WALWAB: Who else wasn't planning to enjoy this book?

[William]

I'm going to fully admit to planning not to enjoy this book and have found myself unable to put it down. I even grabbed the Audible edition so that I can listen when I'm doing something where I can't read it.

Anyone else think they wouldn't like this book and get sucked in?

[Silvana]

I am confused. How can you or a reader plan to not enjoy a book? A book he or she plan or committed to read?

Is it the same as hate-watching a movie? 🤔

[William]

The same thing happened with the last book. I read the blurb and thought “Doesn’t sound like something I’ll enjoy but I’ll at least start reading it with the group”. So far S&L is responsible for finding two books I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise, which is awesome.

[Silvana]

Ah ok. I guess I am more picky and less of a risk taker.

[John (Taloni)]

^^I've found several enjoyable books through the group that I likely wouldn't have tried. Uprooted and Aurora come immediately to mind, and the Invisible Library series is fantastic.

I was almost completely sure that I wouldn't enjoy last month's pick so stayed away. I'm glad others enjoyed.

[Kate]

I agree. I didn't think I would enjoy this book but wanted to give it a shot since it was the pick and especially since it was the March Madness pick. And here I am buying the next books in the series.

[Daryl]

I'm still debating whether to give it a read or knock out something in my too big to-read list. I just finished A Closed and Common Orbit which seems to fit my fun, light-weight, AI ships, etc. need for awhile. :)

[terpkristin]

I already have it in audio, so once Oathbringer is done, I plan to listen. But I'm very ambivalent on it (it was not my vote in any round), more ambivalent by reading some of the comparisons. We shall see. But probably not til later in April. ;)

[William]

I'm about about halfway through and I'm still so glad I decided to at least read the first couple of chapters. I may have to commit to the whole series...

[Iain]

Daryl wrote: "I'm still debating whether to give it a read or knock out something in my too big to-read list. I just finished A Closed and Common Orbit which seems to fit my fun, light-weight, AI ships, etc. nee..."

A Closed and Common Orbit is a very different book than We are legion...

Definitely a quick read, so not much of a time sink. Then again it was almost written for me.

[Buzz]

I actually thought I would enjoy this book, but was very offended by the authors bigotry towards Christians and the impossibility of the political scenario when Bob wakes up…

However, once we got past all the dumb anti-faith stuff, I wound up loving this book. Loved it so much, I read the next two in the series and have finished all three!

[Kev]

I finally read a book along with the bookclub! Yay!

I enjoyedt. It's nice fluff, with some subtle commentary on various other things in there - though done shallowly as someone else mentioned.

But... Sure, they're all variations on Bob Prime, but the rest aren't named Bob and have different personalities. Doesn't that make them non-Bobs?

Also.. took me awhile to get "bawbe."

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Buzz wrote: "However, once we got past all the dumb anti-faith stuff"

I didn't think it was anti-faith. It was pro-separation of church and state.

Is it so ridiculous to imagine a future country with right-wing fundamentalist christians in control becoming an oppressive regime.

I am not anti-religious (I am atheist) but I strongly support a firm separation of church and state. Especially in politics and education (i.e. no religion involvement in either)

[Dara]

Tassie Dave wrote: "I didn't think it was anti-faith. It was pro-separation of church and state.

Is it so ridiculous to imagine a future country with right-wing fundamentalist christians in control becoming an oppressive regime.

I am not anti-religious (I am atheist) but I strongly support a firm separation of church and state. Especially in politics and education (i.e. no religion involvement in either)"

Same, Tassie Dave. Well put and agreed on all fronts.

[John (Taloni)]

Buzz wrote: "I actually thought I would enjoy this book, but was very offended by the authors bigotry towards Christians and the impossibility of the political scenario when Bob wakes up…

However, once we got ..."

Yeah, that nearly put me off the book. I'm glad I went on though. As I thought about it I figured it was his take on Heinlein's Revolt in 2100.

