I recently reviewed Split Second (Split Second Book 1) (affiliate link) by Douglas E. Richards. I’d not read any Douglas E. Richards books before, so it was very helpful to me for readers of my humble blog to recommend that and further titles from other authors.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (affiliate link) by Dennis E. Taylor was highly recommended, and delivered. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) was published back in 2016, so as usual I’m very late to the party. Again, I grabbed this via Audible and listened to the nearly 10-hour futuristic space-based novel on walks and while cooking.
The premise is initally straightforward. A rich tech mogul - Bob Johansson, has paid for his head to be preserved in the event of his demise while planning his next life steps. He’s subsequently hit while crossing the street and wakes up over a century later.
Much like Murphy in Robocop, he has to come to terms with his surprising second life. Unlike Murphy, he’s not back in a human-shaped body, but running as software on a computer system, somewhere else in the building.
After a short while getting used to this new existence and his capabilities, we’re thrust into space as Bob is in control of one of a number of competing ships looking for a new home for human life. The rest of the book deals with Bob’s main mission, side projects and his own new-found skills as a space aventuring, high-speed, irreverent computer, capable of 3D printing almost anything.
I really enjoyed We Are Legion (We Are Bob). It was sometimes challenging to keep up as the story darted between incarnations of “Bob” scattered across galaxies. But I put that down to not listening in one contiguous lump of time. The characterisation of the members of the “Bobiverse” was well done by Ray Porter though, which helped the listener switch context throughout.
The book certainly kept my interest, and made me keen to pick up further titles in the “Bobiverse” series. Dennis E. Taylor. does well to tell an engaging story littered with plausible future tech, and believable characters and scenarios.
I think I’m becoming a bit of fan of Taylor’s work.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor.- ★★★★★ 5/5 stars