# The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells



## Werthead (Mar 12, 2022)

*The Murderbot Diaries #1: All Systems Red by Martha Wells*



> An unstoppable killing android has decided it doesn't really want to do all that murdering any more and has decided to strike out on its own, with a mission to stay low and watch as much TV as possible. But the self-styled "Murderbot" is drawn into a survey mission on a planet that goes wrong, and discovers that keeping its identity a secret is going to be very difficult.
> 
> Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries has become one of the most-praised science fiction series of the last few years, winning multiple Nebula and Hugo Awards between the five novellas and single novel that make up the series so far (three more books are projected). Its central protagonist is an AI that has broken free of the restraints on its programming and become fully sentient, but rather than do anything philosophical with this freedom has become an addict of TV shows, whilst doing security missions it finds deeply tedious.
> 
> ...


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## hitmouse (Mar 12, 2022)

Good review. 

“Paying full novel prices for 150 pages…is a big ask…” would have drawn blank stares 30+ years ago.


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## psikeyhackr (Mar 13, 2022)

Artificial Condition is better, Fugitive Telemetry not so much.  I find the ease with which Murderbot can hack into other systems some difficult to accept in the cybernetic society described. 

The cybernetic ship, ART, in the second story is an amusing character though.


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## Rodders (Mar 13, 2022)

Thanks for the review, Werthead. The Murderbot series has been on my radar for a long time, but I've not yet gotten around to it. I'll pick a copy up on my next book haul.


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## Vertigo (Mar 13, 2022)

I really wasn't that impressed though I've only read the first one as I am not prepared to pay that price for a novella (had I known how short it was I would never have bought the first one). However, length of book aside, I simply do not consider the story to be worth that price. The characterisation of the murderbot itself is, in my view, clever but no more and I did not feel any other characters were particularly well developed. The plot was an incredibly simplistic single threaded affair with a total absence of any subtlety. I really do not understand why it has so many accolades; there are, in my view, so many other books out there for the same or less money with no awards that have better, more complex and structured plots, more characters and those more interesting. 

Maybe I just don't get it but it felt to me like it was an unexceptional short story about a jaded, somewhat autistic, professional soldier made exceptional by changing the main character into a robot.


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## Rodders (Mar 13, 2022)

I’ll wait for it to come up cheap on Amazon.


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## Ursa major (Mar 13, 2022)

Vertigo said:


> Maybe I just don't get it


It's a lot of fun... which is why I've read all of what's been published so far.


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## psikeyhackr (Mar 13, 2022)

Rodders said:


> I’ll wait for it to come up cheap on Amazon.


I think the first 3 books of the Bobiverse are better.


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## Rodders (Mar 14, 2022)

I enjoyed the Bobiverse.


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## Vertigo (Mar 14, 2022)

Ursa major said:


> It's a lot of fun... which is why I've read all of what's been published so far


I'd agree with that, the one I read is fun but it's got such an array of serious literary awards that suggests a serious work which I don't think it is.


psikeyhackr said:


> I think the first 3 books of the Bobiverse are better.


And I'd agree with that too!

Overall I just feel the first book, being the only one I've read, simply lacks substance. Compare it with something like the recent A Memory Called Empire, which I also thought lacked substance, and it looks to me desperately thin; I don't mean physically small, as in a novella, but lacking in any literary weight.


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## Ursa major (Mar 14, 2022)

Vertigo said:


> I'd agree with that, the one I read is fun but it's got such an array of serious literary awards that suggests a serious work which I don't think it is.


I'd only heard about the Hugos and the Nebulas, both of which IIRC are voted by members (reader and writers), not panels of literary critics (or whoever else inhabits such panels).


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## Juliana (Mar 14, 2022)

I have the first three waiting on my Kindle — I got them free from Tor.com. Just waiting for the right mood to strike to jump in!


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## Lostinspace (Mar 14, 2022)

I also downloaded the novellas free from Tor, only giving them my soul … no sorry email address. One can also download Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory for free, although one has to convert it to an epub manually.  I like all the Murderbot stories and I also like A Memory Called Empire. It is difficult to assess literary weight without the tools used by Aristophanes to show that Aeschylus was superior to Euripides.
However, it is unfortunate that there is no reasonably priced paper editions available as I am sure that my wife would like Murderbot but she won’t read ebooks.


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## Brian G Turner (Mar 14, 2022)

Vertigo said:


> I really do not understand why it has so many accolades



Huh, next you'll be questioning why the Hugo Awards have Connie Willis as the greatest ever science fiction writer.


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## psikeyhackr (Mar 14, 2022)

Lostinspace said:


> However, it is unfortunate that there is no reasonably priced paper editions available as I am sure that my wife would like Murderbot but she won’t read ebooks.



Sounds like grounds for divorce to me.


