System Collapse

 I was excited to see a new Murderbot Diaries book at the library the other day!  And even more exciting, this one actually does pick up after Network Effect! Unfortunately, it's been three and a half years since I read that book, so I didn't remember a lot of what happened. :(

System Collapse has Murderbot, ART, and their humans trying to save some colonists from enslavement by a corporation, Barish-Estranza. But every time they turn around, the mission gets more and more complicated. First, there's a second group of colonists who have split off from the primary group (and the primary group long lost contact with them). Then, much to their dismay, once Murderbot, some of the humans, and a segment of ART in a drone locate them, they discover that Barish-Estranza has gotten to the second group of colonists first!  

And all the while, Murderbot isn't functioning the way it should.  Something happened to it (which it redacts through most of the book) and it is trying to make sense of everything. Unfortunately, that means that it isn't able to keep everyone safe the way it normally can.

While I enjoyed System Collapse, I really felt that I needed to reread Network Effect.  I couldn't remember who ART's humans were, and only vaguely remembered what had happened to everyone. I recommend rereading that before jumping into System Collapse if it's been awhile for you, too.

Fugitive Telemetry

 I've been waiting to get my hands on the newest book in Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series, Fugitive Telemetry.  As I said after reading book 5, Network Effect, I was quite interested to see where the series would go now.

Well, Fugitive Telemetry didn't pay off with any of the stuff Network Effect set up.  Instead, it opens on Preservation Station, where a body has been found.  The Station's Security team (reluctantly) brings Murderbot in to consult as they try to find the murderer.  As murder is extremely rare on Preservation Station, they shut the entire port down to investigate the murder.  

What follows is a really fun mystery while Murderbot tries to find the murderer (and both Murderbot and Station Security struggle to trust one another). 

So while Fugitive Telemetry did not have the further adventures of Murderbot and ARK, like I though it would, or feature the newly free SecUnit, Three, it was still a really fun read.  Like most of the other books, I couldn't put it down.  I hope the next (as yet unnamed) Murderbot book is fun like this one was!

Network Effect

 

I completely forgot that Network Effect, the fifth Murderbot Diaries book by Martha Wells, was coming out this spring.  I also forgot that I put it on hold at the library.  So I was pleasantly surprised to get it last week! :)

I wasn't sure where this book would be taking Murderbot.  I thought the story ended quite nicely in book 4.  It starts out with Murderbot being contracted out to provide security for some of Dr. Mensah's family on a voyage.  Everything is going fine until their ship returns to Preservation space and is attacked by what looks like ART (from book 2).  While trying to protect Amena (a teenager from Mensah's family - I'm not 100% sure of what their relationship is as Amena keeps calling Mensah "second mother"), Murderbot and Amena are forced to flee the ship and end up on ART.  Unfortunately, ART is gone and there are strange grey people (possible aliens, or humans who have been modified by an alien remnant) on board.  After admitting to deleting ART, they get more than they bargained for with Murderbot destroying them (they mistakenly thought Murderbot was a human). 

Network Effect took a lot of crazy twists and turns.  Some of the other humans from the Preservation mission got trapped along with them (their ship got pulled into the wormhole that the aliens took ART's ship through). ART hid a backup of himself for Murderbot to find.  Looking for ART's crew leads everyone to the planet where the grey people are from, which was a lost colony with quite a history.  Half of ART's crew were sent down to the planet, while the other half remained on a shuttle as hostages.  ART and Murderbot decide to make Killware as a last resort, which ART ends up deploying onto the shuttle.  The Killware is a copy of Murderbot's personality, and ends up calling itself Murderbot 2.0.  Meanwhile Murderbot 1.0 went down to the planet to save ART's crew but ends up getting captured itself, which leads to a battle against the enemy targetControlSystem.  Luckily Murderbot 2.0 found its way to Murderbot 1.0 to help.

Despite all the fun stuff happening, I had a really hard time reading this book.  The middle, when everyone was trying to figure out what was going on and where the missing crew was, really dragged (as did Murderbot and ART's feud).  Unfortunately it took me a lot longer to read this book as a result (all the other Murderbot books I couldn't put down; this one I had a hard time picking back up).  That being said, it was an interesting story, and I am looking forward to Murderbot #6 (ART asked Murderbot to join it on its next adventure, and Murderbot decided it wanted to, as long as it can come back to Preservation to visit Mensah.  This was the first time Murderbot knew what it wanted).

Also I forgot to mention, Murderbot 2.0 helped another SecUnit hack its governor module on the shuttle to help rescue ART's crew there.  This new SecUnit, which called itself Three, wants to help Murderbot too.  So I'm quite interested to see what happens with a second rogue SecUnit!

Exit Strategy

So yeah....after finishing Rogue Protocol, I just kept reading, and managed to finish Exit Strategy, the fourth book in the series, thst same night, too (I'm just slow to post about it).  Exit Strategy picks up where Rogue Protocol left off: Murderbot is heading back to Mensah to deliver the files.  There's just one problem: Mensah seems to have disappeared.  And when Murderbot starts heading towards where she was last seen, they find themself dogged by a company who is trying to apprehend them, too.  A company hired by GrayCris who is hellbent on stopping Murderbot from revealing any secrets they may have uncovered while on Milu (everything that happened during Rogue Protocol).

