Audiobook Review – We Are Legion (We are Bob) (Bobiverse, Book 1) by Dennis E. Taylor, Narrated by Ray Porter (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult (fine for YA and older)
Genre: Science Fiction/Humor
Length: 9 hours and 56 minutes
Publisher: Audible Originals
Release Date: September 20, 2016
ASIN: B01L082SCI
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Bobiverse series
Source: Audiobook from Audible
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Bob Johansson has just sold his software company for a small fortune and is looking forward to a life of leisure. The first item on his to-do list: Spending his newfound windfall. On an urge to splurge, he signs up to have his head cryogenically preserved in case of death. Then he gets himself killed crossing the street. Waking up 117 years later, Bob discovers his mind has been uploaded into a sentient space probe with the ability to replicate itself. Bob and his clones are on a mission to find new homes for humanity and boldly go where no Bob has gone before. ”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Bobiverse series. Right now there are four books in this series (it sounds like the first three are the main bulk of the story). I got this as an audiobook from Audible.com.
Audiobook Quality (5/5): The narration was very well done; definitely one I would recommend listening to if you enjoy audiobooks.
Thoughts: I really loved the beginning of this book; the premise and situation Bob finds himself in is hilarious, ingenious, and a bit creepy too. The pacing of the story slows a little bit towards the middle, but then picks back up as the Bobs gain footholds in different areas of space. At that point I ended up very engaged with the various struggles of the entities the Bobs interacted with.
As you get towards the end of the story it does get a bit hard to keep track of all of the Bobs; but Taylor does a pretty good job of focusing on a manageable number. The transitions on the audiobook were pretty fast and sometimes I had to quickly look at my phone to remind myself which Bob I was hearing from (the chapter name starts with which Bob you are listening to).
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this and plan on listening/reading the second book as well. This is a fun and clever book with a really interesting premise. I would recommend it if you like humorous sci-fi reads and are interested in things like artificial intelligence and space travel.