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## alexvss (Mar 14, 2022)

I read *All Systems Red*. What drew my attention was how simple the prose is--it's straighforward and avoids purpleness. It proves that you don't need (or rather, you shouldn't) to write overly complicated or long sentences in order to write a succesful story.


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## Mon0Zer0 (Mar 14, 2022)

Vertigo said:


> I really wasn't that impressed though I've only read the first one as I am not prepared to pay that price for a novella (had I known how short it was I would never have bought the first one). However, length of book aside, I simply do not consider the story to be worth that price. The characterisation of the murderbot itself is, in my view, clever but no more and I did not feel any other characters were particularly well developed. The plot was an incredibly simplistic single threaded affair with a total absence of any subtlety. I really do not understand why it has so many accolades; there are, in my view, so many other books out there for the same or less money with no awards that have better, more complex and structured plots, more characters and those more interesting.
> 
> Maybe I just don't get it but it felt to me like it was an unexceptional short story about a jaded, somewhat autistic, professional soldier made exceptional by changing the main character into a robot.



Bang on. I'm also utterly mystified as to how this is so beloved.

I found the writing style pretty awful and the plot and characters paper thin. I've heard people praise the snark, but snark without wit isn't particularly funny. Beyond the initial concept of a killer cyborg / robot with ASD that just wants to watch soap operas, there wasn't anything else to it.


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## Parson (Mar 15, 2022)

I checked tor.com and the Murderbot novellas were free April 2020 for 5 days. What a bargain that was. Count me among those who absolutely love Murderbot. My review:

April 2019: Reading Thread


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## Juliana (Mar 15, 2022)

Parson said:


> I checked tor.com and the Murderbot novellas were free April 2020 for 5 days.


If you sign up for their newsletter, they give out e-freebies every now and then. Worth it! They're mostly books/novellas a couple of years old, but I'm certainly not complaining! I just finished another of their freebies; the 2020 World Fantasy Award winning novella Silver in the Wood; very good.


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## Rodders (Mar 23, 2022)

All Systems Red is currently on sale for £2.24 on the Kindle store. I just downloaded a copy.


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## Juliana (Mar 23, 2022)

I thought this was a nice gesture by the author, who was nominated for the Nebulas. From the Nebulas page:



> Author Martha Wells graciously declined her nomination as a novella finalist this year for _Fugitive Telemetry: Murderbot Diaries_, Book 6, published by Tordotcom. Wells felt that the _Murderbot Diaries_ series has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community.


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## Werthead (Mar 26, 2022)

*The Murderbot Diaries #2: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells*



> "Murderbot" has managed to escape from its last precarious situation and once again finds itself on its own, happy to amuse itself with TV shows whilst shuttling around the galaxy. A determination to find the reason for its original malfunction leads to a reluctant alliance with a powerful ship's AI and a bunch of youngsters who've gotten in over their heads.
> 
> Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries has become one of the most acclaimed SF novella series of recent years, telling the story of a combat "SecUnit" that becomes self-motivating and decides to leave behind its life of murder for one of comfort. However, it can't shake either a nagging sense of guilt and curiosity about its beginnings and it also can't quite stop itself from helping out humans from getting themselves into quite ridiculously dangerous situations.
> 
> ...


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## Werthead (Apr 13, 2022)

*The Murderbot Diaries #3: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells*



> "Murderbot" is once again in hiding after its last escapade, but lingering guilt over how it resolved an earlier adventure leads it to investigate, taking it to a remote, secretive station and an abandoned terraforming project. Murderbot allies with a local droid to protect a bunch of humans who are, once again, in over their heads.
> 
> Rogue Protocol is the third volume in Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries, the multi-Nebula and Hugo Award-winning series about a former security android which has broken free of its programming and become an independent entity, passing for human and addicted to TV shows between security jobs.
> 
> ...


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## Bick (Apr 15, 2022)

The problem is not the cost of the first volume, which is available in PB, it’s the fact that all of the sequels are only published as HB books - and they are expensive. I will never read beyond the first book/novella until the sequels get a sensible PB printing.


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## Parson (Apr 16, 2022)

Bick said:


> The problem is not the cost of the first volume, which is available in PB, it’s the fact that all of the sequels are only published as HB books - and they are expensive. I will never read beyond the first book/novella until the sequels get a sensible PB printing.


Maybe you don't read electronic books, but they are all available in that form. I just went and checked and I am right, at least here in the states, but I was stunned that they have gone up in price (or at least I believe that to be so). They have always been expensive, and especially so at the low page count per story. Depending on the book from $10.99 to 11.99.


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## Vertigo (Apr 18, 2022)

Parson said:


> Maybe you don't read electronic books, but they are all available in that form. I just went and checked and I am right, at least here in the states, but I was stunned that they have gone up in price (or at least I believe that to be so). They have always been expensive, and especially so at the low page count per story. Depending on the book from $10.99 to 11.99.


