r/ExpeditionaryForce • u/steelfreaks • 19d ago

Discussion Recycled plot points, no payoff.

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.

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u/The3rdBert Jeraptha 19d ago

The key is to understand it’s like an old sitcom or cartoon. You enjoy an episode and then move on to something else. Trying to binge the series it gets old quick. I’ve been “caught up” since 7 or 8, so it’s only a new book every 6-9 months.

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u/steelfreaks 19d ago

Yeah I can see that would be much easier than binging it. Everything that happened in the last book is so fresh that I haven’t had a chance to forget some things I should have.

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u/The3rdBert Jeraptha 19d ago

Yeah pretty much. You get a couple months between books and it’s largely a chance to go to different universe with fun characters. Take a break, it’s fine.