For We Are Many

Read Time: 2 Minutes

I’ve been itching to get back to the Bobiverse since the first book, so with a few credits in my pockets, I dropped one on the second book and got stuck in. Continuing on from the first instalment, the Bob clones are still exploring the galaxy, trying to move the surviving humans off the earth, and trying to work out if there’s a big bad out there strip-mining solar systems of everything.

Like the first, we alternate between the various incarnations of Bob. How Ray Porter (narrator) makes them sound the same yet unique in their own right is beyond me. Perhaps a combination of Ray and the story itself, but I don’t remember ever getting lost while listening.

The Bobs have found a lot more life out there than they could have hoped for. Original Bob continues to be the “Sky God” of the Deltans from the first book but is finding trying to be helpful may not be in the Deltans’ best interest. Coming to grips with the consequences of his actions, I think, will ripple out across all the Bobs.

In other systems, we meet the big bad of the universe and what they’re up to. I particularly like it whenever we return to the Bobs squaring off against these guys they call the “Others”. While the exploration and strange new civilisations are fun, I do enjoy a well-written bad guy vs underdog story.

History is repeating itself though, and the Bobs can’t sit idly by while the existence of intelligent life on other planets and even back on Earth is in peril.

Still a few production issues with this one. No obvious background noises, but some REALLY obvious retakes – like a major shift in quality. Almost as if the retakes were recorded as Ray was walking by the studio rather than being inside it.

My main gripe was that the ending took me by surprise. NO SPOILERS – because I don’t mean the content. It felt more like the story just ended. Looking back, I can see it makes a kind of sense to end it there, but it still felt a little rushed. I’m not mad as I was already planning on buying the next one. Just mildly annoyed that I can’t keep listening all night.