ALL THESE WORLDS, Bobiverse Book 3, by Dennis E. Taylor

Narrated by Ray Porter

Alfred E. von Neumann

Dennis Taylor brings his grand scale Space Opera series to a fitting conclusion tying up loose ends along the way like an orb-weaving spider dancing on the silk. This is an imaginative series and once begun I had to continue to see where he would take it. This trilogy does end rather nicely, but I think there is still much more story to tell. My review of Book 1 mentioned the movie Being John Malcovitch and that is the direction I think Mr. Taylor will go if he extends the story of the Bobs. Bob, by practical necessity, must become the representation of humanity in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. I latched onto the idea of the Bobs in Book 1. It is an idea worthy of the great “gadget stories” of Classic SF.  I think Mr. Taylor would do well to recognize the strong suit of the Bobiverse is its namesake and extend it to its natural conclusion. If the rest of Taylor’s humanity ever gets to the rim of the Milky Way they will find a thriving Bob civilization there waiting for them.

Ray Porter is again excellent. He is Bob, and Bill, and Homer, and Herman, and Will etc. One of this book’s strengths is the sardonic sense of humor throughout. This book needed a Ray Porter to pull of all that sarcastic dialog between the Bobs. Original Bob was a nerd and had a nerd’s sensibilities. Sometimes it reminded me of Mad Magazine, with all the SF movie and book references. Suffice to say: that without Ray Porter this book would not be nearly as enjoyable.