We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse Book 1)

Product Information

When I think of my favourite books of 2016 that have sequels coming next year, The highbrow masterpiece Too like the lightning and political thriller of the future Infomocracy are first and foremost. While completely different I have to put Bobiverse Book 2 on my list. I must know what happens to the Deltans and the Bobs!

I tried to listen to this with my other half - who only liked the beginning and stopped about a third in - and found out that I am indeed a huge nerd! Otherwise, as good as the first time :O) Bob Johansson, affectionately referred to as Bob, used to be an engineer in 21st century. He signed up to have his head preserved cryogenically upon his death just for future resuscitation to a new body. However, in a strange and ironic twist of fate, he died in less than 24 hours after doing so. He woke up a century later only to find out that his new body was in form of a type of computer program. Bob Johansson had become a replicant. Bob’s mission was becoming an artificial intelligence manning interstellar probe for searching for habitable planets. It later turns out that The USA wasn’t the only nation that was planning to lay claims as being the first nation to seek out the new worlds. This way of immortality always leads me to the question of why people tend to believe that death has to be an integral part of society as if funerals were great fun and stinking corpses roses. There is a great video about this topic I was also not surprised by the presence of “The Others” but as I said this book is fun fluff, so a slightly predictable storyline was not a deal breaker for me. It's fun at times, and the author tries to pull emotion out of the readers at times, but I just really didn't find myself caring that much. And again, NEITHER BOOKS HAD AN ENDING. It just drops off.

Customer reviews

Bob rarely stops to think about the impact of his meddling. When he encounters sentient life on a planet he doesn't think twice about blowing holes in the ecosystem or introducing more advanced technologies into their civilization without considering the fact that he's taking away opportunities for them to develop things on their own. In September 2020, Taylor released his sixth novel Heaven's River, a sequel in the "Bobiverse" series. The new novel follows a loose thread from the earlier novels involving the Bob clone named "Bender", who had disappeared mysteriously many years before and prompts a galaxy-spanning search. [6] Major themes [ edit ] If you’re looking for a fun SF adventure featuring multiple AIs originating from the same individual (Bob, of course), Von Neumann probes exploring the galaxy, the moral dilemmas of whether to assist a primitive race as a mechanical god, encountering an implacable alien race that considers planetary systems and sentient species as raw materials and food, then you’ve come to the right place. After listening to the melancholy, deadly-serious, artistic, and brooding Viriconium by M. John Harrison, handled by the skillful British narrator Simon Vance, Ray Porter’s light, matter-of-fact, and sardonic delivery was a welcome relief. Bob Johansson wakes up many years later only to find out that the corpsicles have already been declared to be without any rights, and Bob is now the state property. He has already been uploaded to computer’s hardware and he’s slated to become the controlling AI in the interstellar probe that’s looking for the habitable planets. Stakes are high here: no lesser than the 1st claim to whole worlds. If Bob declines this honor, he shall be switched off, and in turn, they will try again with another person. If he decides to accept, he will become a prime target. As the story unfold, there are 3 other countries that are trying to get their probes launched first, and so they play dirty.

Mind flashes the alarm! Cacophony of buzzing sounds fills the boy's head and every single warning light goes off!Just like We Are Many, this is a fun book, and could be read together as one (which is kind of how I read them). I can’t emphasise enough what a seamless, cruisy reading experience this book and its predecessor are – I love complex, weird or experimental novels, but it’s great to read a book that is simply a straightforward story done well. Character development in the Bobs, a Replicant, a computer programme, you say? Yes, completely!! Firstly, each clone is a different variation of the original Bob and they do differ sufficiently to have distinctive personalities. One just does not know how the newly cloned cohorts will turn out to be, i.e. which psyche of original Bob will be most dominant. Moreover, the much later generations of Bobs seem to have a more diluted sentimentality to humanity and hence not as inclined to stay put and help out. Part one of the story revolves around Bob's "resurrection" and training for the mission to space. The story had my curiosity at this part, but I wasn't actually into the story.

Robert Johansson, more affectionately known as Bob, was an engineer in the 21st century who signed up for having his head cryogenically preserved upon his death for future resuscitation into a new body. In a strange ironic twist of fate, Bob died within 24 hours of doing so and woke up a bit more than a century later. What he didn't expect was that his new body will be in the form of a computer program; Bob has become a replicant. His mission was to be the artificial intelligence manning interstellar probes to search for habitable planets and it turns out that America was not the only country who wanted to lay claim to being the first to seek out new worlds. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) really took me by surprise, it had a unique angle to the space theme and I liked the main protagonist(s). With this second installment you know exactly what you are going to get. Exactly!Bravo to Dennis E. Taylor and to Ray Porter for bringing the Bobiverse alive- in all its snarky glory, humor, and love for humanity.

Dennis E. Taylor is creating some of the best science fiction in recent times – his Bobiverse is outstanding. If you loved the first book in the Bobiverse (and why wouldn't you? It's a great read) you're going to love this too as it pretty much continues from exactly where book one left off. Bobs are out exploring the galaxy, fighting armed Brazilian probes, discovering new worlds and seeking out life and better, more lifelike versions of Spike, Bob's VR cat. Here's the thing: the writing in these books takes you deep into the mind of (you guessed it): Bob. A man whose consciousness has been turned into a supercomputer. Bob is not an exceptionally interesting guy. He's basically your typical Star Wars/Star Trek fan, works-an-office-job kind of guy, with an affinity for just general nerd culture. He's really not that exciting to read about. He's not terrible, just honestly he would probably never be considered on anybody's favorite character list. Bob is a little disconcerted by not having a body, and struggles with the revelation that he is a mere copy of the 'real' Bob, but the chance to explore the universe is something no true geek could turn down and he embraces his second life with gusto, learning to live with the limitations of being a piece of software.Earth is riven by struggles between competing power blocs with their own interstellar probe programs, and Bob has to deal with bombs, sabotage and political pressure before he even makes it into space. When he eventually reaches space, and begins to send copies of himself through the galaxy, We are Legion branches off into multiple engaging narratives across tens of light years. The device of having multiple slightly different versions of the same person is surprisingly effective. We get to follow along with uptight Bobs, gregarious Bobs, antisocial Bobs and of course, the original Bob as they explore strange new worlds, seek out new life etc. etc.(intentional Star Trek reference- the Bobs make a few of them in Taylor's book).