Realistically, that opening is dull as dishwater and exists only to set up later events. A more experienced writer wouldn't have done it. But a more experienced writer might not have expressed the sheer joy of space travel as well. This is basically a self published book and the sharp edges show. Yet somehow it is a hilarious, interesting story, despite the issues.

[Shad]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Buzz wrote: "However, once we got past all the dumb anti-faith stuff"

I didn't think it was anti-faith. It was pro-separation of church and state.

Is it so ridiculous to imagine a future country..."
It is unfortunately such a fundamental aspect of humanity to divide ourselves into us and them. Christians have been oppressive in the name of Christianity in the past. ISIS is oppressive today. The Nazis and Communists also were in the name of their philosophies that were not religious. Any group with a strong shared identity is a threat to be oppressive when given enough power.

[Brendan]

Simplifying the world to about 6 implausible large empires for easier story-telling is a common and much-maligned trope. The author also literally made Africa into a single country, which seems inadvisable for many reasons. My interpretation was that the author just didn't care much about earth and was interested in getting their story into space, which did interest them, as quickly as possible.

[Rick]

I agree with Brendan. I think he wanted to get Bob into space and give him a reason to not want to come back to Earth and the six coalition setup allowed him to (view spoiler)[nuke the earth thus making it plausible that there would be no communication from or to Earth and setting up the Riker subplot (hide spoiler)]

[John (Taloni)]

I gave the book leeway because this was basically a guy spitballing in his living room having fun writing something odd kilter. Yes, (view spoiler)[instead of nuclear war he could have had, say, Earth completely lose interest in space travel like in Aurora. But this book shows its TV origins plainly. You need a fast, easy answer in TV, like Star Trek did many times. "It's Earth, but a medical experiment killed off the adults! It's Earth, but the Roman Empire is still around! It's Earth, but the Communists won! Ee pleb nista! (hide spoiler)]

[Iain]

Yes it was a bit fast and easy I mean (view spoiler)[Australia as a super power - Bwahahahahaha - those dangerous New Zealanders - this has to be a troll. (hide spoiler)]

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Iain wrote: "Yes it was a bit fast and easy I mean [spoilers removed]"

We are a superpower (view spoiler)[(in our region) ;-) (hide spoiler)]
Have you never met a pissed off Maori? Especially when the All Blacks lose to the Wallabies (view spoiler)[Hey I'm old, it did occasionally happen a long time ago ;-) (hide spoiler)]

I did find those parts of the book amusing.

[Iain]

Tassie Dave wrote: "Iain wrote: "Yes it was a bit fast and easy I mean [spoilers removed]"

We are a superpower
Have you never met a pissed off Maori? Especially when the All Blacks lose to the Wall..."

Yes, and it used to happen at world cups!

Given Bob's personality it is only (view spoiler)[ appropriate that he was essentially created by Australian technology (explains the beer in the VR) (hide spoiler)]

[Richard]

I was skeptical through the first chapter; I found the dialogue to be pretty bad. It immediately picked up in the second chapter. I think you could eliminate the first chapter entirely and it wouldn’t be missed, aside from a pretty good first sentence. Little change, if any, would need to be made to the second chapter

[Rick]

Eh, chapter 1 sets up how Bob survives and does a background sketch of who he is which sets the stage for his character. At 11 pages... I can't get too excited about it being there or not.

[Robert]

Yeah, I can't get behind all the flack the first chapter is getting. As stated, it was only 11 pages and it provided some much needed background into Bob's psyche (view spoiler)[ that we see show up later as different Bob personalities (hide spoiler)].

[John (Taloni)]

Not just the first chapter but the entire intro, up until Bob gets to space.

[Ben George]

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I really enjoyed the parts of him learning how to use his new found prowess. And starting your story at a convention is great for the type of book this is.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I thought it got off to a slow start but I wouldn't go so far as to hate on the opening chapter. After the first 100 pages the story picks up.

[John (Taloni)]

^Oddly enough, Ben, although I go to a lot of conventions, that's not the kind I would attend. I mainly go to the book reading conventions (Loscon, Westercon, Worldcon/Nasfic, Boskone) or small steampunk cons. I wouldn't see a large stack of costumers on the street. It felt odd to me. I understand that media cons do that, but I find them overwhelming and don't go any more.

