We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse #1), by Dennis E. Taylor

  We are Legion reads as a blend of Andy Weir and Adrian Tchaikovsky: the geekiness is there, the science, the optimism, the humor, the glossing over the complicated stuff :) I liked the first book and I am going to read the others, too. It's like Dennis E. Taylor is their replicant son!

  If anything, the issue is that there are almost no stakes (yet!). The story is about a guy who is translated into an AI then given control of the first von Neumann probe sent from Earth. Then Earth destroys itself, so all that's left is Bob and his many replicas, spreading over the universe.

  Reading the book you kind of feel the power of the Fermi paradox: intelligent technological species that may have been started billions of years in the past had all the time in the world to get to us. So where are they? Of course, the biggest technical challenges of space expansion: energy and propulsion, are hand waved away with some gimmicks that makes stuff work. However, the book is geeky and fun enough to enjoy also while reading to some dry descriptions of how automated probes dismantle Kuiper belts to replicate themselves.

  Bottom line: light, geeky, fun.