Dennis E. Taylor

This book was entertaining. Extremely and compulsively entertaining.

It has been compared a lot with The Martian, by Andy Weir. The reason is clear: both are told from the point of view of a similar protagonist: an intelligent and technically accomplished nerd, with a nerd's sense of humor, as he struggles to survive under difficult conditions. The differences are also clear: The Martian was more down-to-Earth (down-to-Mars, I guess), with more emphasis on the technical details of the solutions to the problems. We Are Legion (We Are Bob), on the other hand, tends to hand-wave technical details and in exchange it presents a grander vision, involving multiple solar systems, alien races, wars and the stakes are the survival of humankind, not just of the protagonist.

So, the premise goes like this (with no more spoilers than the blurb): Bob Johansson is a successful entrepeneur who has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. Unfortunately, he immediately gets killed in an accident. He wakes up a century later to find that he has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in a Von Neumann probe (a spacecraft capable of replicating itself) looking for habitable planets. Unfortunately, the world is an unstable place, marked by a cold war conflict between several enemy powers. It's not clear that Bob will survive long enough to get to space...

Taylor is not a great stylist. I had just read a Joe Abercrombie novel, and after Abercrombie's prose, the first chapter of We Are Legion, when the main character is established, was a bit painful. As soon as the plot gets started, however, it doesn't matter any more. The story is fascinating, with sense of wonder and plenty of excitement. A very fast and pleasing read.

The story doesn't end in a cliffhanger, but it just ends, without a real sense of conclusion. This is the first book of a trilogy, and the whole thing needs to be read. Fortunately, the second book is out and the third is announced for August 2017.… (more)

It continues the main story lines from the previous book. That's a good thing because I really enjoyed that first book, and the same happened with this one, although I have to admit I missed the thrill of discovery when a mayor plot was introduced. Still, if we want resolution by the time the trilogy ends we can't get new developments all the time.

This is a great science-fictional idea and it keeps working its magic in this second book. It's not great literature or great characterization, but it sure is a great story.

One thing that bothers me though is the war strategy. Winning a war in these conditions is a matter of using resources efficiently to build more military units than the enemy, as any player of strategy games knows, and the Bobs are surprisingly lax and casual about it, even with the survival of humanity at stake.… (more)

Another very fast read. Once more it's a fast-paced story, with very short chapters and the action jumping frequently from subplot to subplot as we keep up with all that's going on in the Bobiverse. Like book 2, this is a continuation of the open plot lines, and it closes them in a satisfactory manner. There are plenty of stories that could still be told in this setting, but this feels like a satisfactory conclusion.

The trilogy is really a long single novel arbitrarily divided in three parts, and although not a literary masterpiece it has been a great science-fictional ride.… (more)