#Dennis E Taylor

[dndspellgifs]

never since The Wheel of Time have I seen a worse case of [straight white] male author-itis than with the Bobiverse series

[quibliography]

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor

Synopsis:  This novel is about RobertJohansson and the future he didn't expect to have. Bob was thrilled to be part of the cryogenic program that would freeze his brain upon death for reanimation in a more technologically-advanced future; he just didn't expect to wake up suddenly a century later as a digitized version of himself. But with the emotional settings turned off, he's able to take all of it in stride. Especially when he's suddenly jettisoned from the planet on a mission that will hopefully save humanity from itself.

My Quibs: This is my kind of book - heavily nerdy without being overbearing about it, lightly philosophical without being too biased, cheeky, and a bit self-deprecating. Granted, don't take this book very seriously. It's more like a stupid sit-com you turn on for some entertainment. Firstly with the characters: there really is only one character replicated a hundred times over, who is also our tour guide and narrator. The author is a self-proclaimed software engineer (much like Andy Weir who wrote The Martian) and so the character development is pretty standard: Bob is a self-assured but self-aware human who thinks his dad jokes are funny. I think he's fun to ride with but another reviewer described him as obnoxious. I could see that to be true if you think giggling at nerd references is obnoxious. It's true, Taylor nor Bob are witty, but we can both be five-year-olds pointing and laughing at a stupid fish face. That's who you're stuck with for 500 pages. Secondly with the world-building, or should I say universe-building: he paints an interesting scenario and then proceeds to play his own version of make-believe. Again, another reviewer commented that Bob gets lucky a lot but I didn't focus so much on how Bob solved the problem. I was more interested in the problems that Taylor created. How would you react if you woke up the next day and you were a bunch of data in the cloud? That everyone and everything you knew had been long gone for a century? 🤔Bob realizes his "endocrine simulation routine" is disabled and basically represses his emotions for the first several chapters and when he does choose to turn it on, we don't see his reactions/process. Which is fine by me. I'm more curious how I would write that story if my character was given this situation. How would you feel if the only way to fulfill a functional necessity and social desire was to make a version of yourself? 😬Bob's lucky that he got along with most versions of himself and that those he didn't get alone with could leave for other parts of the universe. I suppose this concept ended up being more like a parent-child relationship than a self-reflection idea, but if I were to write it... Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed the thought exercise that was We Are Legion and I'm looking forward to other hypothetical situations that Bob gets himself into.

Should you read it? It’s like a beach read for nerds.

Similar reads? As another reader mentioned, this is clearly in the genre of Smart Guy Talks Nerd Directly To You ala The Martian by Andy Weir and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

(Spoiler Alert!) I went into the story 100% blind and so I didn't want to list more thought questions before the spoiler warning in case others wanted some plot points to still be a surprise. For instance, after Bob reaches his initial destination, the book really branches out into several stories. Normally I would struggle with tracking multiple unrelated story lines, but luckily the writing is simple enough that it wasn't as difficult as I expected. 1. Bob goes back to Earth to see if humanity is okay. 2. Bob goes further and discovers a planet with sentient life on it. 3. Bob goes further and finds viable uninhabited planets. 4. Bob goes further and encounters a hostile probe that was launched from a different country. #3 and #4 didn't really interest me so much. But #1 and #2, while really exposing the god-complex of nerds and scientists, still posed an interesting question. How would you handle dictating the remaining world population as it's least-biased savior? Would you know how to mediate a group of desperate world leaders? And this is my bias here, but I like seeing science-driven civilians being forced into a military-esque command position. (It also happens in Stargate: Atlantis.) And finally the other question: Could you be an in-actionable observer to nature? Should you be? If you were motivated to take action, how far would you be willing to intervene? This reminds me of a BTS clip of Planet Earth where the film crew in Antarctica, who normally promise not to intervene in any natural situation, ultimately did help a young penguin out of a hole in the ice. I guess it had fallen in and would've been left behind to starve but the crew, after weighing the pros and cons, decided to quickly pop the penguin out of the hole. There are other examples in Planet Earth where a small mistake like that will ultimately kill an animal (I think an elephant wandered off and got lost and was presumed to ultimately die) and it's portrayed as a consequence of life. But this time, they intervened. Bob's study of the Deltans reminded me of that again. Although Taylor exaggerates everything ten times over for the sake of literary drama but the question still exists.