[Rik]

After all the over top praise I've seen this book get online about how hilarious it is and how great the narrator is I can't help but feel let down. I'm only about 1/3 through (Bob just reached another solar system) and while its a good book so far it hasn't been great and the narration is good but not really that memorable or noteworthy above others I've heard. It does not suck in any way, it just doesn't really stand out either.

[Silvana]

I am with Rik. Was kinda offended about the simplistic nation division as well I had to replay just to make sure. I hope this would pick up.

[Tina]

Rik wrote: "After all the over top praise I've seen this book get online about how hilarious it is and how great the narrator is I can't help but feel let down. I'm only about 1/3 through (Bob just reached ano..."

I'm halfway through and finding it boring. The audiobook narrator is good though, so that helps.

[Rick]

I need to actually rate and review it but I don't get the over the top praise either. It's a 3 star book. I don't find it close to hilarious so I'm not sure where that comes from and from the reviews I was anticipating much more of "the Bobs encounter weird stuff out there" but a lot of the book (too much for my tastes) was about Riker back on Earth and the Deltans. Neither subplot was all that interesting and neither really took advantage of the basic idea of von Neumann probes which is that they reproduce and explore.

[Aaron]

Rick wrote: "I need to actually rate and review it but I don't get the over the top praise either. It's a 3 star book. I don't find it close to hilarious so I'm not sure where that comes from and from the revie..."

Humor is subjective and this one scratched a lot of the right itches for me, but it hasn't aged super well in my mind overtime. I'm actually surprised this got as big as it did because it really really does feel like the indie published novel that it is in terms of plot/characters/setup, it's just covered in a sci-fi sheen instead of some game or generic fantasy backdrop.

[Rick]

It's not that it doesn't have some amusing moments but the way people talked about it I anticipated something really hilarious, a Douglas Adams style romp. This just isn't that, even allowing for personal taste.

Mind you, I'm not sad I read it. It's inexpensive to buy and quick to read. It doesn't suffer from the bad writing that a lot of indie stuff seems to suffer from and while I could nitpick here and there... it's a fine little 3 star "I liked it, didn't love it" book. I'm not personally motivated to read the next two nor am I likely to re-read this one. But as I said elsewhere, we need good, 3 star books just as much as the 5 star amazing books.

[Stephen]

I think it was the " Title" giving the impression it is a one trick pony, that it would drag through previous "Clone Story" paths and be a rather dull read. But people who reviews of books that matched mine liked it , plus an appealing price. I read (Listened to) all three in about two weeks and had a blast.

[Robert]

Rick wrote: "It's not that it doesn't have some amusing moments but the way people talked about it I anticipated something really hilarious, a Douglas Adams style romp. This just isn't that, even allowing for p..."
I hear you on that one. This one gelled with me pretty well, but I recently read Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and almost everything there fell flat for me. With humorous books, I find that I either love them or slog through them. Christopher Moore is like that for me. Some of his books I can't put down because it's a laugh a minute for me, but others I've had to force myself to read through hoping that they'll turn out funnier.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

I was expecting to hate it, then I started listening to it and instantly loved it, then I liked it, then it was okay, then, abruptly, it ended. I think I might have been a lot less disappointed if it hadn't showed so much promise in the beginning. I don't understand why the first chapter is unpopular, as I thought it did a great job of setting up Bob and showing his personality. I also really liked his developing understanding of and adjustment to his new situation. After that it was all downhill for me...still, I didn't hate it...so...*shrug*

[Ruth]

Ruth (tilltab) wrote: "I was expecting to hate it, then I started listening to it and instantly loved it, then I liked it, then it was okay, then, abruptly, it ended. I think I might have been a lot less disappointed if ..."

I enjoyed the earlier chapters more as well- I found Bob’s gradual discovery of his situation and abilities, and the stuff around FAITH, very interesting. For me the book actually lost steam once he got into space.