We are Legion (We are Bob) (Bobiverse #1) ☆☆☆☆½ DNF’d at 8%

~ Bookstooge

wearelegion (Custom)This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: We are Legion (We are Bob)
Series: Bobiverse #1
Author: Dennis Taylor
Rating: 0.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 383 / DNF’d at 8%
Format: Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

DNF’d at 8%

 

My Thoughts:

Forget the countries run by tyrants working on nukes. Forget the hordes of militant Islamics raping their way across Europe and Africa. Forget the Russians & Chinese and their militant outlook and history of war, pillaging and conquering. Oh no…

WATCH OUT FOR THOSE CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS WHO BREAK THE LAW AND RULE THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I laid it on a bit thick there with all those exclamation points. But one thing this book did do for me was make me realize how some people are so blinded and what vision they do have is so skewed, that for all intents and purposes, we’re not even seeing the same world.

☆☆☆☆½

 

bookstooge (Custom)

 

 

36 thoughts on “We are Legion (We are Bob) (Bobiverse #1) ☆☆☆☆½ DNF’d at 8%”

  4. My husband hated the beginning of this book for the exact same reason you did. To be fair though, it doesn’t come again in the remainder 95% of the book and the rest of the story doesn’t even have anything to do with the earth’s setting. To be honest, I think bringing up the Christian fundamentalism was unnecessary and even downright stupid of the author, because it only serves to alienate readers such as yourself and my husband (like, if it ended up not even being relevant to the story, then why make a dig at Christianity?)

    But anyway, my husband actually wound up finishing the book (but only because he couldn’t DNF as it was an audiobook, and he was driving at the time and he couldn’t turn it off easily or switch to a different book) and he ended up loving it. He even went on to complete the trilogy because he found it so much fun, so in the end he was glad he pushed through (and because the Christian fundamentalists never came up again – it was mostly a space exploration story). Not gonna try to convince you to give this another chance because your anger at the book is definitely justified, but just wanted to give you my husband’s perspective since your reaction reminded me so much of his.

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    1. Thank you for that. It is good to know that it doesn’t continue. However, that almost makes it worse, if that makes ANY sense. It’s like a random jab of a needle, for no reason.

      The main character made no bones about being a materialist humanist, so I was expecting some differin thoughts on the afterlife obviously. Figured it might come into play. But getting an elbow to the kidneys, almost as an afterthought, I can’t get passed that.

      Even if I had finished the book and loved it, that instance is what would have stood out to me for the whole book. And since I have so many other books to read… * shrug *

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      1. That makes sense. Like I said, it felt like an unnecessary jab at Christianity, not to mention an unfair one – do extreme Christian fundamentalists exist? Of course. But they are such a minuscule slice of the population, and like you say in your post, with all the world’s more prevalent problems, it’s a skewed view to go with that as your vision of a dystopian future US. Given that the bit plays no further part the rest of the story, it also makes one wonder at the author’s bias. So your anger is totally justified.

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  6. Yeah, I love the combination of “Christians are a bunch of inbred hicks who are too dumb to tie their shoes” with “Evil Christians seized control of the USA, put down all potential resistance, and deployed far-future space tech.”

    I’ve seen the author in online forums insisting he has nothing against Christians, that it was just a convenient plot device or something. Doesn’t ring true to me.

    I finished the book anyway, and as others have said, the anti-Christian portion of the book is quite small. Without it, I probably would have promoted the book on my blog already. I may still give it a review someday, but it won’t be as positive as it could have been.

    It’s too bad, because this is one of the very, very few modern sci-fi books which actually has a sci-fi concept at its heart.

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    1. Interesting, I hadn’t known that the author had been called out for this. Hmm, even if I give him the benefit of the doubt and buy his “convenient plot device” excuse, it’s still a lazy, unimaginative trope and hence a bit insulting to my intellect. The “whacko Christian fundamentalist” along with “evil capitalist businessman” and “warmongering military general” are perhaps the top three villain cliches in modern SFF. Authors need to go beyond these tired ideas. Such a shame it is too, because you’re right, the rest of the book and the ideas of the Bobiverse are so fun and original, embodying that old school sci-fi adventure feel.

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    2. Yeah, a group really can’t go both ways. I’d like to think we’re closer to the Seize Control side of things, but I suspect the Catholic Church already beat us to the punch (that’s my SDA side coming out).

      I was pretty disappointed because I’d heard very good things about it and the humor seemed like it would have worked for me. C’est la’vie…

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      1. I don’t remember much humor. The Bobiverse series name is pretty flippant and doesn’t match the tone of the book. The guy’s name is Bob, and his brain gets used as a pattern for the AI of a self-replicating space probe. It’s kind of interesting because his personality shifts a little with each clone. I figure the author must be some kind of programmer or engineer, because there’s a repeating pattern of a problem popping up, then a technical/engineering solution being found.

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  9. Ah ha ha ha ha! I should have known that part would catch you up! Sorry I let you go in to that one blind. If you even get an itch for great scyfy again, I suggest you skip to 9% and try again…this series is really great.

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  10. Pingback: Bookstooge in 100 Books | Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road

  11. I just discovered that yer emails were somehow turned off hence why I am readin’ these posts so much later. I had problems with this one and didn’t finish it either. I can’t say I remember the anti-Christian message at this point. But I wasn’t sorry to not finish this one. The first mate loved it though.
    x The Captain

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. It apparently has deleted some blogs out of me list and sent lots of others into spam. Sigh. Hopefully wordpress will get its junk together. Me noggin be so full of holes that I know some of those blogs are lost into the ether forever. Glad ye haven’t been lost to the watery depths. Arrr!
        x The Captain

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        1. Actually, this type of thing happening is exactly why I don’t go straight dot com. I don’t know enough to make it all work. If WP has this much of a problem, imagine what would happen if “I” had to manage things 🙂

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