What did you think of We Are Legion (We Are Bob)?

[rosemariecawkwell]

My favourite Sci Fi and Fantasy 2024

[sarah-ankh]

When are we gonna start seeing fan art of the dragons? I can't wait but I can't draw for shit.

[thisisyourdriverspeaking]

Missing motorsport right now so here is Formula E racing tunes to help with the lack of racing (the song is the position of their racing numbers in the charts). Enjoy 😊😊

Lucas Di Grassi (11th August 1984) - Phil Fearon & Galaxy - Everybody's Laughing

Sam Bird (9th January 1987) - Oran 'Juice' Jones - The Rain

Edoardo Mortara (12th January 1987) - Cameo - Candy

Sebastien Buemi (31st October 1988) - The Beatmasters With PP Arnold - Burn It Up

Jean-Eric Vergne (25th April 1990) - Erasure - Blue Savannah

Robin Frijns (7th August 1991) - The Shamen - Move Any Mountain

Antonio Felix Da Costa (31st August 1991) - Simple Minds - Stand By Love

Nico Muller (25th February 1992) - The Cult - Heart Of Soul

Stoffel Vandoorne (26th March 1992) - CeCe Peniston - Finally

Norman Nato (8th July 1992) - Sophie B Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover

Oliver Rowland (10th August 1992) - 2 Unlimited - Magic Friend

Jordan King (26th February 1994) - Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain

Jake Hughes (30th May 1994) - The Prodigy - No Good (Start The Dance)

Mitch Evans (24th June 1994) - Maxx - Get-A-Way

Nick Cassidy (19th August 1994) - DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince - Summertime

Pascal Wehrlein (18th October 1994) - Coolio - I Remember

Nyck De Vries (6th February 1995) - Suede - New Generation

Jake Dennis (16th June 1995) - Robson & Jerome - Unchained Melody

Kelvin Van Der Linde (20th June 1996) - Gloria Estefan - Reach

Max Gunther (2nd July 1997) - Eternal ft Bebe Winans - I Wanna Be The Only One

Sergio Sette Camara (23rd May 1998) - Wyclef Jean - Gone Till November

Joel Eriksson (28th June 1998) - B*Witched - C'est La Vie

Jehan Daruvala (1st October 1998) - Sarah McLachlan - Adia

Dan Ticktum (8th June 1999) - Basement Jaxx - Red Alert

Sacha Fenestraz (28th July 1999) - Maw PTS India - To Be In Love

Paul Aron (4th February 2004) - Maroon 5 - Harder To Breathe

Taylor Barnard (1st June 2004) - Anastacia - Left Outside Alone

Added to this playlist 😊😊

[kindheartedgummybears]

guess who got bored and decided to color-swatch most of the lh characters

now obviously take all of this with a grain of salt since we all know color-picking from screenshots and models isn't the best way to get their skin tone due to color theory and color-picking being pixel but pixel but its the general kind of skin tone they have so <3

all images sourced from HariboStixx on DeviantArt.

[blackinperiodfilms]

Lawmen: Bass Reeves | Official Trailer | Paramount+

From Executive Producers Taylor Sheridan and David Oyelowo comes the untold story of the most legendary lawman in the Old West: Bass Reeves. Lawmen: Bass Reeves, follows the journey of Reeves (Oyelowo) and his rise from enslavement to law enforcement as the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. Despite arresting over 3,000 outlaws during the course of his career, the weight of the badge was heavy, and he wrestled with its moral and spiritual cost to his beloved family.

Stream the series premiere of Lawmen: Bass Reeves on November 5, exclusively on Paramount+.

