#craig alanson

[okaratauri]

I love exfor too much

I’m so glad dad listed to exfor in the car, Skippy hooked me and I started listening to it on my own. Skippy and the merry band of pirates have progressed me so much in my art abilities and skills. I’ve grown and learned exponentially since the 2022 early 2023 when I first heard and started drawing characters and species from exfor. My ability to draw facial features better, my shading, my expressions and body language, lighting, color theory, proportions, animals, hair styles, depth, clothes etc. without exfor I’d still be stuck way at a skill level insanely below the one I’m at. That’s a huge part of why I think Exfor will stay with me for a long time.

[okara-illustrates]

Let’s go with some of my favorite pieces I’ve done

[incorrectexfor]

Skippy: You ever get so tired that you start seeing spiders? Bilby: Me after I take 17 Benadryl and start seeing the hat-man. Nagatha: THE WHO?! Bilby: Oh, is this not a safe space suddenly???

[swordandboardllc]

Expeditionary Force: A Lesson in Inclusivity

Speculative fiction struggles with how to handle disabilities, which is reflective of our society at large. Whether due to age, health, accidents, or other life happenstance, almost everyone will end up struggling with disability at some point in their life (or see it happen in someone they care about). The absence of this within our media only creates stigma around disabilities and chronic illness. Removing disabilities and chronic illness through handwaving, “superior technology” or magic, creates an unrealistic emphasis on wholeness as a moral or correct way of living/existing. Disabilities change as societies evolve, which means they’ll never be gotten rid of. Same with chronic illnesses. DNA will never replicate perfectly. Genetic disorders will always exist without eugenic interference.

Within the universe of the Expeditionary Force series, written by Craig Alanson, genetic superiority is discussed a great deal. Each of the alien races have been genetically modified for war by their patron species, all the way up to the top level races. It’s heavily implied that consent was not a factor in whether or not these races were modified. While these modifications are shown as improvements (better hearing, better vision, faster healing, etc), it’s also shown that these adaptations aren’t inherently morally superior or better. The humans can still keep up with their genetically modified alien counterparts, even if they have to be a little smarter about how they do things. That in and of itself is an important aspect to note: adversity pushes our collective boundaries. When we see problems, we as humans find incredible ways to overcome them.

One of the main characters in ExForce loses his legs. It’s a traumatic experience, as he’s a SpecOps soldier. And this is where Craig Alanson subverted my expectations. The medical technology they have on board their ship allows for limb regrowth/regeneration, and I wholeheartedly expected for this character to simply have his legs regrown. Then undergo physical therapy for a few months, then be back to normal/good as new (more or less). I was absolutely pleasantly surprised when the character pushed back on limb regrowth. He wanted prosthetic legs. He demanded them.

"...seeing myself in a character, whether it’s this person...in ExForce, or the lawyer in My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, proper representation matters."  -- L.J. Stanton

[thecholma]

Deathtrap (Expeditionary Force Mavericks Book 1)

Perkins was interested in how the Jeraptha* operated as infantry. "What was that like?" Cadet "Nert" Dandurf tilted his head and a shudder of horror shook his shoulders. "Colonel Perkins, have you ever seen an assault team team of *extremely* pissed off beetles in action?" ~~~ Deathtrap (Expeditionary Force Mavericks Book 1) End of Chapter 27 --------------------- I almost SNORTED when I read that last line! Craig Alanson's "Expeditionary Force" novels are great fun, and provide an interesting look at interstellar factions where humans are a primitive species without space travel of their own. * Jeraphta are roughly human-sized insects with 6 limbs (hence the "beetle" reference) and are rated "Tier 2" in technology. (Humans would *maybe* be rated "Tier 4" if anyone took them seriously)

[pom-ari]

February reading re-cap.

Reading goal for 2023: 52 books

Ive read 12/52!

1,859 Pages read

Ascendant - Craig Alanson ★★☆☆☆

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry - Fredrick Backman ★★★★☆

The Kiss Curse - Erin Sterling ★★★☆☆

Legends and Lattes - Travis Baldree ★★★★★

Blades of Secret - Tricia Levenseller ★★★★☆

Twilight New Moon Graphic Novel - Stephanie Meyer & Kim Young ★★★★☆

[transwerewolfgirlfriend]

Kazimir after Macharius tries to put a fork in the microwave

*explaining kitchen appliances to my pet medieval knights* The microwave, or Micheal the Wavious, and metal fork, or Sir Silver Prong, are sworn enemies and can never cross paths lest their meeting spell destruction for all.

[christianornot]

Skippy Rides Again.

Update on the Expeditionary Force Series (and my post from January 23, 2020) Most of you reading this might be wondering about the title. Well, Skippy is an alien AI from Craig Alanson’s Expeditionary Force series, a sci-fi collection I first discovered when I got a free book from Amazon Kindle. Since then, I’ve bought every book that’s come out, and it’s become one of my favorite series of all…

[dzelonis]

Mēneša grāmata(s) #113 - Jūnijs 2024

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Valkyrie | Author: Craig Alanson | Publisher: - (2019)

[audiobookfree78]

(via Aftermath [Expeditionary Force, Book 16] By Craig Alanson)

Get this Audiobook for FREE NOW! 🎁 30-Day Free Trial → Click Here: www.bestaudiobookshop.online

[okara-illustrates]

soooooooo

Skippy: If you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world remains the same, you dumb monkey.

Joe, mouth full: Kill two, beer can.

[worlds-okayest-fag]

i need to stop getting into books that don't have a lot of anything on the interwebs

[incorrectexfor]

finding another exforce fan — one who isn't on Reddit, and has a sense of humor, no less! — is a breath of fresh air . So glad I'm not alone

Ahh, hello! I’m so glad another ExForce fan found my posts, I was a bit worried there was nobody at all here 😭 Thank you so much & welcome to the blog!

[lyraeon]

I keep asking for audio book recommendations and then only actually buying one or two at a time, thus failing to use up all my audible credits so i can cancel my account

so uh

audio book suggestions plz?

[twakiju2]

oml i hate years-long timeskips between books why would craig alanson do this

(spoilers below the cut ❤️)

but omfg they named their kids jeremy and renee im gonna cryyyy