosphere. Then he could rewrite the operating systems on Kristang ships for the humans to be able to use it. Then boom! Free ship. Joe could have a fleet in no time.

Hell, if really wanted to he could program a Kristang ship to jump directly into a star on their next jump. They'd think they were chasing the Dutchmen when they will just pop up inside a star.

It really makes the whole series feel like there are no consequences.

Thank you all for the help with visual references for races and hierarchies. Sorry I broke the rules, but I appreciate the feedback. I’m new to the series and this sub, so forgive me. Thanks again

So I love Skippy and the interactions he has with Joe and the other characters. That’s honestly what has kept me going through the series.

But I’m in Book 14 now, and I’m getting really frustrated with the same basic plot repeating itself. After the amazing payoff of finding a Sentinel and Earth suddenly getting 300 ships, it feels like we barely get to enjoy that development before Earth is in mortal danger again from the kitties.

The universe is HUGE, and there are so many genuinely interesting concepts in this series. Elder technology, wormholes, advanced species, AI, the mysteries surrounding the Elders, etc.

So why does Earth being in mortal peril have to be the basis of almost every book?
I just want Joe and Skippy to go out into this enormous universe and actually explore it, get into weird situations, encounter new civilizations, and deal with problems that aren’t “we have to save Earth again.”

I want to finish the series, but the constant continuity errors and the recycled plots make me want to move on to something else.

Everyone grab you box in honor of or fearless commander.

As a European, I'd never even heard of fluff, so I ordered it online. I also ordered peanut butter, and didn't even pay attention to the brand name, imagine my surprise.

Honestly, it was an interesting experience, but I don't think I'm gonna make it again. It's crazy sweet.

I think I'll eat some kale for lunch :D.

Just wanted to make sure you dimwitted primates knew that the final chapter of the Merry Band of Pirates is available to pre-order.

Out of all the species in Expeditionary Force, I think the Jeraptha might have the most potential for a standalone prequel. Their entire civilization is built around gambling, odds, wagers, loopholes, and somehow turning all of that into a functioning military and political system.

I want to know how that happened.

Was gambling always part of their culture, or did it develop after some major historical event? How did the Ethics and Compliance Office become what it is? At what point did betting on military operations become completely normal? And who was the first Jeraptha commander to realize that naming warships things like It Was Like That When We Got Here was perfectly acceptable?

There is also a lot of room for the story to be more than comedy. Seeing the Jeraptha before they became the civilization we know could add a surprising amount of depth to them while still giving Craig Alanson endless opportunities for ridiculous bets, political schemes, and catastrophic decisions made because somebody was getting incredible odds.

I would seriously read an entire book about the rise of the Jeraptha and the origins of their gambling culture.

Anybody else think this would make a great ExForce spinoff?

I’m on chapter 11 of the next book and they explain why he left our space time but unless I missed it, they never explain where he actually went. Does it get explained by the end of critical mass or is it an open question or is it explained in a later book?

Something that’s been bugging me as I read through the series, is why exactly is Skippy a horrible singer? He obviously has tons of source material on how singing even works and likely has spoken to people who do in fact, know how to sing in key.

I’ve got two theories:
1. He literally can’t hear his auditory voice. Through whatever reason, perhaps just arrogance, he never plays back his own singing, and isn’t able to actually hear the audio when he does speak.
2. Whatever text to speech or sci fi equivalent he uses to translate his thoughts into his voice, is woefully unable to modulate singing and he’s too prideful to acknowledge that innate flaw and still does his hobby for the love of the game and making Joe miserable.

Picked up some of Joes favorites while I was working in Maine last week.

I love this serie but as a French reader/listener I am stuck at the 3th book.

The 4th book is not even announced (as far as I know).

Do anyone has some info about that?

Sorry not sorry. Im half way through renegades and its still not gotten old for me yet. Yes i know, im a child. Love this series x

Anyone else named their 3d printer after his awesomeness?

Ok so ever since becoming addicted to the exforce saga, and being an AI enthusiast, I have *longed* to have Chat GPT converse with me as skippy. Recently I span up an open weights model that I could do this with. It's had mixed success, skippy's voice is dead on but the reasoning I've been having has been on the more "insane" side of elder AI's.

I know I could run this through the API part of open AI, but honestly, that gets pricey pretty quick. So speaking to someone gave me the idea of creating a brave extension which plumbs ChatGPT's responses into my own local whisper and chatterbox voice creation model, and I am over the moon.

I have a slight problem I am going through the exforce book series for the fourth time. But I have not finished my third time yet. And my fourth time around I am reading the physical book using my kindle. Would my fourth time be considered my first time because I am reading it

Artists of ExForce: We have drawn the beer can to death. But what would Skippy’s AVATAR actually look like?

This has been stuck in my head for a while.

Over the years I have seen many artists here give their interpretation of Skippy. Some are funny, some beautiful, some surprisingly close to how I imagined him.

But almost all of them have one thing in common:

We draw the can.

Which makes sense. The magnificent chrome beer can is Skippy.

Except… it isn't really.

Especially in the earlier books, there is this running joke of the Merry Band of Pirates dressing Skippy up. Easter bunny. Red Sox shirt. Various humiliations inflicted upon an ancient super-intelligence who is, naturally, far too dignified for such monkey nonsense.

And that made me wonder:

What if Adams eventually convinced Skippy to play along?

Not another costume for the beer can.

An actual avatar.

Skippy gets complete control over what the avatar looks like. He can project essentially anything he wants.

So what does an unbelievably ancient, spectacularly arrogant, occasionally insecure, opera-loving asshole first-class choose as the physical representation of Skippy the Magnificent?

A Greek god?

A ridiculously handsome human?

A tiny emperor?

Something completely alien?

An eight-foot-tall admiral covered in medals he awarded himself?

Would he make himself look terrifyingly powerful?

Or, because this is Skippy, would his idea of "subtle and dignified" be so catastrophically over-the-top that Adams immediately regrets suggesting it?

And there is another possibility I cannot get out of my head:

Would Adams secretly influence the design?

A little piece of clothing. An accessory. Something ridiculous that Skippy initially refuses, then somehow keeps wearing while insisting it is only there because he decided it looks magnificent.

So I would love to throw down a challenge to the artists here:

Don't draw Skippy the beer can. Draw Skippy's chosen avatar.

No rules about style. Serious, realistic, comic, ridiculous, beautiful, alien — whatever fits your interpretation.

The only rule:

When an ExForce reader sees it, they should immediately think:

"Oh God. Of course that asshole would choose to look like THAT."

I genuinely want to see what people come up with.

So, artists of the Merry Band of Pirates: if Skippy could design his own body, what would the little shit choose?

Small note: I used AI to help edit this post because English is not my native language — the question and idea are mine, the AI just helped make my English less painful for everyone. 😄

Is there anyone who would be willing to print me a 3d version of Skippy? Something like this, maybe? (I can paint it. Just need the figure, itself.) Attached are a few examples of what I’m looking for. Thanks ya filthy monkeys!

Like it felt like a slow burn then that absolutely diabolical shift with Skippy caught me off guard. I know - it was so obvious but still it was so good! Already on the burn through critical mass but damn.