stars. A fun romp of a SF space adventure. In 2016, Bob Johannsen sells his company for a fortune and promptly signs up for cryogenic preservation, and then manages to get himself killed just a day or two later. When he wakes up over 100 years later, he's without any physical body, essentially just a computer program ... but a very smart, self-aware one. And now he has the chance to be one of the first human intelligences to explore the galaxy.

Bob (and later Bobs) is great character. I'm glad that trend of geeks being presented as socially unadapted idiots (like in tv show The Big bang theory) is dying. (Original) Bob is introvert geek, but he is also pragmatic smartass and other Bobs are more than just variations. They are personalities of their own and each PoV has it's own unique flavor. This second book can be seen as more of the same as the first book, but with one huge caveat. It's a character novel or (multi-character AND single-character) series. Confused? Don't be. It's all just Bob.Real humans and love are already complicated enough, but as soon as androids, AIs, or copies of real humans get involved, it gets even more hard(ware)core or soft(ware)core, depending on the personal preferences. And don´t forget the nasty, conservative, intolerant relatives. This aspect will be examined in more detail in the third part of the series and has some unique thoughts that are the most outstanding elements of the series besides the many multiple mini me with evolving personalities, the consequences of digital immortality on society in general, and the ethical aspect of uplifting. Although they are more of an easygoing side plot without as many philosophical and societal questions, in contrast to how relationships will evolve as soon as mind uploading runs smoothly and any kind of body, gender, or animal can be chosen to mate with. How naughty, but as long as it´s safe, sane, and consensual, who am I to judge. Cough cough. So seductively fluffy and soft… The story is certainly great and it wraps up lots of the plotlines that were left dangling in the first novel and setting several others I love reading great SF, but sometimes we just stumble across a novel or two that just make us beam with wonder and shared nerdiness and delight... and that basically describes these two Bob novels.

I think I would have never found this book on my own - and my life would have been the poorer for it! Seriously, this author is so delightfully geeky/nerdy (yes, both) that it's already enough to carry the reader from start to finish. But easter eggs or satirical references are not the only thing Dennis Taylor is good at. The Stern magazine praised Taylor's distinctive humour style, often based on nerdy inside jokes and references. [7] Recognition [ edit ]If you’re looking for a fun SF adventure featuring multiple AIs originating from the same individual (Bob, of course), Von Neumann probes exploring the galaxy, the moral dilemmas of whether to assist a primitive race as a mechanical god, encountering an implacable alien race that considers planetary systems and sentient species as raw materials and food, then you’ve come to the right place. After listening to the melancholy, deadly-serious, artistic, and brooding Viriconium by M. John Harrison, handled by the skillful British narrator Simon Vance, Ray Porter’s light, matter-of-fact, and sardonic delivery was a welcome relief. A total aside: my husband was watching the Science Channel the other night and the show was talking about 3D printers and I asked if Von Neumann probes were mentioned. He looked at me as if I were a nut. No, he said. Two minutes later the show went into what they were and how they would work and I puffed up with pride. (Picture Fredo Corleone: "I'm smart!") While I give Taylor points for creative concept, there are two significant problems with the narrative. One, the aforementioned story-telling challenge. The second is that since Bob is virtually eternal and omnipotent, the book feels like a slightly-amusing history teacher recounting The History of Things. On the upside, at least one of the four plot-lines is bound to satisfy a sci-fi itch, whether it's colonization, alien races, space fights, or the mechanics of exploration. The omnipotence took away a large measure of suspense; the only issue was whether or not a Bob would be able to 3-D print to meet a time deadline. I'll also note that there are quite a few ansibles developed in this book (the solution Ursula LeGuin created in her worlds for interstellar communications). But since there were so many convenient but implausible 'discoveries' meant that I never really doubted a solution would appear. This was great. The situation that the Bobs find themselves in are SF staples and the multitudes of himself allow the book to investigate all of them. The Bobiverse is a rich universe filled with danger and wonder and quite a lot of Bob.

It shows the immense potential of the Sci-Fi tropes about mind uploading and thereby induced immortality and personality splitting/cloning, and especially the possibility of mind uploading for thousands of years of space travel, which might probably be the first option. Because it might take much longer, hopefully not forever, to get physical immortality without resident eviling the world population. 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. Well, Bob left a little sooner then he was prepared for. He wakes up a century later and has been uploaded into computer hardware. Berg, Guido (December 12, 2019). " "ChaosKatrin" aus Kolkwitz für Youlius-Award 2020 nominiert". www.otz.de. To say this is good science fiction is like saying Neil Peart is a drummer: technically true but far from wholly accurate.

Customer reviews

All These Worlds” is the third novel in the “Bobiverse” series and was released in the year 2017. Life as a sentient spaceship should be a lot more fun for Bob. After almost a hundred years of going out through space, Bob and his clones cannot find a way to keep away from trouble. exploration yet you realistically believed that you might not live long enough to survive this journey? Well, that’s not the case if you’re Bob. The storyline at times felt like the reimagining of the computer game sim city….. inter-galactic style.