Network Effect, Martha Wells

I didn’t read this that long ago, but I still needed the reread, oof! There’s a lot going on — especially in the last 70 pages or so, and a good number of things I somehow hadn’t properly logged to long-term memory. It’s one of those books where even explaining the setup is kind of a spoiler for people who are only partway through the series, because so much has happened to bring us here… but suffice it to say that I love the meeting of old friends, the meeting of new ones about whom we didn’t know very much yet, and especially all the dialogue between Murderbot and the bot transport.

I still found that things are a bit slower and easier to follow going in — though I wouldn’t call it slow, there is a certain amount of waiting for things to happen, and quite a bit of trying to go off, find a quiet corner, and Have An Emotion — and then move at blurry, dizzying speed after a certain point. I think I’m up to speed on everything this time, but I wouldn’t want to be quizzed on it.

Honestly, poor Murderbot doesn’t nearly get enough time to just watch media, in this one. It does get in a couple of episodes of Sanctuary Moon and Worldhoppers, but c’mon. A Murderbot needs some more time to unwind.

Rating: 4/5

Exit Strategy, Martha Wells

This is, really, what the three previous novellas have been building up to, so it’s suitably epic. I’ll try not to say too much, given that spoilers for this book kind of spoiler the others as well, but suffice it to say that Murderbot returns to help out their humans (mostly meaning Dr Mensah, but also her team), gets shot at a lot, has emotions a lot, and tries not to get hugged or anything truly dangerous like that.

It’s obvious that something like this was coming from the build-up, at least in terms of the reunion, but it’s satisfying all the same to watch it happen. Murderbot is still Murderbot, but it has done a bit of growing and a bit of soul-searching. It might not know what it wants in the long term, but in the short term it has some pretty ironclad priorities. It might complain about its own competence constantly, but it gets the job done.

It’s surprising to me how satisfying I found this series as a set of novellas; normally I find novellas a bit frustrating, with a few exceptions, but I think Martha Wells planned things out well here and made the novella structure work. I’m glad that Network Effect is up next, though: I’d like to spend a bit more time with Murderbot.

Rating: 4/5

Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells

This might be my least favourite of the series, just because I find Miki annoying (as Murderbot does!) and the ending rather sad and… it kind of drifts off: it sets up for the next book, of course, and moves onto that pretty seamlessly, and that makes sense, but for me this feels a little like filler at times.

Which is not to say it’s not still fun: watching Murderbot crankily care about humans and pretend not to, and watching it react to Don Abene’s pet bot is a whole series of character moments. It still features Murderbot doing what Murderbot does best. But… I miss ART, and Ratthi, and the other characters that are more central (if not in terms of the plot, in terms of how much Murderbot cares).

So yeah, not a favourite, but don’t let that put you off — it’s still fun, and still important.

Rating: 4/5

Artificial Condition, Martha Wells

Aaaand straight on to my possible favourite book of the series: Artificial Condition. Featuring ART, the Asshole Research Transport, who is way smarter than Murderbot, loves its crew, and manages Murderbot brilliantly to help it do things that it doesn’t want to do (but which are good for it — like posing as a Security Consultant, and appearing more human).

Honestly, the plot of this book doesn’t particularly rise above the others: it’s the fact that ART is a key character that makes it the best. The relationship between ART and Murderbot is great, and I love them sitting down together to watch media. It feels weird that ART actually only has a place in the second book, because like Dr Mensah, it takes up a big part of Murderbot’s development.

So, yep, onwards, onwards!

Rating: 4/5

All Systems Red, Martha Wells

Ah, my favourite Murderbot (even counting Legion from Mass Effect). I’m revisiting partly before reading Fugitive Telemetry, partly for SciFiMonth, and partly because sometimes you just need a little bit of Murderbot in your lives. All it wants to do is settle down quietly to watch its media, and honestly, I agree (although I’d be reading and not watching).

It’s also pretty relatable how much it hates having feelings and everything to do with feelings. Like, darn humans, darn organic parts, I just want to watch my media and not have feelings. Yep, Murderbot, I feel you. I also feel your connections to your humans, and how you can’t quite stop yourself trying to do a good job for them, even when you think the Company is shit and your skills are shit and the clients are shit.

The other nice thing about Murderbot is that the books are so bitesize. 150 pages is a good size for an episodic sort of story, and also for the amount of thinking my brain’s up for at the moment. There’s enough here to chew on and to feel satisfying, and each book builds on the last, but still… it’s a bit Monster of the Week, and I enjoy that Wells uses the format well like that.

Rating: 4/5

Network Effect, Martha Wells

I was so excited to learn that there’d be a Murderbot novel, and so excited to get my hands on an ARC, that my performance dropped by several points due to the number of inputs. Which is to say, I started reading the book, was loving it, and then actually I got too wound up by certain events and ended up with a sort of anxiety about picking it up and continuing. Needless to say, I finally did, and many of my wishes for the series were fulfilled by the return of known characters and more exploration of the world.

I don’t really know what to say without being spoilery, because I think the thing that got me wound up is worth getting wound up about on your own terms. I should say that I found some of the interludes a little irritating, because they felt like padding. Though, well, you’ll see if you read it.

I’ll also admit that in some of the scenes where they were all figuring things out and making plans, my brain started derailing and refusing to hold the details in mind. I just sort of trusted to the narrative at that point, and it did work, but there is a lot of talking and negotiating, and there are a lot of characters running round doing their own thing. It might have been a bit sharper through narrowing down the focus to fewer characters. There are two characters who didn’t feel totally integral to the plot, who could’ve been left behind without harming things too much.

However, it’s also delightful to see Murderbot with its people, having returned with them to Preservation. All of Murderbot’s complicated feelings about having friends and being part of a team are on full display in this novel, and it’s lovely to explore. It’s also fascinating to see more of their world (spoiler spoiler spoiler). Despite my quibbles about the dialogue-heavy bits and the extraneous characters, I sped through the book in several large gulps once I settled down to it and started again.

If you’ve loved the novellas, it’s definitely recommended, with the caveat that you may feel the longer format wasn’t as ideal.

Rating: 4/5