Bobiverse Series by Dennis E. Taylor
Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it’s a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.
Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he’ll be switched off, and they’ll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.
The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad – very mad.
The Reason
I love space opera series and heard so many good things about this one.
The Quotes
“Point is, that’s when I really realized that I don’t think like most people. I’m fine with solitude. In fact, I get antsy when I’m around people for too long a period without respite.”
“People’s capacity for turning dogmatic stupidity into political movements never ceased to amaze me. We’ve knocked off 99.9% of the human race and somehow the crazies still manage to survive. It just defies the odds.”
“Since I doubt, I think; since I think, I exist.”
“Belly laughs are one of the best things about being sentient, and you should never miss a chance for one.”
“At one time, we thought that the way life came together was almost completely random, only needing an energy gradient to get going. But as we’ve moved into the information age, we’ve come to realize that life is more about information than energy. Fire has most of the characteristics of life. It eats, it grows, it reproduces. But fire retains no information. It doesn’t learn; it doesn’t adapt. The five millionth fire started by lightning will behave just like the first. But the five hundredth bacterial division will not be like the first one, especially if there is environmental pressure. That’s DNA. And RNA. That’s life. …”
The Narrator(s)
Ray Porter. He is just amazing!
My Thoughts
Book 1 – We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
I loved how interesting it got right off the bat; I love original Bob’s character and I thought it was interesting to see him navigate through the early days with his FAITH handlers. It did get a little confusing for me later when we started getting duplicates of Bob, but I like that each of them had distinctive characteristics that made them stand out from each other. It still took me a while to figure out who was doing what, but by the end of the book, I was invested in each of the Bobs’ missions and everything that they were doing. I was particularly invested in Archimedes and the rest of the Deltans and I also like the storyline with Riker dealing with the actual Earthlings and getting them to safety. It’s a little scary to see how difficult it is dealing wih all the different leaders of Earth, especially because I’m sure they’re probably worse in real life.
Book 2 – For We Are Many
Towards the end of Book 1, we see Mario discover a mysterious phenomena in a planet he was exploring and we find out more about them here. “The Others” are scary, but still not the worse threat the Bobs have to deal with in this book. I love that we see more of Archimedes and the Deltans and how they evolve, albeit with Bob’s interference, but it’s not fun to see conflicts that happen through fear and misunderstanding. The stakes are higher in this book, and we have so many things happen; some devastating, some satisfying, some bittersweet, but all so incredible to a well-written book. I wasn’t sure where the stories were going to go when I started Book 2, but I honestly love that we follow most of the missions long-term and we continue to see them through. Of course, new challenges keep popping up even as the Bobs are still handling the initial ones. I love it!
Book 3 – All These Worlds
Writing this after having just finished this book, I feel like it might have originally been meant as the final book in the series. Of course, I already knew I had more books to look forward, but there was a tone to the ending of the book that made me think it was goodbye. It was so sad and bittersweet, but very apt to the overall theme of the book in a way. It explored a lot more on the afterlife and beliefs about the afterlife, how our religious and ethical beliefs shape us and our attitude towards others who don’t share the same opinions. It was very interesting to watch the characters navigate that, as well as the bigotry and prejudices that come with it. The storyline with Bridget and Howard, and Bridget’s children, was the most compelling for me, especially with how messy family matters got.
Book 4 – Heaven’s River
This might be my favorite book in the series so far. So I mentioned how it felt like the previous book might have originally been meant as the final book in the series because of the tone of the ending. This book feels like it was the start of something new, a new era of ideas for the Bobiverse. Everything escalates, the plot thickens with the Bobs and the Starfleet and Skippies replicants. The main plot of this book is with finding and rescuing Bender, but I love how there’s this whole setup behind the scenes with the replicants and I’m anticipating all the issues the Bobs will have to face with them in the next books. I also love the main plot itself, I thought Bender’s rescue was very thrilling. I love how vivid the world of Heaven’s River was, and I found Bob’s adventure with living with the Quinlans, as a Quinlan, so fascinating. I’m excited for more!
Book 5 – Not Till We Are Lost
What I loved about the Heaven’s River is that while there were other Bobs’ stories being told throughout the book, it felt like there was a main plot and story surrounding the Quinlan, which helped to anchor me and keep me focused. In this book we are back to a more dispersed storytelling and it was harder to stay focused. I still enjoy the series and I love how the Bobs are evolving, with the Skippies and Starfleet becoming their own “people” apart from the earlier versions of Bobs. I did enjoy the exploration of the reason for the Fermi Paradox, and in fact, I love the exploration of all the different possibilities the Bobs are presented with. I love Theresa’s storyline and how there’s a Quiniverse happening! The Bobs need more people who are different from them but who are able to work with them and give them different ideas and perspectives. The next book is supposed to be coming out next week and I’m ready!
Book 6 – The Infinite Extent
Coming soon!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this series? Would you read this series? Did you like it or do you think you would like it?
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