Reading Order
Expeditionary Forceseries.seoTitleShort
Start with Columbus Day and continue through all 20 books in the listed reading order.
Start Here
Start with Columbus Day
Book 1 by Craig Alanson • Published 2016
When the Ruhar invade Earth and are driven off by another alien race, Army specialist Joe Bishop signs up to fight among the stars. Serving in the UN Expeditionary Force, he slowly learns humanity may be backing the w...
Complete List
Expeditionary Force reading order
Ends with Gateway
- 1
Book 1:Columbus Day
Craig Alanson • 2016
When the Ruhar invade Earth and are driven off by another alien race, Army specialist Joe Bishop signs up to fight among the stars. Serving in the UN Expeditionary Force, he slowly learns humanity may be backing the w...
- 2
Book 2:SpecOps
Craig Alanson • 2016
Joe Bishop keeps his promise to take the captured starship Flying Dutchman back into deep space. Loaded with elite troops and scientists on a mission that looks hopeless, he and a sarcastic ancient AI must keep Earth...
- 3
Book 3:Paradise
Craig Alanson • 2016
While Joe and the Flying Dutchman patrol the galaxy, thousands of UNEF soldiers are marooned on the planet they call Paradise. Sent to check on them, Joe finds human politics, alien agendas, and hard choices that coul...
- 4
Book 4:Trouble on Paradise
Craig Alanson • 2017
Major Emily Perkins struggles to hold together the uneasy human presence on Paradise while the Flying Dutchman is away. A supposedly simple mission with their Ruhar allies turns into a crisis that shows how fragile th...
- 5
Book 5:Black Ops
Craig Alanson • 2017
The Merry Band of Pirates set out to learn whether the Thuranin plan to send another ship toward Earth. Their investigation drags them back into the tangled situation on Paradise and forces Joe and Skippy to confront...
- 6
Book 6:Zero Hour
Craig Alanson • 2017
An elite expeditionary force accidentally triggers an alien civil war and ends up on the run in a crippled starship. With the Flying Dutchman failing and Skippy apparently gone, Joe must keep a desperate crew alive fa...
- 7
Book 7:Mavericks
Craig Alanson • 2018
Stranded UNEF soldiers on Paradise are folded into an alien Legion and sent on an off world training exercise with teenage Ruhar cadets. When the mission goes catastrophically wrong, Perkins's makeshift unit must figh...
- 8
Book 8:Renegades
Craig Alanson • 2018
After years of secret missions, the battered star carrier Flying Dutchman finally heads home for repairs and rest. Instead, Joe, Skippy, and the crew stumble into new schemes and enemies that make Earth more vulnerabl...
- 9
Book 9:Homefront
Craig Alanson • 2019
With Earth finally safe for the foreseeable future, the crew of the Flying Dutchman wonder what peacetime will look like. Back home, new threats erupt that drag UNEF troops, politicians, and Skippy into a fast moving...
- 10
Book 10:Armageddon
Craig Alanson • 2019
In the wake of the Renegades mission and chaos on Earth, UNEF reluctantly calls the Merry Band of Pirates back into action. A routine reconnaissance spirals into a confrontation that could decide the fate of whole sta...
- 11
Book 11:Valkyrie
Craig Alanson • 2019
Convinced Earth cannot be saved by cautious moves, Joe and the crew gamble everything on hitting the enemy where it hurts most. Their hunt for a powerful alien ship tests new alliances, experimental AIs, and the limit...
- 12
Book 12:Critical Mass
Craig Alanson • 2020
After their last mission, the Merry Band of Pirates are battered and on the defensive while bigger dangers close in on Earth. Hostile species have noticed strange behavior in the wormhole network, and their investigat...
- 13
Book 13:Brushfire
Craig Alanson • 2020
Peace is supposed to give Joe and his crew a chance to breathe, but old enemies never got the message. As the Merry Band adjusts to life between wars, fresh brushfire conflicts flare up that could ignite another galac...
- 14
Book 14:Breakaway
Craig Alanson • 2021
After years of skirmishes, the Pirates offer their enemies a ceasefire that would keep Earth off the board. When that deal collapses, Joe and Skippy race around the galaxy to eliminate threats while the infant UN Navy...
- 15
Book 15:Fallout
Craig Alanson • 2021
Lying about the existence of a terrifying super weapon bought humanity some breathing room, but it has consequences. As their bluff starts to unravel, the Merry Band of Pirates must manage the political and military f...
- 16
Book 16:Match Game
Craig Alanson • 2022
For years, Skippy has been the unbeatable trick up humanity's sleeve, outthinking every rival AI. When the Pirates finally run into an adversary with comparable power, Joe and his crew must help their overconfident pa...
- 17
Book 17:Failure Mode
Craig Alanson • 2022
After a mission collapses and the odds go from bad to impossible, even Skippy admits the galaxy is doomed. With no clear path to victory, the Merry Band of Pirates slips into failure mode, trying to salvage a few live...
- 18
Book 18:Aftermath
Chuck Wendig
Use the reading order above to move through the series in the intended sequence.
- 19
Book 19:Task Force Hammer
Craig Alanson • 2024
Stopping an enemy from stealing a Sentinel and destroying its Elder escort should have been a decisive win. Instead, the Pirates discover their opponent is far worse than they imagined and realize they cannot fight th...
- 20
Book 20:Gateway
Frederik Pohl
Use the reading order above to move through the series in the intended sequence.
Quick Answers
Expeditionary Force FAQ
What is the best order to read the Expeditionary Force series?
The recommended reading order is the numbered order shown on this page, starting with Columbus Day.
How many books are in the Expeditionary Force series?
There are 20 books currently listed in the Expeditionary Force series on GurusReads.
Where should I start with the Expeditionary Force series?
New readers should start with Columbus Day, the first book in the reading order.
Is the Expeditionary Force series complete?
Based on the publication years we have, the series appears possibly ongoing and spans releases from 2016 to 2024.