Heaven’s River is the point where the Bobiverse has become something more complicated than the idea that originally hooked me. There are still Bobs, still plenty of geeky humour and still an alarming number of ways for a well intentioned plan to go spectacularly wrong, but Dennis E Taylor is now playing with a universe that has acquired a history, politics and mythology of its own. The result is another entertaining instalment that manages to feel familiar while still finding plenty of room to surprise.

The basic appeal of Bob Johansson and his various copies remains one of the series’ greatest strengths. There is something wonderfully ridiculous about having a cast made up of different versions of the same person, particularly when those versions have had enough time and experience to become distinctly different individuals. By this stage, the question of what makes someone Bob becomes increasingly interesting. Taylor explores identity, independence and the consequences of creating copies without losing sight of the fact that these are people who can be spectacularly petty, stubborn and nerdy.

Heaven’s River also gives the wider universe more room to breathe. The Bobs have never operated in a vacuum, but the underlying lore keeps getting deeper and more intricate, with alien cultures, historical events and competing agendas adding layers to what initially looked like a straightforward space adventure. I particularly enjoyed the sense that the universe now has depth. There are consequences to earlier events, relationships that have developed over time and information that suddenly becomes more important than it first appeared. Taylor trusts the reader to keep up, and that makes the larger story feel rewarding.

Then there is the humour, which remains central to the experience. The Bobiverse is a more than worthy entry into the sci-fi humour field, because Taylor has found an effective balance between ridiculous situations and genuinely interesting science fiction. The jokes rarely feel as though they have been inserted simply because the book is supposed to be funny. Instead, they tend to emerge from the personalities of the Bobs, their arguments, their cultural references and their tendency to approach galactic problems with the mindset of people who still remember arguing about computers and films.

One of the things I enjoy is how Taylor can move from something enormous and potentially terrifying to a wonderfully mundane observation without making either side feel out of place. The scale keeps expanding, but the characters provide an anchor. They worry, make mistakes, disagree and occasionally make decisions that leave me thinking that perhaps having an army of self replicating super intelligent probes was not quite the brilliant idea everyone assumed it would be. That mixture of competence and human fallibility gives the story its charm.

The audiobook benefits from Ray Porter’s performance. His narration has been a constant strength throughout the series, and here the quality of expression is particularly impressive. With so many Bobs and other characters, Porter has an enormous amount of dialogue to navigate, yet he makes conversations clear without resorting to distracting caricatures. Small changes in timing, emphasis and delivery establish who is speaking. His understanding of the humour is equally important, because he knows when to lean into a joke and when to let a dry line land naturally. It makes the whole thing feel alive.

If I have a criticism, it is that Heaven’s River can occasionally become a little dense. There is a lot going on, and Taylor is clearly interested in the mechanics of his universe, from technology and strategy to alien societies. Most of the time I enjoy that, but there are moments when the explanation threatens to interrupt the momentum. It is a minor complaint, though, because the detail is usually there for a reason and the larger narrative remains compelling.

What I particularly like about Heaven’s River is that it feels like the Bobiverse has reached a point where the original premise has become the foundation for something much larger. We have gone from one man becoming a computerised consciousness to an entire collection of personalities influencing events across multiple worlds, and somehow the series has retained its sense of fun along the way. That is not an easy trick to pull off.

Heaven’s River is another strong entry. The humour is still there, the science fiction is getting broader, and the underlying lore is becoming richer and more intricate with every book. Ray Porter remains an excellent guide through it, with that quality of expression making conversations easy to follow and giving the characters plenty of personality. I am invested in the Bobs and this strange universe. I am not sure where the story can go next, which is exactly why I am keen to find out.

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