While I didn't like Exit Strategy quite as much as the other three books in this series, I still thought it was super good!  I really liked how much Murderbot has grown.  And it was really fun to have them reacting with some of the characters we've met before in previous books (namely the humans from All Systems Red).  There were some absolutely hilarious lines in this book too (there are great lines in all of the books, but a few of them really stood out for me in Exit Strategy).

I'm also quite interested to see where the story will go from here in book 5.  As far as I could tell, the story is pretty much over by the end of Exit Strategy.  So we'll see in a few months I guess!

Rogue Protocol

Whoa.

When I started reading Rogue Protocol, I was a bit bummed out because ART wasn't in it.  Murderbot and ART went their separate ways at the end of Artificial Condition.  Murderbot decided to travel further out, looking for evidence to give Mensah against GrayCris (the company who almost killed them in All Systems Red).  That brings Murderbot to a derelict terraforming platform GrayCris has abandoned; Murderbot believes the platform may not have been intended for terraforming as reported.

Unfortunately, as a derelict station, not many people go there.  Luckily though, another company, GoodNightLander Independent, is interested in purchasing the derelict platform and has sent a team to investigate it.  Murderbot decides to secretly accompany the team in order to conduct their own investigation as to the platform's true purpose.  Which is easier said than done when the team's "pet robot" (Murderbot's words) discovers their presence...

When I first started reading Rogue Protocol, I was a bit bummed out that ART wasn't there (which I knew going in, but still, bummed out).  I was even more bummed out by Miki, the robot member of the exploration team.  Miki is super naive, which was a bit grating at first.  But as the book wore on, I really warmed to them (and their relationship with Don Abene, the woman in charge of the team).

I also really liked how, despite not wanting to care, Murderbot continually finds themself drawn into protecting humans (and actually liking and respecting the humans, even if they're still super uncomfortable interacting with humans up close and personal).  And as Rogue Protocol's story unfolded, I seriously didn't want to put it down; I was totally blown away by the ending.  I've never read a series that continuously got better as it went; I hope this continues in Exit Strategy, the fourth (and at this point final book that's out).

Artificial Condition

I was very excited to find book two of Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries, Artificial Condition, was in at the library.  I started reading it last night and just finished it now.

This time, Murderbot is on the run.  After deciding to go their own way, rather than follow Mensah, Murderbot decides to travel to the planet where they killed humans.  Murderbot doesn't know exactly what happened there because their memory was wiped of the event (but their organic tissue still remembers).

To get to the planet and investigate, Murderbot gets a ride from ART (Asshole Research Transport). ART is a ridiculously smart transport who is bored having to do a cargo run, so decided to help Murderbot for fun.  ART even uses its medical facilities to alter how Murderbot looks (so they will be less noticeably not human).

To get down onto the planet, Murderbot needs to get the proper paperwork.  The easiest way is to get a job as a security consultant.  And so they end up hired by a group who had their research stolen.  Knowing this is a ridiculously bad idea, Murderbot accompanies the clients down to the planet into multiple traps; they all get away thanks to Murderbot (with ART's help in the feeds).

I didn't think it was possible to love this series any more than I did from All Systems Red, but here we are.  ART was the perfect compliment to Murderbot.  They functioned so well together as a team, I was honestly super sad to see ART and Murderbot part ways at the end of the book. :(

I really, really enjoyed reading this book, and can't wait for #3 (which should be waiting for me at the library today!)

All Systems Red

A friend of mine bought me Martha Wells' All Systems Red: the Murderbot Diaries last year for Christmas.  And as seems to be typical for me, it took me a long time to decide to actually read it.  It's a short book, so I sat down last night to read it and ended up finishing it in one go.

All Systems Red sees Murderbot, our hero, contracted to protect a group of humans who are investigating a planet.  Murderbot is a SecUnit who hacked their governor chip some time ago and has been doing everything in their power to remain under the radar.  They could have gone on a murderous rampage, but they discovered the entertainment feeds and so just wants to spend their day watching soaps. They continue doing their job as expected so no one becomes suspicious.  (They also only refer to themself as Murderbot privately).

But the humans' mission gets off to an odd start; a creature attacks them in a place where their data said there should be no threats.  And not long after that, they discover that their map is missing pieces.  And when a neighbouring exploration team goes dark, it's up to the humans and Murderbot to figure out what exactly is going on!

All Systems Red was a lot of fun to read.  I loved Murderbot.  They were a hilarious narrator.  I also loved how they were super uncomfortable around humans (even though they loved TV humans) - it made them such an interesting character.  I also really liked the human characters they were protecting, and how Murderbot formed a real bond with them; by the end they weren't interested in doing a half-assed job, their humans brought out the best in them. 

After finishing the book, I messaged my friend who got it for me.  He told me there are more Murderbot Diaries!  So I ran to the library to get the next one. :)