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Dennis E. Taylor

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Dennis E. Taylor
Born
Coquitlam, Canada
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian
GenreScience fiction
Website
dennisetaylor.org

Dennis E. Taylor is a Canadian author and former computer programmer known for his large-scale hard science fiction stories exploring the interaction between artificial intelligence and the human condition.

Early life, family and education

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Dennis Taylor was born in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.[citation needed]

Career

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While working as a computer programmer, Taylor self-published his first novel and began working with an agent to try to publish his second novel, We Are Legion (We Are Bob). Taylor had difficulty finding a publishing house to accept his work. Eventually, he published it through his agent's in-house publishing arm.

An audiobook rights deal with Audible was reached, however. After its release, We Are Legion gained significant popularity on the service and was awarded Best Science Fiction Audiobook of the Year.[1]

After the success of We Are Legion (We Are Bob), Taylor expanded the Bobiverse series with sequels like For We Are Many and All These Worlds. The books delved into themes such as artificial intelligence, space exploration, and the future of humanity, all while maintaining a lighthearted and often humorous tone. In September 2020, Taylor released his sixth novel Heaven's River, the fourth book in the Bobiverse series.[2] Book five, Not Till We Are Lost, was released in June 2025. On December 12th 2025, Taylor posted on his website: "I have just finished edits on book 6, The Infinite Extent.".[3]

Taylor's 2018 novel The Singularity Trap as well as his 2020 novel Heaven's River debuted on The New York Times Bestseller List for Fiction Audiobooks.[4][5][6]

Taylor's works have been translated into several languages, including Japanese,[7] German,[8] French[9] and Polish.[10]

Major themes

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Taylor's Bobiverse series examines themes such as cryonics, mind uploading, and artificial intelligence and their potential impacts on society and the human condition.[11][12] Another major topic is global catastrophic risk, which is also featured in Outland[13] and The Singularity Trap.[14]

Recognition

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The novel We Are Legion (We Are Bob) was a finalist of the 2019 Seiun Awards.[7]

In October 2018, Taylor was added to the XPRIZE Foundation Science Fiction Advisory Council as a "Visionary Storyteller".[15] This group of accomplished science fiction authors help advise the XPRIZE team on envisioning the future.[16][17]

In May 2019, Taylor participated in a Talks at Google event where he shared insights into the inspirations behind his writings and discussed his plans for the upcoming years.[18]

Personal life

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Taylor resides near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and daughter.

Works

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Bobiverse (2016– )

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The series follows Bob Johansson, a man whose mind is uploaded into a self-replicating space probe after death. As he creates multiple copies of himself, the “Bobs” spread across the galaxy, exploring star systems, encountering alien life, and helping humanity survive beyond Earth.

Over time, the expanding network of Bobs begins to diverge in personality and priorities, leading to internal conflicts alongside external threats. The series blends large-scale space exploration with questions about identity, autonomy, and the challenges of coordinating an ever-growing, decentralized intelligence across interstellar distances.

In 2025 it was announced that the film adaptation rights for the Bobiverse series were acquired by Lord Miller Productions[19]

No. Title Published ISBN Synopsis
1 We Are Legion 20 October 2016
  • 978-1-68068-032-4 (1st ed.)
  • 978-1-68068-058-4 (rev. ed.)
 After his death in the early 21st century, software engineer Bob Johansson is cryogenically preserved and later revived as the controlling AI of a self-replicating interstellar probe. Tasked with exploring the galaxy and securing resources for humanity, Bob begins cloning himself, creating divergent versions with distinct personalities. As competing nations launch their own probes, the Bobs must contend with hostile rivals, ethical dilemmas about guiding human colonies, and the practical challenges of survival in deep space.
2 For We Are Many 18 March 2017 978-1-68068-059-1 With dozens of Bob clones now spread across nearby star systems, the Bobiverse expands rapidly. Different Bobs take on specialized roles—exploration, defense, and shepherding fragile human colonies. They encounter new alien ecosystems and increasingly dangerous threats, including aggressive extraterrestrial species and rival probes. Internal coordination becomes more complex as the Bobs develop unique identities, forcing them to balance cooperation with independence while protecting humanity’s scattered remnants.
3 All These Worlds 8 August 2017 978-1-68068-060-7 The conflict with a highly destructive alien species escalates, threatening both the Bobs and the human colonies they support. As the Bob network grows, divisions emerge over strategy, priorities, and the extent of intervention in human affairs. The story focuses on large-scale coordination across multiple star systems, the limits of replication-based expansion, and the consequences of decentralized decision-making as the Bobs attempt to secure a long-term future for humanity.
4 Heaven's River 26 January 2021 978-1-68068-226-7 A search mission for a missing Bob leads to the discovery of a massive artificial ringworld orbiting a distant star. Unlike previous encounters, this structure houses a complex and relatively stable alien civilization. The narrative shifts toward exploration, anthropology, and ethical restraint, as the Bobs must observe without destabilizing the inhabitants. At the same time, tensions within the Bobiverse continue to grow, reflecting increasing philosophical divergence among the clones.
5 Not Till We Are Lost 5 September 2024 978-1-68068-358-5 As the Bobiverse pushes farther into unexplored regions of space, the scale of operations introduces new logistical and existential challenges. Resource limitations, communication delays, and strategic disagreements become more pronounced. The Bobs face emerging threats that test their ability to coordinate across vast distances, while also confronting deeper questions about identity, purpose, and the long-term sustainability of an ever-expanding network of autonomous copies.
6 The Infinite Extent[20] TBA

