We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Bobiverse, Book 1

By: Dennis E. Taylor

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

There's a reason We Are Legion (We Are Bob) was named Audible's Best Science Fiction Book of 2016: Its irresistibly irreverent wit! 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.

Dennis E. Taylor’s hilarious novel sets the stage for the magnificent performance of Ray Porter, who revels in the brave new world of corpsicles, artificial intelligence, interstellar space probes, and space colonization in tantalizing detail.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is the first installment in the blockbuster Audible Original Bobiverse series - which has sold more than one million copies.

©2016 Dennis E. Taylor (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Wow... Superb Science Fiction

I was very unsure about this book after reading only the description. The only reason I ended up buying it was because of the multiple reviews I read saying that it was amazing... I'm SO glad I gave it a chance. This book was outstanding and everything I want in a science fiction story. It was funny, not too complex, had a little science, periodic space battles, and was just an all-around well-written book.

The book starts out with a successful young tech engineer signing a contract to have his body preserved after his death and then dying in an accident shortly after. He awakens hundreds of years later as a disembodied computer program that was created using his brain as a template. He and the others who preserved their brains are being used to create artificially intelligent beings and have zero rights or free will. He also learns that the United States has been long replaced with a theocratic police state, and that a new space race has begun with earth nations rushing to claim new star systems with intelligent space drones.

Bob becomes one of the first drones to be sent off to the stars with the ability to self-replicate. Having long since circumvented the safeguards put in place to keep him obedient, he becomes something more than just a computer intelligence...
The book is full of Bob debating himself about the ethics of copying his personality and essentially creating whole new beings with their own free will, all with his memories and experiences. He also learns that despite being copies of himself, all of his clones are subtlely different and have their own needs and desires.

A conflict on earth nearly destroys humanity in a nuclear war shortly after he departs earth, leaving Bob as not only the last hope to explore nearby space and expand human influence but as the last hope for the survival of the biological human race.

Throughout the story, Bob (and his copies) invent new technologies, design space vessels, discover new habitable worlds, encounter other primitive intelligent life, return to attempt to save humanity, and encounter mysterious systems and circumstances.
He must also fight back against the only other self-replicating human probe controlled by the intelligence of an insane military leader, leading to several space battles and the hunting of his escaped clones before they can self-replicate out of control.

The performance by the narrator was top-notch and he did a very good job with the various voices of multiple Bob copies, as well as the other characters.

I would recommend this book to every science fiction fan. Five stars!!

Get past the name, it's a boblorius nerdgasam.

What made the experience of listening to We Are Legion (We Are Bob) the most enjoyable?

Combination of nerdyness, imagination, narrator, and good scifi.

What other book might you compare We Are Legion (We Are Bob) to and why?

nothing... there is only one bob. ...

Which character – as performed by Ray Porter – was your favorite?

Bob, all the bob.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh

Any additional comments?

Just give it a go.

Robust storyline that makes you involuntarily

take part in the action. I hope there's another book coming, too good to stop now.

Great interesting plot line.

Did you like the Martian? Then you'll like this as well, so far a great start to a series. New ideas, intriguing problems, sensible enemies, and a plethora of characters. A must listen.

fun sci-fi and Bob

Well balanced between future tech and humor. We, the audience ride along with Bob as he unwillingly searches the galaxy for a new planet for human habitation.

The brilliance of this book is how the author accurately protrays humanity in the face of total devastation. There is no unity, celebration of diversity. It's huddled masses fighting for time and the attention of Bob while also exploiting him at ever turn.

Bob's response to how he's being treated is equal measure hope and practicality. A human mind made immortal, Bob remains dedicated to saving the human race even if it takes generations to do so.

Ray Porter is Bob to me. His narration sells the characters and enhance the experience.

Totally Enjoyed

This is great entertainment. The book begins at the Las Vegas Great American Comic Con and ends with space adventures. Sure, I have been to comic cons, but my ticket never included space battles with angry astronauts from Argentina.

The book also includes serious messages and very imaginative tech. The author wrestles with the disastrous consequences of self-centric global politics as well as one of my favorite themes “Do the best you can, given your circumstances”.

The Conneticut Von Neumann Space

This is an amazing book and it has so much potential. At its core, this book is about problem solving. Its about building, surviving, thriving in environments and situations that most would see as hopeless. This is the finest example of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court within the scifi genre that I have yet found and is shockingly a close mirror to Garon Whited's take on the Connecticut Yankee which tackles the building, solving thriving genre from the fantasy perspective.

I cannot stress this enough, this is an absolutely priceless book and you should not hesitate to pick this up. You will not be disappointed. I have read 80 books in the scifi and fantasy genre in the last 12 months and this is easily in my top 5, probably sitting at 2 or 3. Amazing book, the kind that you will spend weeks thinking about after you put it down. This book is excellent and the author deserves a standing ovation!

Fun stuff

Any additional comments?

I rarely review books but just finished this one. it was fun but went by too fast. Cant wait for him to continue the story.

Give it a chance

Seriously... Well performed and way more fun than the title might belie. Definitely a very pleasant surprise!

So good, can't wait for more.

The bobs are awesome, the concept of the whole universe is awesome. Can't wait. Might even throw a nod to the bobs into a game idea.