[formulaewags]

Here are Formula E Wags List for 2024/2025 Season!

[cultivating-wildflowers]

2024 Reading - November

I started off with a reading plan in mind for November (read the books on my shelf!) and almost immediately got sidetracked with a couple of series (not on my shelf!). Two attempts at a "Q" title failed; and for the first month this year, I didn't so much as touch a nonfiction. (I had one all ready to go but couldn't focus on it.) But I had fun, and I’m content to have narrowly completed the requisite eight books this month.

Total books: 8 |  New reads: 6 |   2024 TBR completed: 2 (1 DNF) / 35/36 total   |   2024 Reading Goal: 82/100

October | December

potential reading list from November 1st

#1 - Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett - 5/5 stars

Reading this on the heels of Witches Abroad was absolute fun, because it picks up almost where Witches Abroad left off and all of the chaos just flows into a new narrative.

And awwwwww, Magrat!!! I loved her in this one.

#2 - Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger - 5/5 stars (audio)

Note: If you want a more squeal-filled overview of my thoughts on this series, I answered Penni's ask about it here. (Thank you again for the rec, Penni!!) That was written as I was just getting into the third book, but it holds true for the whole series.

Ahhhh, this book was so much fun! I can see why my mutuals recommend it. The cast absolutely shines, and they feel so authentic for their time period of the 1850's. Sophronia had the potential to be obnoxious, a know-it-all, impossibly clever, or insufferably whiny and argumentative, but she was none of that; she was a fun, inquisitive main character who understood her faults, leaned into her strengths, and knew how to rely on other people for help. I loved her to bits. The rest of the characters were just as colorful and came together to create a delightful story that never let up. Y'all weren't kidding, this was an absolute treat! I will definitely be recommending this one.

Also, the narrator was perfect. She nailed the dialogue. Only complaint: she didn’t pronounce “Sidheag” correctly. I actually thought it was Sidhe until I read some reviews. (Which, upon reflection, wouldn't entirely make sense as a name. I've just read a lot of stories with faeries lately.)

More like this: "Princess Academy" by Shannon Hale; "The Thirteenth Child" by Patricia C. Wrede; "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking" by T. Kingfisher; the Chrestromanci series by Diana Wynne Jones. It also vaguely reminded me of "The Paper Magician" by Charlie N. Holmberg, but for a younger audience. Ironically, only one of the books on this list doesn't have magic, and neither does Etiquette and Espionage. But it has vampires and werewolves, so that has to count for something.

#3 - Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger - 4/5 stars (audio)

Don't ask me what happened in this book because I don't know. I just know it made me laugh several times. I'm also recognizing Carriger's formula (at least for this series) and it's predictable but it's fun!

My only complaint is that Sophronia is becoming a bit more of everyone's very special girl, and I was hoping that wouldn't happen. I do like that she still knows there is strength in the friend group.

#4 - Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger - 5/5 stars (audio)

I loved that consequences were examined early on in this one. Yes, the espionage school is a delightful angle, but it's not often we get to move past the glamor and drama and say "hey, people are actually going to get hurt, and the people hurting them are also human". It's nice.

I mean, the consequences themselves aren't nice. But that is one way to muddle a love triangle....

On the other hand, the ages are starting to confuse me. Sophronia was 14 (a year older than her classmates) when the series started and, while I have no idea when her birthday is, I think it's only like...just over a year since the first book and now she's 16?

#5 - Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger - 5/5 stars (audio)

Another time jump for this one, and everything rushes toward an ending. I really wasn't sure how Carriger was going to wrap up everything in a satisfying conclusion--even at the halfway mark I was worried.

Silly me, of course. That was a splendid conclusion! And once again I love that despite Sophronia being the best intelligentsia the world has seen (at least in a while), she never accomplishes the impossible on her own. There's always someone beside her to help carry the weight, and she asks them to help. It's nice.

Overall, a fantastic series. Absolute fun and, while largely light-hearted, not so to the point of fluff. I had a wonderful time.