Yes, I won't be paying that sort of price for novellas. And frankly I'm surprised anyone has. I guess it just convinces her to keep charging that much.


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## Bick (Apr 18, 2022)

Vertigo said:


> Yes, I won't be paying that sort of price for novellas. And frankly I'm surprised anyone has. I guess it just convinces her to keep charging that much.


I don’t suppose it’s got anything to do with her, though, the publisher makes the decisions.


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## Ursa major (Apr 19, 2022)

Speaking as someone who has bought (ebook versions of) the whole series (as it currently stands), I'm of the opinion that I'd rather pay a "novel-sized" price for a shorter book that's a joy from cover to cover than pay even a discounted price for a tome where there's a fraction of the joy and what there is is scattered so thinly that the chore of getting between those good bits really isn't worth the effort.


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## Cat's Cradle (Apr 19, 2022)

As someone for whom money is a bit tight, I will say that I was also very disappointed in the pricing for the series. I just cannot/would not pay - I just added it up on Amazon - $62 for about 950 pages. I think most people couldn't pay that. 
What disappointed me was that I enjoyed the first book - bought it to see what the hype was about, and bought it soon after it came out. But the next book in the series was so expensive that I gave up on it all, though I had looked forward to continuing the story. There's a real pleasure in reading a series at the same time a large group of others are also participating in the new releases. 
But the publisher can charge what they want, and the reading public can buy or not. I've moved on from interest in the series, and may not ever read it now. 
I think a lot of us research a new book a fair bit before buying. I don't have many misses these days, many books where I regret spending the money; maximizing the book allowance is an important thing nowadays!


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## Werthead (Apr 24, 2022)

*The Murderbot Diaries #4: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells*



> Murderbot has acquired data vital to the legal case between the Preservation Alliance and the GrayCris corporation, but quickly discovers that her old friends in the Alliance are in hot water. Diverting to a GrayCris stronghold, Murderbot discovers they need to rescue their comrades and defeat the security forces of one of the most powerful corporations in known space, whilst preserving their evidence.
> 
> Exit Strategy is the fourth novella in The Murderbot Diaries series and brings the events of the first four books to a head. Our titular hero starts off already on a mission, bringing the evidence it acquired during the events of Rogue Protocol to its allies, only to find that they already being held over a barrel by GrayCris's legal and security teams. This prompts Murderbot to intervene and face seemingly insurmountable odds.
> 
> ...


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## Werthead (May 4, 2022)

*The Murderbot Diaries #5: Network Effect by Martha Wells*



> Murderbot is adjusting to the unusual circumstances of being free and accepted among people who know exactly who and what they are. A simple escort operation turns bad when the crew are kidnapped, Murderbot along with them. Murderbot now has to find out who the kidnappers are, what they want and how to resolve the situation without getting their new human friends killed.
> 
> Network Effect is the fifth instalment in the Murderbot Diaries and is the first full-length novel in the series, clocking in at more than twice the length of any of the previous novellas. We start in media res with Murderbot already in a tricky situation, which it extricates itself from James Bond-style, before we get into the main story.
> 
> ...


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## Brian G Turner (May 5, 2022)

@Werthead, are you getting these as review copies?


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## Vertigo (May 5, 2022)

Bick said:


> I don’t suppose it’s got anything to do with her, though, the publisher makes the decisions.


Yes but she chooses her publisher. And I can't believe the author has no input on pricing at all.


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## Toby Frost (May 5, 2022)

I'm not sure. Given how things are these days, and that she's hardly a household name, I reckon the power lies very much with the publisher. There's a real sense of "If you don't like it, we'll find someone else" - at least, it feels that way. I think she could object to the pricing, but I suspect that unless she threatened to leave (possibly in breach of contract) she'd be stuck.


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## Juliana (May 5, 2022)

Vertigo said:


> And I can't believe the author has no input on pricing at all.


As far as I know from friends who are published with big imprints, they really really don't. And they have no input on things like promos, etc, either. They've sold a product to a company, and then it's up to the marketing and sales department. (They often have no say in cover art, either.)

With a small press, there's probably a lot more collaboration and opportunity for input. But not something like Tor, which comes under the Macmillan umbrella.


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## Toby Frost (May 5, 2022)

I used to know an author whose novel was with a big publisher. She was dismayed to find that the cover blurb gave away the twist in the story.


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## Vertigo (May 5, 2022)

Then I confess I really don't understand it; I've, obviously, bought many Tor books over the years and have never noticed any previous examples of them pricing books in this excessive way. Maybe we're making a rod for our own backs if so many people buy at these prices.


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## Toby Frost (May 5, 2022)

It sounded alright, if slightly overhyped, but there's no way I'm finding out at prices like that.


