Can a robot teach us about being human?

This week on Sci-Fi Book Pod, we're chatting about All Systems Red by Martha Wells — and the brilliance of the Murderbot character. Joining us is content strategist and sci-fi superfan Shereese Alexander, aka The Sci-Fi Savage. Together, we explore what makes Murderbot tick, how the book challenges our ideas about personhood, and whether a soap-opera-loving robot can be more human than we are.

We also dig into the larger Murderbot Diaries series, and the deeper questions about identity, autonomy, and AI ethics.

Key Topics:

• Why Shereese chose All Systems Red

Guest: Shereese Alexander Website: https://shereesealexander.com/engagementengine Follow her on social: YouTube | @TheSciFiSavage TikTok | @thescifisavage Instagram | @thescifisavage

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Join the Conversation: What do you think makes someone human? Drop your thoughts in the comments or connect with us on YouTube and Instagram.

Paul Heitsch, narrator of the Omega Force series, joins Space Admiral Kandas in a bonus transmission pulled straight from the Gratitude Geek Podcast. The topic? Bobiverse, AI in storytelling, and why not every accent needs to be perfect to be powerful.

This excerpt is a behind-the-scenes peek at voice acting choices, from tricky British dialects to the Russian inflection that somehow sneaks into Brazil. Plus, Paul names his sci-fi author dream team and agrees to beam aboard a future full-length episode of Sci-Fi Book Pod.

• The Bobiverse's AI protagonist opens the door to powerful narrative possibilities
• Accents can enhance—or distract—depending on the narrator's approach
• Ray Porter's creative choices (including that infamous Brazilian accent) spark debate
• Great narration is about consistency, character, and acting—not perfection
• Paul Heitsch's sci-fi picks include Gibson, Le Guin, and Stephenson

• 00:00 – Meet Paul Heitsch, narrator of Omega Force

🎧 Listen to the full interview: https://kandasrodarte.com/277

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Is Humanity Worth Saving?

"All These Worlds" by Dennis E. Taylor is the topic of discussion for episode 003 of Sci-Fi Book Pod.

The Bobiverse is expanding—tenfold. In this episode, we confront what it means to live forever, meddle with alien civilizations, and still get dumped by someone aging in real time. (Ouch.)

In "All These Worlds," digital immortality meets moral ambiguity. The Bobs are multiplying, humanity is migrating, and emotional baggage is going galactic.

We're talking ten generations of digital clones, ethical interference in alien development (sorry, Starfleet), and one very awkward dinner date between an ageless Bob and a gray-haired ex-girlfriend. If you've ever wondered what happens when you upload your brain and stick around long enough to watch everyone you love die—this one's for you.

• The Bobiverse explores the cost of immortality and the persistence of grief
• Ethical dilemmas abound: should digital gods interfere with alien civilizations?
• The Prime Directive gets bent (and broken) in service of progress—or hubris
• Individual rights vs. collective control create courtroom fireworks
• Narrator Ray Porter gives each Bob a unique voice—bad accents and all

Timestamps

• 00:00 – Digital clones challenge concepts of consciousness, identity, and morality
• 00:26 – All These Worlds — Book 3 of the Bobiverse (but not the last)
• 01:20 – Ten generations of Bobs relocate humanity and confront alien life
• 01:45 – Immortality comes with emotional baggage
• 03:34 – Bob watches Bridget age, while he stays eternally 31
• 08:59 – "Ephemerals" and the growing human-Bob disconnect
• 09:54 – Bob tosses the Prime Directive out the airlock
• 12:46 – The grief of outliving everyone
• 20:37 – Courtroom drama explores autonomy vs. collective control
• 24:36 – Ray Porter's masterful narration (with a side of sketchy accents)
• 27:04 – Uncertain next read—check our bookshop to see what's brewing

Buy "All These Worlds" by Dennis E. Taylor:

• Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/111345/9781680680607
• ⁠Amazon: https://amzn.to/446gRbW

Shop Speculative Ficion on Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/sci-fi-book-pod

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Listen Next:

Paul Heitsch Interview on Gratitude Geek Podcast: https://kandasrodarte.com/277

How Many Bobs Does It Take to Save Humanity?

In "For We Are Many" by Dennis E. Taylor, the Bobs are back—and they're multiplying like caffeinated Tribbles! In this sci-fi book discussion on Sci-Fi Book Pod, your hosts Admiral Kandas Rodarte and Space Cadet 2nd Class Shane beam into the second book of the Bobiverse series, where dozens of cloned digital minds juggle missions to save a bickering humanity, babysit alien civilizations, and battle their own prime-directive-breaking impulses. It's a speculative fiction podcast episode full of ethical conundrums, colony ships, rogue Bobs, and the eternal quest for decent coffee in the void.

Buy the Book:

• Bookshop: ⁠https://bookshop.org/a/111345/9781680680591 ⁠

We may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through our affiliate link. Thank you for supporting Sci Fi Book Pod!

Spoilers

Sci-Fi Book Pod is the podcast for speculative fiction fans, co-hosted by a middle-aged married couple. We may give away the plot, a lot.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Introduction to the Bobiverse
• 02:49 Exploring the Bobiverse and Its Characters
• 06:03 The Ethics of Interference and Colonialism
• 09:00 Cultural Interactions and Perspectives
• 11:47 Human Nature and the Future
• 15:01 The Role of Technology and Problem Solving
• 18:01 Hope and Compassion in Sci-Fi
• 20:53 Conclusion and Future Discussions

More from Sci-Fi Book Pod

• Never miss an episode: https://scifibookpod.com

Do You Want to Live Forever?

"We Are Legion (We Are Bob)" by Dennis E. Taylor is the topic of discussion in episode 001 of Sci-Fi Book Pod, co-hosted by Kandas and Shane Rodarte.

Imagine waking up a hundred years after your death—not in a new body, but as software running inside a cold, calculating computer. No body. No coffee. Just your memories, your personality, and a mission you didn't ask for. Now imagine duplicating yourself—again and again—each version exploring the stars, building space stations, bickering with your clones, and maybe, just maybe, trying to save what's left of humanity. As Bob asks, "How are you supposed to feel if you're forced to do what you would have done anyway?"

Buy the Book:

We may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through our affiliate link. Thank you for supporting Sci Fi Book Pod!

Spoilers

Sci-Fi Book Pod is the podcast for speculative fiction fans, co-hosted by a middle-aged married couple. We may give away the plot, a lot.

Never miss an episode: https://scifibookpod.com

Timestamps: 00:00 — Intro: What if you woke up as software? 01:00 — Why we picked We Are Legion (We Are Bob) to launch the pod 03:30 — Shane's "no pew-pews" sci-fi preference 04:00 — Von Neumann probes, explained 06:00 — Bob's moral dilemma and a post-apocalyptic Earth 07:00 — Best quote from the book about surviving dogma 09:00 — The factions launching their own probes 11:30 — The difference between Bob and the others: VR and coping 14:00 — Bob's clones: not replicants, not twins, but evolving personas 18:00 — Why 3D printers are the real MVPs 20:00 — Compassion and donuts: Homer's surprising hero arc 22:00 — Who this book is really for