More Bobs, higher stakes, and humanity's first contact with a species that sees all other life as food — the propulsive second chapter of the Bobiverse.
It's been about forty years since Bob left Earth, and the original Bob is now many: a sprawling population of self-replicating clones spread across the galaxy, each pursuing his own projects. They've begun colonizing one planet and continue scouting for others, but the plan is fraying at every edge. On Earth, a system-wide war has killed off the overwhelming majority of the human race, and a radical faction wants to finish the job. The Brazilian probes are still hunting the Bobs. And out in the dark, the Bobs make first contact with a spacefaring alien species — soon dubbed the Others — that treats every other form of life as raw material. Bob left home expecting exploration and solitude. Instead he's become a sky god to a primitive species, humanity's only lifeline, and possibly the only thing standing between the local galaxy and annihilation.
Ray Porter returns to narrate Bob in all his many incarnations, and the second book actually amplifies the thing that made the first one special. There are more Bobs now — more generations, more divergence — and Porter keeps them distinct with small, deliberate shifts in tone and cadence, so the listener never loses track of who's who. He also handles the book's emotional turns and its genuine moments of menace (the Others are legitimately unsettling) with the same control he brings to the comedy. It's a masterclass in sustaining a difficult performance across a series, and it's why the Bobiverse audiobooks are the definitive way to experience these stories.
Anyone who finished We Are Legion and wasn't ready to leave Bob behind. Fans of fast, funny, idea-dense space opera, and listeners who've come to associate Ray Porter's voice with a good time in space.
Don't start the series here — this is a direct continuation and assumes you know book one. And if the proliferation of Bobs felt like a lot to track in the opener, be warned that the cast only grows.
Listen to it. A worthy middle chapter that expands the universe and sets up a strong finale. If We Are Legion won you over, this is a foregone conclusion — go straight into it, then on to All These Worlds.