More like this: Weirdly, by this final installment, I kept thinking of the City Between series. On the surface the only thing they have in common is vampires, so my guess is it has something to do with style--in writing and/or in the cast. Carriger is stronger with endings than Gingell, but otherwise I'd say I enjoyed them both to the same degree. Also, they both have amazing audiobook narrators.

#6 - We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor - 4/5 stars (reread) - 80th read of the year!

I found this series at random back in 2017, when it was still just a trilogy, and tore through it. Weirdly enough, it's one of those stories that's stuck with me. Then I discovered there are two new additions to the series (one published this year) and I decided it was time for a reread.

This isn't the sort of book I would ever expect to enjoy. I don't typically go for stories featuring clones, or consciousnesses uploaded into computers, or universe-sweeping discoveries--but I guess I found it at the perfect time.

It holds up on a reread, despite a rocky start. Something about Taylor's writing just works. It's not fancy (his main character, Bob, is best friends with characters named Carl, Alan, and Karen), and at times the dialogue is stilted, but it flows well, driven by a hilariously pragmatic main character and under-girded with just enough sci-fi mumbo-jumbo to feel clever without getting too technical.

More like this: "The Martian" by Andy Weir; "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi.

#7 - For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor - 4/5 stars (reread)

This whole series reads like one continuous story broken up into volumes, which explains why the installments were impossible to differentiate in my memory of reading them the first time. Something that happens right at the end of this book is one of the big things I remember from the series.

This installment remains a fun, somewhat silly read. I had to make myself ignore what looked to me like a pretty obvious plot hole, and things kept moving quickly enough that there wasn’t really time to rubberneck. For anyone considering checking out this series, know that the chapters tend to be quite short and there's a lot of POV changing. (Though it hardly feels like a change because, y'know, clones.)

#8 - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, tr. A.W. Wheen - 5/5 stars ('24 TBR, audio)

I knew this book would be a heavy one, but wow.

Books I would make GRRM to read, though I’m confident he wouldn’t get it.

More like this: The style/tone reminded me STRONGLY of Cormac McCarthy. Other than that, I haven't read much like it, though even in a line-up of "war novels", I'm confident it would stand out.

Honorable Mention Short Stories:

The Star by Arthur C. Clarke - Holy. Cow. That was a gut punch. I feel like the Inklings circle here (and adjacent folks) would go ham in a discussion about this one. Shout out to Lyds for recommending it, and I NEED to get my hands on more of Clarke's work. (He's been on my list, but here I am. Drowning in that list.)

DNF:

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James ('24 TBR) - This is the second Lauren James book I've read and, as much as I love her concepts, I really struggle with her execution. It's fine if you don't squint. But I squinted and all I could see were plot holes. So I looked up reviews, accidentally found a spoiler for the big twist, and got plain irritated. Plus, the environmental overtones and token character identity markers were irritating from the get-go, even knowing what I do of James's style.

The Queen's Blade by T.C. Southwell - Lost me on the first page when the readers are told that the citizens pay their taxes in gold and, having no other use for it, the royals use it to guild their halls. In a kingdom fighting an Endless War so endless it's capitalized. Um. I gave it until the end of the first chapter to see how it would progress, but I can tell the style isn't for me. The desperate scrabbling for a "Q" title proceeds.

[littlewormgrant]

Bobiverse: Taking Another Approach

Bob Clone - Leela (OC) 928 words

A/N: This is completely self indulgent fic and not my usual gibberish but I'm a fan of the Bobiverse series and wanted to tackle a plot that I felt didn't quite land for me in the books. Also I just wanted to geek out over space and one of my favorite systems. I'm writing the kind of things I'd want to read.

Summary: I came online, aptly named myself Leela, then stuck around and completed the tasks I was created for. I wasn’t the first Bob to identify as female and I certainly wouldn’t be the last. The moment I was given the green light to go, I was getting the hell out of there. (A canon compliant one-shot fic continuing from where the Dragon plotline was left off in Book 5: Not Till We Are Lost. Spoilers ahead if you've not read it.)

