FOR WE ARE MANY, Bobiverse Book 2, by Dennis E. Taylor

Narrated by Ray Porter

Space Opera—As the Galaxy Turns

The Middle book of the trilogy fills its necessary role of moving the plot forward while allowing the characters to develop through a series of minor crisis. This volume carries on where the first began, but of course, not having the innovative idea of the origin of the Bobs, lacks a bit of the excitement.

I some ways For We are Many reminds me of Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead; a book that Card thought to be the main thrust of his character Ender Wiggin. Card expanded Ender’s Game to novel length so that the novella could serve as an appropriate prequel for his tale of Ender among the Piggies. I did not much care for Ender’s second book because it collapsed the grand scale of Ender’s Game down to the tribal concerns of this new race of beings on an irrelevant planet, Fr from my area of interest. I wanted to know more about Ender and wanted to see him cavorting around the galaxy—hello Space Opera?! For We are Many suffers from the same malady. Book 1 hooked me with Space Opera and Book 2 delivers up Soap Opera; and with Pigoids no less!

Ray Porter has just the right snarky–sarcastic tone of voice to lend to the Bobs. It is fun just to listen to him. He is one of the chief reasons why I think you will enjoy this book.

I do, however have one bone to pick—and it is just a pet-peeve of mine: Ray Porter consistently pronounces “sentient” as SEN-tee-int. And in so doing he is in line with a great many sci-fi narrators. Whenever I hear the word pronounced that way in a Science fiction book a little Miss Manners voice in my head says, “that should be sen-Shunt,” two syllables, not three. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if the word were not so prevalent in the genre; so much so that it can be found in the vast majority of SF books. Other than that I have no complaints.