Quick Take
- Narration: R.C. Bray is the defining voice of this series, and his chemistry with Alanson’s specific brand of wisecracking urban fantasy has only deepened by book five.
- Themes: Loyalty under impossible conditions, humor as a survival mechanism, the blurring of mythology and modern urban reality
- Mood: Fast-moving and funny, with higher emotional stakes than the opener suggested
- Verdict: Exactly what Convergence fans are showing up for, with the caveat that this is emphatically not a series conclusion, it ends with the next book already pulling at your sleeve.
I have a particular fondness for series authors who clearly enjoy writing their own books. Craig Alanson is one of them. The Convergence series has been running for five installments now, and Desperate Measures, the latest entry published through Podium Audio in August 2025, reads like the work of someone who has figured out exactly what makes this world enjoyable and has doubled down on all of it. The result is not a book that reinvents anything. It’s a book that delivers reliably and earns that delivery.
The Convergence series sits in that productive space between urban fantasy and action-adventure, carrying Alanson’s signature humor that readers of his Expeditionary Force series will recognize immediately. The setup for Desperate Measures is lean in the synopsis intentionally: their leader has been taken, secrets are at risk, the enemy is offering a deal so bad it has to be a joke. What follows is 15 hours of Kaz and company navigating the kind of situation where all the options are terrible and the best you can do is choose the least terrible one. That premise, worked properly, is an excellent engine for both action and character, and Alanson works it properly.
Our Take on Desperate Measures
The fifth book in any series faces a specific challenge: it needs to justify its existence rather than simply advancing a plot that could have been compressed. Desperate Measures does justify its existence. Reviewer Kenneth Vollenweider notes “great character and plot development” and genuine enjoyment, while Kevin Loomis highlights Kaz’s continued exploration of his magician powers alongside what he describes as a Marvel-like integration of ancient gods into the storyline. That description, a blend of ancient mythology and urban fantasy sensibility, is useful shorthand for what Alanson does well here.
One reviewer flagged editing issues, specifically mixed-up sentences and missing words, as a distraction from the reading experience. That’s a legitimate concern in any book, and worth noting for listeners who find such errors particularly disruptive. In audio with R.C. Bray narrating, some of those issues may be smoothed by a skilled interpreter’s natural phrasing, but they won’t disappear entirely.
Why Listen to Desperate Measures
R.C. Bray has been the audio voice of Craig Alanson’s work for long enough that the relationship between narrator and author has produced something genuinely specialized. Bray’s timing on the comedic beats is not incidental to the experience; it’s constitutive of it. The humor in Alanson’s writing requires a narrator who commits to it fully rather than delivering it with slight ironic distance, and Bray commits. His delivery of Kaz’s particular brand of self-aware competence, someone who understands he’s in over his head but is going to do it anyway, gives the character the kind of consistency that makes 15-hour installments feel like time spent with someone you know.
At 4.7 stars across 503 ratings, this is one of the better-received books in the series, which is meaningful context. Reviewer Jason Morris notes that “the writing is creative, funny, and has lots of twists and turns,” and that the series improves across installments, which is the ideal trajectory for a long-running genre series.
What to Watch For in Desperate Measures
The most important warning about this book comes from reviewer Jeffrey B., who notes clearly: “If you start this series of 5 books, be aware that there will be more books coming as it doesn’t end at book 5, it leaves you hanging.” This is genuinely important information. Desperate Measures is not a series conclusion. It’s a chapter in an ongoing narrative, and it ends with the shape of the next problem already visible. If you need resolution from your fiction, this installment will frustrate you. If you’re comfortable with serialized storytelling and trust that Alanson will keep the quality up, the wait for the next book will feel worthwhile.
New listeners to the Convergence series should start at book one rather than here. The character relationships, the established dynamics between Kaz and his team, and the accumulated mythology all depend on the prior installments. The series rewards reading from the beginning rather than jumping in mid-sequence.
Who Should Listen to Desperate Measures
For readers already invested in the Convergence series, this is a clear addition. The character development continues, the humor remains sharp, and R.C. Bray’s performance makes 15 hours feel efficient. For listeners who enjoyed Alanson’s Expeditionary Force series and have been meaning to try Convergence, this is evidence that the energy from that series has transferred to the new one.
Skip it if you’re new to Alanson, urban fantasy, or this specific series. The genre pleasures here are real but they’re built on accumulated goodwill from prior installments. And skip it if you’re looking for a complete story with a satisfying ending: Desperate Measures is built for continuation, not closure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to read all four previous Convergence books before Desperate Measures, or can I start here?
You need the prior books. Character relationships, ongoing plot threads, and Kaz’s developing powers are all built on the earlier installments. Alanson writes for a readership that has been following the series, and diving in at book five would mean missing the context that makes the character moments land.
How similar is Desperate Measures to Alanson’s Expeditionary Force series?
The signature elements carry over: a wisecracking protagonist, humor as a primary narrative mode, creative problem-solving under pressure, and high-stakes action that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The setting shifts from military science fiction to urban fantasy, and the mythology integration is different in kind, but the authorial personality and pacing style are recognizably Alanson’s throughout.
One reviewer mentioned editing issues. Does R.C. Bray’s narration mitigate those problems in the audio version?
Somewhat. A skilled narrator like Bray can smooth syntactic roughness through natural phrasing and pacing in ways that make individual sentence-level problems less apparent than in print. However, structural issues like missing words or confused sentence logic will still be perceptible. Listeners who are particularly sensitive to production quality may notice them; others may not.
Does Desperate Measures end on a cliffhanger, and is there a confirmed release date for book six?
Based on reviewer reports, the book ends with the narrative still in motion rather than resolving. Jeffrey B. notes explicitly that it “leaves you hanging” and that more books are coming. As of the August 2025 release date, no confirmed release date for book six was publicly available, though Alanson has a track record of relatively regular series releases.