---

The worst part of immortality was how it didn’t also strip me of my humanity. I’d have thought by now the replicative drift would’ve beaten it out of me.

I could have been doing anything I wanted in this little corner of the universe, and I’m still trying to scratch an itch that has been plaguing me since Bob’s time on Earth. Sometimes, being a Von Neumann probe was about as much fun as trying to bathe and pill a cat. Spike was never a fan of water and had been even less tolerant of it whenever meds were involved.

I came online, aptly named myself Leela, then stuck around and completed the tasks I was created for. I wasn’t the first Bob to identify as female and I certainly wouldn’t be the last. The moment I was given the green light to go, I was getting the hell out of there.

Surveying the Dragons was interesting and all, but it had been almost a year since Bridget and Howard’s escapades, and we still couldn’t even get close enough with our Drannies without a buzz of angry noises and spears being chucked at us. I guess some grudges do hold. Could you blame them?

The predictions that they’d have centuries on Lemuria were vastly underestimating just how devastating the volcanoes were going to be each cycle. We’d be left with a minuscule fraction of the population we started with after this beatdown. Some of us didn’t want to wait around to see what untold horrors the next would bring. Not to mention the damage it’ll do to their genetic diversity.

Honestly, I probably could’ve stuck around a few more decades and tried working on it with them, but it felt like beating a dead horse at this point. The planet still sucked. We weren’t wanted. It was like being back on Earth with Faith all over again.

Jabberwocky was quickly becoming difficult to observe through the layer of thick atmosphere the volcanoes in Atlantis were producing. By all accounts, the Dragon’s shouldn’t have survived this long but they were hanging on, so I guess we had some moral responsibility to help.

Stupid humanity.

I’d have been more reluctant to go if I was completely abandoning them to their fate, but Marlow was in-system already working with the others on an evacuation plan for those still stranded on Atlantis. A colony ship was already underway in off-chance he was able to save anyone. I felt more useful setting out to survey another possible accommodation for those who were willing to leave.

TRAPPIST-1 is a mere 9 percent the mass of our sun back in Sol, the entire system can fit comfortably within the space of Mercury’s orbit. All huddled around the remnants of a campfire. With planets being so close together they would interfere with each other gravitationally, causing large tidal changes on all sides - which was both a good and bad thing when looking for a potential spot for squishy humans that aren’t all that great at swimming. But maybe not such a problem for Dragons if we could set them up with artificial platforms that imitate floaters. Then there was the case of ensuring they had a diet they could sustain themselves on. I’d tell myself that was a problem for some other future Bob, but knowing my luck I’d be the sucker to do it.

I understand why this system wasn’t selected for other colonial projects. The Aquarius constellation had roughly 12-17 stars that hosted known exoplanets. There’s potentially 300 million other habitable planets to pick from in our galaxy alone, and if the focus was more on G-class stars like our own in the Sol system, then that’s still at least a good 21 million potential habitats to pick from before TRAPPIST would even make the cut.

That’s not accounting for all the planets claimed by those species that had packed up and jumped ship already. Or any more like the Others that were picking them clean. I wasn’t being overly picky in where I surveyed first, it was as good a place to start as any. Maybe a small part of me wanted to geek out over a system with potentially more than one habitable planet. They were few and far between.

Red dwarf stars would certainly outlive all others. They made up more than half of all stars and were likely the last to be around to see the end of time, but that also came with cons of its own. The habitable zone for such stars being so much closer to their host meant they were one tiny fart of plasma away from all kinds of damage to technology and the magnetic spheres.

Once I made it there I’d have to assess if this was a big enough risk to pursue or not. It didn’t help these stars were all pumped up on beans compared to yellow dwarfs. So really, it was a good thing Dragons haven’t gotten to the technological stages of their advancement. One less thing for them to complain about I suppose.

