Tokybook fam, activate your stealth field, prep the sarcasm circuits, and definitely don’t tell the Ruhar—because Gateway (Expeditionary Force, Book 18) is here, and Craig Alanson has officially dropped us into Miracle Mode… without Skippy. 
Here’s your laser-blasted, typo-approved, emotionally wounded audiobook review of a sci-fi epic that somehow still makes you laugh, stress eat, and cry in the same chapter. Welcome to the Merry Band of Pirates, no god-tier AI edition.
Gateway – No Skippy. No Plan. Just Joe Bishop, a Bottle of Luck, and a Galaxy That Wants Them Dead 
OKAY LISTEN—
Book 18 picks up right where Olympic left us:
– Wrecked.
– Reeling.
– And wondering how the hell we get out of this one.
And the answer is: carefully, chaotically, and with several explosions.
Joe Bishop: Still the Most Reluctant Savior in the Galaxy
Joe has:
– No Skippy
– No backup
– No good options
– And a galaxy of enemies
But somehow??
He’s still here. Still cracking jokes. Still holding this disaster together with duct tape and sarcasm.
He’s not the hero. He’s the guy who’s too stubborn to quit.
And that? Might be exactly what the galaxy needs.
Joe in Book 18 = exhausted but dangerous
And watching him work without Skippy?
Terrifying. Inspiring. Weirdly emotional.
Skippy: MIA. But Always Lurking in Our Hearts (and Codebase)
Skippy the Magnificent is:
– AWOL
– Offline
– Possibly plotting something so big it broke causality
His absence?
Loud.
You feel the silence he leaves.
Every decision Joe makes now? Joe has to own it. No Skippy failsafe.
But let’s be honest—Skippy’s not gone.
Just waiting. Watching. Plotting.
And when (if) he comes back??
Yeah. It’s gonna break the galaxy in half.
The Pirates: Scrappy, Broken, Brilliant
The Merry Band of Pirates are so done with saving the galaxy.
But guess what?
The galaxy’s not done with them.
This crew continues to be:
– Wildly underqualified
– Unreasonably loyal
– Stupidly brave
They’re family now. And you feel it.
Even with morale in the dirt and hope hanging by a thread?
They keep going.
Because Joe leads. And because they don’t know how to stop.
Stakes? Sky-High. Vibes? Bleakly Hilarious.
Craig Alanson’s magic trick?
Balancing galactic extinction with comedy that lands. Every. Single. Time.
You’ll be:
– Cry-laughing mid-firefight
– Screaming “DON’T DO THAT” while Joe absolutely does that
– Emotionally unraveling when a throwaway joke hits way too hard
The action? Tight. Relentless. Tactical.
The pacing? Unskippably fast.
The payoff? Delicious. Gut-wrenching. Earned.
R.C. Bray: The Voice of the Universe (And Also Skippy, You Magnificent Jerk)
R.C. Bray continues to be:
– 
A genius
– 
A one-man cast
– 
The emotional backbone of this entire series
He is Joe. He is Skippy. He is everyone and everything in between.
Even in Skippy’s absence, Bray’s subtle vocal work carries that looming presence.
And when Joe breaks, when the crew falters, when humanity just feels too tired?
Bray makes you feel it. Every. Beat.
Final Verdict – No Skippy. No Safety Net. Just Pirates, Pain, and One Hell of a Cliffhanger
Gateway is:
– Darker
– Riskier
– Emotionally raw
– And the beginning of a whole new kind of fight
If you:
– Have followed this crew from Book 1
– Love character-driven sci-fi with humor and stakes
– Want to watch Joe become the man even Skippy believed he could be
– Are ready for the next galaxy-shattering twist
Then this is the book you’ve been bracing for.
Sorry for the trauma dump—I listened to Chapter 12 in the car and screamed out loud. Tokybook fam, Gateway doesn’t just raise the stakes—it kicks you into space without a suit and dares you to survive.
#ExpeditionaryForce18 #NoSkippyNoProblem #JoeBishopOrBust #CraigAlansonStillHurtsUs #TokybookSpaceTraumaCrew
