For We Are Many (Novel)
 | |
| Author | Dennis E. Taylor |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Jeff Brown |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Worldbuilders Press (an imprint of The Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency)[1] |
Publication date | 18 April 2017 |
| Media type | Print (Kindle & paperback), Audio (Audible.com) |
| Pages | 321 p. (Kindle), 320p. (Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-1-68068-059-1 |
| Preceded by | We Are Legion |
For We Are Many is a science fiction novel by Dennis E. Taylor[2][3]. It is the second novel in the Bobiverse series.
Plot summary
Bob Johansson, whose cryogenically frozen brain tissue had been scanned and used as a template to build a sentient computer, to be the controlling intelligence for a Von Neumann probe, has been exploring near star systems along with his many copies ("the Bobs") for 40 years, looking for habitable planets. Due to a system-wide war the human race has been reduced to merely 15 million people on an Earth which has been gradually becoming uninhabitable due to nuclear winter. Bob and his copies have located a number of habitable planets, along with a sentient alien species living at the early stone age level. A radical terrorist group that sees humans as a plague on the planet is attempting to encourage people to stop reproducing, or failing that, is trying to sabotage Bob's efforts to evacuate humans to new habitable planets. At the same time they must contend with the von Neumann probes of the former Brazilian Empire, one of the belligerents in the planet-destroying war, which is in competition with Bob's efforts -- even though the Brazilian Empire no longer exists.
Now the Bobs have discovered a spacefaring species, the "Others", that sees all other life as food. The Others are building a Dyson sphere in their home star system, Gliese 877, 28.1 light years from Earth, and are systematically stripping resources from surrounding star systems. Besides taking all metals and other useful materials from planets and asteroids to build their Dyson sphere, they kill all life on a planet using a gamma-ray weapon, after which they collect the corpses for shipment back to their home world for food.
The Bobs must develop new weapons in order to stave off the destruction that the Others will cause, as well as attempt to evacuate the remaining humans on Earth to the new colonies they are building.