Quantum Earth (2015–2023)

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No. Title Date ISBN Notes
1 Outland 9 January 2015
Self-published in 2015. Revised edition published in 2017.
2 Earthside 26 May 2023 978-1-68068-337-0 Audiobook was available as an Audible Original in January 2023.

Standalone works

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Title Date ISBN Notes
The Singularity Trap 11 July 2018 978-1-68068-088-1 The New York Times Bestseller[4][5]
Roadkill 9 December 2022 978-1-68068-312-7 Audiobook was available as an Audible Original in August 2022.
"A Change of Plans" 9 October 2017 978-1-9781-3894-0 Collected in Explorations: Colony, vol. 4 of the Explorations anthology series.

Audible Original stories

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Stories released as Audible Originals as read by Ray Porter (who has also read other books by Taylor). Roadkill and Earthside were later published in paperback. As of September 2023, Feedback is available to read exclusively on Amazon's Kindle platform.

Title Audible release Kindle edition Ref.
Feedback 19 November 2020 15 February 2023 [21]
Roadkill 4 August 2022 1 December 2022 [21]
Earthside 26 January 2023 25 May 2023
Flybot 26 June 2025 N/A

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Best of 2016 | Sci-Fi". Audible.com. Amazon.
  2. ^ Taylor, Dennis E. [@Dennis_E_Taylor] (2020-04-21). "The release date for Heaven's River on Audible has been set for September 24th" (Tweet). Retrieved 2020-05-30 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Status of Things". Dennis E. Taylor. 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  4. ^ a b "Audio Fiction Books - Best Sellers - July 15, 2018". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  5. ^ a b "Audio Fiction Books - Best Sellers - August 12, 2018". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  6. ^ "Audio Fiction Books - Best Sellers - Oct. 18, 2020". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  7. ^ a b "2019 Seiun Awards Nominees". locusmag.com. April 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  8. ^ Berg, Guido (December 12, 2019). "'ChaosKatrin' aus Kolkwitz für Youlius-Award 2020 nominiert" ['ChaosKatrin' from Kolkwitz nominated for 2020 Youlius Award]. otz.de (in German). Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  9. ^ "Un logiciel lancé à la conquête de l'espace, parce que les humains..." [Software launched to conquer space, because humans...]. actualitte.com (in French). Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  10. ^ "Lubimy czytać" [We like to read]. lubimyczytac.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Weltraum-Dramen und Zukunftsvisionen: die fünf spannendsten Science-Fiction-Klassiker" [Space dramas and visions of the future: the seven most exciting science fiction classics]. stern.de (in German). 21 May 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  12. ^ Taylor, Dennis E. (July 30, 2018). "Wem gehört eine künstliche Intelligenz?" [Who owns an artificial intelligence?]. diezukunft.de; Die Zukunft (in German). Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  13. ^ Cain, Fraser (May 21, 2019). "Interview with Dennis E. Taylor, Author of the Bobiverse Trilogy". universetoday.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  14. ^ "The Singularity Trap – Classic Science Fiction from Dennis E. Taylor". Bleeding Cool. 5 June 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-10-17. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  15. ^ "Many, many things". dennisetaylor.org. Dennis E. Taylor. 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  16. ^ "Science Fiction Advisory Council". xprize.org. XPRIZE Foundation. 2017-05-31. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  17. ^ "Dennis E. Taylor". xprize.org. XPRIZE Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  18. ^ "We are Legion (We are Bob) | Dennis E. Taylor". Interviewed by Austin Wilkins. Talks at Google. April 29, 2019. Retrieved 2025-03-07 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ https://reactormag.com/bobiverse-adaptation-lord-miller-productions-details/
  20. ^ http://dennisetaylor.org/status-of-things/
  21. ^ a b ASIN B0BNWHFVVS, Roadkill (2022-12-01)
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