The Sword and Laser discussion

We'll be interviewing We Are Legion (We Are Bob) author Dennis E. Taylor on the show on July 29th, to talk about the 4th installment in the Bobiverse series, Heaven's River! Please post your questions below!

Bobiverse? On S&L? Bobbbbbb!!!! Bob! Bob ! Bob! Can't wait!

...I don't have a question yet. Er...How awesome is Bob? And how much more can we have? And how soon?

Bobbbbbbb! (actual questions later.)

John (Taloni) wrote: "Bobiverse? On S&L? Bobbbbbb!!!! Bob! Bob ! Bob! Can't wait!

...I don't have a question yet. Er...How awesome is Bob? And how much more can we have? And how soon?

Bobbbbbbb! (actual questions later.)"

I feel similarly.

Just a few to start it off:

* In the first book, Bob Johansson wakes up to find he is in a competition to become the only mind chosen for embodiment in an interstellar ship. It seems the other competitors view it as a grim survival situation and there is serious concern that they may not be able to cope with the change. Bob, on the other hand, seems thoroughly pleased by the idea, metaphorically dancing like Spongebob at the thought. Was this based on the author or someone he knows?

* There's FTL communication but physical transport is limited by the speed of light. How did you arrive at this setup? Considering the many Star Trek references, was it hard to put down Warp drive of some kind?

* Were all the "Bob" name references off the top of your head or were there any you had to look up? How did you choose which ones to use when?

* Did you consider any way to sideline Earth other than destruction? By way of example, lack of interest in space due to resource constraints on Earth may have provided a similar result. As, for instance, in Poul Anderson's Starfarers or Boat of a Million Years.

I got a strong hint of Larry Niven’s Known Space from the first book, particularly A World Out of Time, in both the tech and the sense of humor. Was Niven’s work an inspiration?

My understanding is that the Bobiverse books are audiobook first and then print/ebooks second. This is the reverse of most novels, does knowing that this will be recorded change the way that you write? Do you think of how things will sound as you compose them?

Also, for those of us who prefer to read with our eyeballs, when (or will) the new Bob books be available as text?

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) was my favourite pick from the "class of 2018", and I went on to read all three Bobiverse books and am looking forward to the release of no 4.

I have a fun question. :-)

We all have our favourite Bob. Which one of the Bobs is his favourite and why?

My favourite Bob would be Bill because he stays put to "hold the fort" while others venture forth and have all the fun exploring and fighting and having a family. Plus, with a "little bit" of help from Garfield, he invents the FTL comms system - how cool is that.