Heaven’s River is book four of Dennis E. Taylor’s Bobiverse series, and it finally answers the question fans have carried since book one. What happened to Bender?

The trail leads Bob and the crew to a topopolis, a massive corkscrew cylinder in space with an entire world inside. That world belongs to the Quinlans, a beaver-badger species with short tempers and a history of blowing up their own home planet. An AI has kept them alive ever since, which also means it has kept them away from most sharp objects and nearly all technology.

In this mini episode, Space Admiral Kandas and Space Cadet Shane 2nd Class pack the whole book into 15 minutes. We talk about Bridget, Howard’s wife and a biologist who joins the mission, and about Hugh, who signs on with an agenda he doesn’t share. We also cover the Bobs wandering around in Quinlan bodies and what Starfleet and the Skippies are up to while all of that plays out.

Shane calls this one of Dennis E. Taylor’s more philosophical stories, since it asks what happens to a people when an AI handles everything for them. Kandas sees it as the bridge between the war with Brazil in books one through three and everything that comes next. We both wonder if it would have worked better as two books, especially in the last few hours of the audiobook. Shane’s rating puts it at a four out of six among the Bobiverse books we’ve read.

Wondering if it’s your next read? Shane says it’s perfect for anyone with a big project and a lot of listening time.

Heaven’s River is part of our Bobiverse mini episode series. Books four, five, and six all dropped together, so keep scrolling in the feed for the rest. You can catch our full-length discussions of books one through three on our Substack at https://scifibookpod.substack.com/archive.

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About Sci-Fi Book Pod
Sci-Fi Book Pod is the podcast for nerds and geeks who like to read. Married co-hosts Kandas and Shane Rodarte dive into science fiction and speculative fiction books, swapping opinions on the stories, characters, and big ideas inside. Expect thoughtful conversation, nerdy detours, and spoilers.

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