We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1
4.5 | 29,960 ratings
Price: 17.46
Last update: 12-30-2025
Top reviews from the United States
- JimboFun book to readThis is a great book. Very original ideas that move the plot along. Bob's inner monologue is hilarious.
- L CodyI’m usually not that into hard sci-fi, but this was easy and fun to readWe Are Legion (We Are Bob) is an amazing achievement. I have seldom seen such an incredible feat of world-building. It is believable; at several levels. We start with a very intelligent, tech-savvy guy, a classic nerd who loves all the fandoms that sci-fi/fantasy fans revel in, with a quirky personality and easy adaptability, living in our modern world. Because of a somewhat impulsive decision to buy a cryogenic contract that morning, Bob’s head is frozen and preserved after a sudden, unforeseen and deadly accident.
He wakes up 113 years later as an AI which has been purchased by a large research company. No longer free and autonomous, Bob adapts to his new, slave-like status, as the company pursues a worldwide contest to be the first to launch an AI controlled exploratory spacecraft to find a new world for humans to live on.
I was amazed at the author’s knowledge of psychology, astronomy and physics, as well as space technology. To find out how Bob became Legion, pick up this novel and see. I don’t think nerds and techies will be disappointed. - MatthewFun read though a little aimlessLots of storylines to explore but the author doesn’t dive deep. The book doesn’t have a real plot arc but nevertheless it’s a good read.
- Patrick GeleskeDefinetly check out the Bob-iverseIll make it simple. I love this book. I first listened to it on audible and love it so much I wanted it in print as a forever piece in my personal library. Books 1 through 3 are some of the best. Just give it a read and you will be hooked.
- PoetMikeExciting but left me wanting moreBrilliant premise and masterful execution from a software engineering / gamer simulation viewpoint. This story zips along and is very enjoyable, with plenty of space exploration and military battles. But here's the "but" and why I withheld a star: this is pure male systems engineering sci-fi, not a whiff of culture, philosophy, mysticism, poetry, music, art ... the praxis of the human condition. So if that's your bag read it and you'll want to read the rest. As for me, I'm moving on because for me, this kind of thing is entertaining in small doses and then gets boring.
- rockymtnhighScalzi has competition. Enter the Bobiverse, you won't regret it.Let's talk science fiction. I have read science fiction since I was a kid, and while I will admit, I am picky, and it takes a good author to draw me into a new "universe," I definitely have favorites. For about a decade I was all over the Orson Scott Card Ender's Game series, and I still admit to re-reading the original trilogy regularly. But then Uncle Orson got way too political in his novels (not in a Red or Blue way, but just boring stories focused on political drama, instead of good story-telling. Because seriously, no one really cared about Peter the Hegemon. Blah...
Then I discovered John Scalzi and his Old Man's War series. Scalzi is probably the most well-regarded author in the contemporary sci-fi world. His stories are engaging, he has a sense of humor (often dry, but very funny) and he pokes fun at our contemporary culture through a sci-fi lens. That said, his most recent book, The Collapsing Empire, fell short for me, suffering a bit too much of the Card syndrome. But I'll forgive him - anyone who writes a book called Red Shirts is a winner in my book.
In the last year I've gone back to the old Robert Heinlein "Juveniles" (juvenile my ass, this is good classic science fiction), and have enjoyed old favorites. It has been fun to re-discover Citizen of the Galaxy and a few others, like Time for the Stars, and Farmer in the Sky. Heck, I think Citizen of the Galaxy was my first science fiction novel, oh, 40 years ago. It never gets old.
Two week's ago Audible/Amazon sent me a marketing email. If you liked Andy Weir's "The Martian" (who didn't?) you will love Dennis Taylor's We are Legion (We are Bob). I took a look. And to be honest, the only similarity to Weir's book is the author's great sense of humor (and you could imagine Bob and Mark Watney getting along fine, filled with snark). I downloaded the audible version and found a great new author.
Taylor is Scalzi-esque in the best sense. The short version is that the protagonist is a science nerd who decides to invest in his "future" by paying for having his eventual corpse (well, actually his brain and head) to be cyrogenically-frozen upon his death, to be brought back when science was capable of such feats. Little did Bob know that he's get run down by a car that same day. And then we jump forward 150 years to a post-US theocracy, where Bob has been brought back as an artificial intelligence, to be re-purposed as a "Von Neumann probe," powering a space ship hat will travel to other worlds, with futuristic 3D printers capable of reproducing anything, including Bob's ship, and "replicating" more Bobs. Yeah, sounds strange. BUT read it, and within a couple chapters you will totally get it. Each Bob has all of the prior's memories, but is somewhat different. Each Bob takes a different name, and has slightly different personalities. There is Bob, there is Bill, there is Riker (yes, Bob is a serious trekkie, and so is the author, score one for him). There is Homer (Simpson,not the Ancient Greek), there is Bender (Breakfast Club anyone?). And on and on.
The novel is fast-paced; the writing is excellent, Scalzi now has some serious competition. I won't go any further, as I don't want to spoil the book, but I am now in the second book, We are Many, which literally continues where the first one takes off.
And if you are into audiobooks, this is a winner. Ray Porter is one of the best new voices in audible studios. Just excellent narration. Similar to Wil Wheaton's work, and just fun to listen to. Give the Bobiverse a read.