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For We Are Many
Nov. 26th, 2021 08:42 amFor We Are Many is the second in the Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor, which makes this review a bit weird, because I haven't actually read most of the first one! Dave was listening to it last time we went on a longish journey and wanted to have it on in the car - so I heard about two hours of the story, right near the end. Dave filled in the major background gaps, and it was compelling enough that I got completely invested in the characters and the plot - and decided to carry on with book two!
And I'm glad I did, because I really enjoyed it and will definitely be listening to the others. It helped that I already knew and love the audiobook narrator (Ray Porter) from his excellent reading of The Hail Mary Project.
Anyway, the Bobiverse is about a man from our time, who is cryogenically frozen and wakes 150 years later to discover his brain has been transferred into a computer. He becomes a deep space probe, looking for planets suitable for colonisation, as what remains of humankind on Earth is facing environmental extinction.
Along the way, he creates lots of new versions of himself, all of whom pick their own names and then go off to do different things around the galaxy. Porter manages to imbue all the different Bobs with different personalities, via slightly different voice inflections - aided, of course, by Taylor's excellent storytelling and character development.
A couple of the Bobs find intelligent species on other planets, and get overly involved in their progress. Others focus on getting humans off Earth (with all the politics that involves) and settled in new colonies (dealing with unexpected indigenous fauna along the way).
The chapters are generally very short, and there are many, many subplots running at the same time - but I didn't have any trouble keeping track of it all, and I found every aspect compelling. The main threat comes from a hive mind the Bobs call The Others, who are systematically destroying everything, in order to provide resources for their own uses. I'll be very interested to see how they are dealt with in the next book
And I'm glad I did, because I really enjoyed it and will definitely be listening to the others. It helped that I already knew and love the audiobook narrator (Ray Porter) from his excellent reading of The Hail Mary Project.
Anyway, the Bobiverse is about a man from our time, who is cryogenically frozen and wakes 150 years later to discover his brain has been transferred into a computer. He becomes a deep space probe, looking for planets suitable for colonisation, as what remains of humankind on Earth is facing environmental extinction.
Along the way, he creates lots of new versions of himself, all of whom pick their own names and then go off to do different things around the galaxy. Porter manages to imbue all the different Bobs with different personalities, via slightly different voice inflections - aided, of course, by Taylor's excellent storytelling and character development.
A couple of the Bobs find intelligent species on other planets, and get overly involved in their progress. Others focus on getting humans off Earth (with all the politics that involves) and settled in new colonies (dealing with unexpected indigenous fauna along the way).
The chapters are generally very short, and there are many, many subplots running at the same time - but I didn't have any trouble keeping track of it all, and I found every aspect compelling. The main threat comes from a hive mind the Bobs call The Others, who are systematically destroying everything, in order to provide resources for their own uses. I'll be very interested to see how they are dealt with in the next book
