Booklog 97/2024: Dennis E Taylor: Not Till We Are Lost – Bobiverse #5 – Audiobook

[jacey]

Narrated by Ray Porter

The Bobs are all computer replicants of original human Bob. They are spreading throughout the galaxy. We follow Original Bob and some of his first generation clones, Bill, Howard, Will (originally Ryker) as they neet new societies and have a bit of trouble with younger clones (24th generation) due to replicative drift. In the aftermath of the Starfleet War there's anti-Bob sentiment and the Skippies are playing with dangerous AI that's not a Bob.  Daedelus and Icarus are heading for the centre of our universe, a journey of thousands of years, but they want to see what's there. On the way they find a wormhole network and many abandoned planets which have obviously housed advanced civilisations. But at this point they are too far away to report back to the rest of the Bobs. In the meantime, Howard and Bridget have discovered a squirrel like race of people and are trying to help them, with mixed success. Bill is working on trying to create and develop wormhole travel, and the Bobs are trying to evacuate their descendants from a planet which has become hidebound by the rule of Faith, who want nothing to do with Bobs. This all gels when Daedelus and Icarus find a way to report back. What they have to tell galvanises the Bobs for what will become (I'm sure) the next Bobiverse book. Even though we leap from one Bob to another as viewpoint characters, the whole thing knits together beautifully. I love the Bobiverse. As usual Ray Porter's Narration is spot-on.