We Are Legion

This was a fun story, and it made me curious about the second and third books in the Bobiverse. The story structure was different from what I expected.

Publisher-style synopsis in my original notes, with no source recorded: “Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it’s a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.”

I can see a short story circle at the beginning:

1. You: Bob has sold his company.
2. Need: he needs to survive, but he has been hit by a bus.
3. Go: he becomes an AI and must figure out how that works.
4. Search: he learns to use his tools and understand the world.
5. Find: with help, he learns to protect himself and use his new abilities.
6. Take: he leaves the world and his connections to it behind.
7. Return: he finds his humanity again in VR and later returns to Earth to save it.
8. Change: he is the new Bob, as well as Bill, Homer and others.

A second circle begins with Bob as an AI travelling through space. Its later goals and subplots are interesting but may make the story less effective:

1. You: Bob is travelling through space.
2. Need: he must survive other AIs made by humans.
3. Go: he heads towards resources in other solar systems.
4. Search: he looks for energy and safety, makes copies and learns new skills.
5. Find: he reaches other systems, improves his skills and eventually finds a way to save humanity. I am not sure there is really a guide here, apart from old television knowledge and quotations from The Art of War.
6. Take: not all Bobs survive. I was less invested in humanity’s fate here and wondered whether the story needed more sacrifice.
7. Return: he helps populate the universe and goes back to Earth.
8. Change: he is the new Bob, Bill, Homer and others.

Another problem I had was the lack of closed loops. The Brazilian probe remains a threat, another civilisation has taken the metal from one system and left bots behind, and the humanoids on another planet still face dangers from gorillas and other creatures.