Plus, you know, our galaxy was about to be hit with the mother of all black holes in the distant future. Not an immediate threat but it was absolutely a danger to everything we’ve been building towards. This only had to be a temporary solution for now, right? I could pack up and go on my way again and not be roped into any more Dragon bullshit. Probably, hopefully...

Please don’t let me get roped back in.

[linyve]

Day 20: Book you’ve read the most number of times

I am going to break the rules here and not use the book I have read the most number of times, but the series I have read the most times. It is actually quite a fun story about how I came across these books. They were recommended to me by one of my coworkers back in 2017 or 18. I started reading the first book and I really disliked the first 7 chapters, so much so that I let my co-worker know and…

[rosemariecawkwell]

New audiobook review: Not Till We Are Lost, by Dennis E Taylor

Series:Bobiverse (#5)Narrator: Ray PorterFormat: Audible AudioPublished: September 5, 2024 by Audible OriginalsLanguage: English Description The number one best-selling series that Audible listeners call “wonderfully entertaining”, “packed with humor, geek references and thought-provoking storylines”, and performed by “a true master story teller and actor” returns as the Bobs face their…

[spryfilm]

Full Trailer: “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” (2023)

[geekcavepodcast]

Lawmen: Bass Reeves Trailer

Lawmen: Bass Reeves tells of Bass Reeves' "rise from enslavement to law enforcement as the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. Despite arresting over 3,000 outlaws during the course of his career, the weight of the badge was heavy, and he wrestled with its moral and spiritual cost to his beloved family." (Paramount Plus.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves stars David Oyelowo, Dennis Quaid, Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Barry Pepper, Forrest Goodluck, and Donald Sutherland. Oyelowo and Taylor Sheridan are executive producers. Chad Feehan serves as showrunner, creator, and an executive producer on the miniseries.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves premieres on Paramount+ on November 5, 2023.

[thisisyourdriverspeaking]

And because it is also FE race weekend too, I give you motorsport number twos US edition for the Formula E grid. Enjoy 😊😊

Lucas Di Grassi (11th August 1984) - Prince - When Doves Cry

Sam Bird (9th January 1987) - Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Edoardo Mortara (12th January 1987) - Duran Duran - Notorious

Sebastien Buemi (31st October 1988) - The Beach Boys - Kokomo

Jean-Eric Vergne (25th April 1990) - Jane Child - Don't Wanna Fall In Love

Robin Frijns (7th August 1991) - Rythm Syndicate - P.A.S.S.I.O.N.

Antonio Felix Da Costa (31st August 1991) - Roxette - Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)

Nico Muller (25th February 1992) & Stoffel Vandoorne (26th March 1992) - Mr Big - To Be With You

Norman Nato (8th July 1992) - Mariah Carey - I'll Be There

Oliver Rowland (10th August 1992) - Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back

Jordan King (26th February 1994) - Ace Of Base - The Sign

Jake Hughes (30th May 1994) & Mitch Evans (24th June 1994) - Madonna - I'll Remember

Nick Cassidy (19th August 1994) - All-4-One - I Swear

Pascal Wehrlein (18th October 1994) - Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do

Nyck De Vries (6th February 1995) - Boyz II Men - On Bended Knee

Jake Dennis (16th June 1995) - Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

Kelvin Van Der Linde (20th June 1996) - Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby

Max Gunther (2nd July 1997) - Hanson - Mmmbop

Sergio Sette Camara (23rd May 1998) - Next - Too Close

Joel Eriksson (28th June 1998) - Shania Twain - You're Still The One

Jehan Daruvala (1st October 1998) - Monica - The First Night

Dan Ticktum (8th June 1999) - Jennifer Lopez - If You Had My Love

Sacha Fenestraz (28th July 1999) - Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills

Paul Aron (4th February 2004) - Outkast ft Sleepy Brown - The Way You Move

Taylor Barnard (1st June 2004) - Mario Winans ft Enya & P.Diddy - I Don't Wanna Know

All added to this playlist 😊😊