TBR Pile Reviews: More MurderBot!

This short story is told from the point of view of Dr. Mensah and follows the events in Exit Strategy. Kindle Edition, 19 pages
Published April 19th 2021 by Tor (first published May 5th 2020)

My Review

I enjoy MurderBot and this short story kept me going between novels and novellas. Here we read about Dr Mensah’s reaction to being held hostage once they have returned to Preservation Station. Dr Mensah doesn’t want to admit that she’s traumatised. MurderBot doesn’t know what to do but in its own way tries to help.

I enjoyed reading about events from a different perspective and this short story shows how one of the main characters is affected by event without the intermediary of MurderBot. A good addition to the canon.

No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

Hardcover, 168 pages
Published April 27th 2021 by Tor.com
ISBN:1250765374 (ISBN13: 9781250765376)

My Review

I had this book on pre-order but forgot when it was due to arrive so finding it in the post pile on Tuesday afternoon as I was leaving for swimming was a great surprise and a very happy one. I read it yesterday afternoon, to relax and because I needed my sci-fi fix.

We’re back on Preservation Station with MurderBot and its human friends. There’s been a murder! So MurderBot helps the Station Security investigate. Station Security really don’t want MurderBot around and initially suspect him, but it soon becomes clear that there are other things going on that no one knew about and a local has been suborned by the Corporations.

In this novella we see an expansion of MurderBot’s relationships and the world around him as the strangeness of Preservation in comparison to Corporate space is explored. As usual events are filtered through MurderBot’s experiences and thoughts, and are told with humour and panache. The final showdown is rather explosive. I love it.

Review: The Murderbot Diaries 1 -5, by Martha Wells

As I mentioned in my post about my future plans, I’m going to have a break from blog tours to make my way through my personal TBR pile. I thought I’d start with a sci fi series of four novellas and a novel by Martha Wells, the Murderbot Diaries.

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The four novellas and novel of The Murderbot Diaries

Review: All Systems Red, by Martha Wells

Hardcover, 176 pages
Published January 22nd 2019 by Tor.com (first published May 2nd 2017)
ISBN
1250214718 (ISBN13: 9781250214713)

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighbouring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.