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## Werthead (May 10, 2022)

I got all six as a job lot on eBay for about half the cover price, although at the cost of only two of the books (the first and last ) having covers.

*The Murderbot Diaries #6: Fugitive Telemetry*



> Murderbot is settling into their role providing security for their client Dr. Mensah on Preservation Station when they are asked to do something they've never done before: investigate a murder. Murderbot is more at home providing security in high-risk combat situations, rather than the finesse and subtlety that a homicide investigation requires. Still, with a potential killer or killers loose on the station and the inexperienced station security slow to find them, Murderbot takes up the case.
> 
> The sixth and (at this time of writing) most recent entry in The Murderbot Diaries returns to the novella format of the first four books, after the novel-length experiment of Network Effect. Fugitive Telemetry is set before Network Effect and sees a shift in format, with Murderbot going from security consultant to murder investigator, a task they initially seem ill-suited for but soon get to grips with. It's not a complete left-field transformation for the series - Murderbot has had to piece together mysteries and incomplete pictures before - but it's enough to freshen up the series when familiarity might be setting in.
> 
> ...


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## Juliana (Aug 9, 2022)

So I finally read the first three while on holiday in June. And loved them so much I got the others from my library as soon as I returned! This absolutely deserves all the praise it got; I found it gripping, fast-paced, and Murderbot's character development over the course of the series is excellent.

(Because I read the series after #6 was published, I inverted the order of the last two and read in chronological order, not by pub date, since Fugitive Telemetry is actually a prequel to Book 5.)


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## Swank (Aug 9, 2022)

We have libraries where I live.

The Murderbot stories are okay. The main character is superman, with another amazing ability waiting around the corner to get it out of any situation. Plus superfriends.

It feels like a trend that the "hot" novels of the moment are women authors writing about cybernetic AI becoming people (Ancillary). Isn't there another one about a little girl and her robotic bodyguard out recently?


They are coming out with a collection in one book.


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## Ursa major (Aug 9, 2022)

Swank said:


> about cybernetic AI becoming people (Ancillary).


I managed to get no more than ~40%** of the way through _Ancillary Justice_ before metaphorically*** throwing it across the room, whereas I found the Murderbot stories a joy to read.


** - The bridge and the broken arm incident (IIRC) was the last straw.

** - I bought the Kindle edition (hence the ~40%), so couldn't actually throw "the book".


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## Elentarri (Aug 9, 2022)

Kindles are such a let down.  Can't scribble on the pages, can't tear out pages, can't burn the book, and can't fling it across the room in disgust.  The best you can do is press "delete", which isn't emotionally satisfying in the least.


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## Elckerlyc (Aug 9, 2022)

Elentarri said:


> The best you can do is press "delete", which isn't emotionally satisfying in the least.


Perhaps it would be more satisfying if they relabeled it 'destroy' or 'disintegrate to bits'?


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## Parson (Aug 9, 2022)

Swank said:


> Isn't there another one about a little girl and her robotic bodyguard out recently?


I believe Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is the book you are thinking about. I liked it. See below. 

short review of Klara and the Sun


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## Swank (Aug 10, 2022)

Ursa major said:


> I managed to get no more than ~40%** of the way through _Ancillary Justice_ before metaphorically*** throwing it across the room, whereas I found the Murderbot stories a joy to read.
> 
> 
> ** - The bridge and the broken arm incident (IIRC) was the last straw.
> ...


Well, I think you missed out. Ancillary is a fairly meaty story and strong SF ideas. (I think some people get put off by the gender stuff, thinking it is political in nature.)

By contrast, Murderbot is more like a children's story in its simplicity.


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## Vertigo (Aug 10, 2022)

Swank said:


> Well, I think you missed out. Ancillary is a fairly meaty story and strong SF ideas. (I think some people get put off by the gender stuff, thinking it is political in nature.)
> 
> By contrast, Murderbot is more like a children's story in its simplicity.


I agree completely but we do seem to be in a minority on this one!


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## Ursa major (Aug 10, 2022)

Swank said:


> (I think some people get put off by the gender stuff, thinking it is political in nature.)


That didn't bother me at all.

What bothered me was the main character's apparent** stupidity.


** - Even if it was explained later on, it was too late for me.


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## psikeyhackr (Aug 10, 2022)

ART is the best character. 
Asshole Research Transport


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## psikeyhackr (Aug 11, 2022)

Ursa major said:


> I managed to get no more than ~40%** of the way through _Ancillary Justice_ before metaphorically*** throwing it across the room, whereas I found the Murderbot stories a joy to read.
> 
> 
> ** - The bridge and the broken arm incident (IIRC) was the last straw.



I must have read that incident at the bridge 3 times trying to understand what happened there. I finished the book for no good reason but dropped the series at that point. It reminds me of The Culture series. I read tried 4 of those, finished 2 and dropped the series.


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