Gateway Audiobook – Expeditionary Force, Book 18

Some audiobooks are best savored on a rainy Sunday afternoon, sprawled across the couch with your heart in your throat—Gateway is one of those. As someone who has followed Joe Bishop and his ragtag Merry Band of Pirates from their first sarcastic volley to this eighteenth installment, I pressed play with both anticipation and dread. Craig Alanson wastes no time: within minutes, you’re right back where Olympic left us—wrecked, reeling, out of plans and patience. Only this time… there’s no Skippy.

That absence rings louder than any battle scene. The beloved AI’s silence shadows every decision Joe makes; you feel its weight as much as he does. For me, it was strangely reminiscent of those moments in life when you suddenly lose a mentor or safety net—the person (or voice) who always had the answers. Now it’s just Joe—and by extension, all of us—facing an impossible galaxy without easy solutions or witty omniscient backup.

Joe Bishop isn’t the classic sci-fi hero; he never was, but here his exhaustion is palpable and his vulnerability feels rawer than ever before. I found myself rooting for him in a way that surprised me—maybe because at 36 (and several personal reinventions deep), I’ve felt what it means to lead even when you’d rather hide under the covers. His blend of stubbornness, dark humor, and bruised hope resonates so deeply now that Skippy is MIA.

The rest of the crew shines too: they’re weary but brave, loyal beyond reason—even hilariously inept sometimes—but always real people fighting for something bigger than themselves. There’s an almost familial bond threading through these chapters; you can sense how desperately everyone wants to hold things together even as everything falls apart.

What Alanson accomplishes with Gateway is nothing short of magic: mixing full-throttle action sequences with perfectly timed humor so sharp it lands mid-firefight (“Yes Joe! Of course THAT will work!”…spoiler: it doesn’t). One moment I was laughing at some thrown-off comment about duct tape and cosmic stupidity; five minutes later my chest tightened during a heartbreakingly honest exchange between crewmates facing certain doom.

And then there’s R.C. Bray—the vocal anchor for this saga since day one. He brings such nuance to Joe’s fatigue and fight that I actually forgot Skippy wasn’t speaking up every other minute (which must be harder than making an alien invasion sound realistic!). Even in silence—or rather absence—Bray somehow keeps Skippy present in our minds while making Joe’s isolation cuttingly clear.

If there were flaws? Maybe just that emotional whiplash—I wasn’t prepared for how heavy some scenes hit after seventeen books’ worth of gallows humor (let alone THAT cliffhanger). It left me gnawing on my lip until well past midnight because stopping simply wasn’t an option—not when everything finally feels genuinely at risk again.

Gateway delivers on every front: breakneck pace, galaxy-shaking stakes, bittersweet laughs… all crowned by an ending guaranteed to haunt fans until Book 19 drops like a quantum bombshell. Whether you’re here for military maneuvers or character-driven chaos or simply want proof that leadership is surviving failure over and over again—this audiobook belongs on your playlist immediately.