eBook, 156 pages
English language
Published May 2, 2017 by Tordotcom.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
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 neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
It’s rare to find a compelling sci-fi book that also has a hefty helping of humor and sarcasm baked into its tone. I will definitely be reading more of this series.
From the plot alone, this novella would be a bit of perhaps cliche science fiction. What makes it both unique and compelling is that the story being told from the perspective of the "Murderbot" (hence The Murderbot Diaries), a cyborg generally treated by society as a piece of equipment.
Martha Wells's writing does a good job of showing Murderbot's personality, its particular anxieties, its relationships towards humans, and general attitudes towards life. Even if the plot is cliche, Murderbot as a character is the opposite.
A fun story about an AI construct who calls itself 'Murderbot' that has secretly hacked its governor module, so it doesn't follow any orders (in other words, it's a free agent). It's also a 'SecUnit' (security unit) leased out by the Company to provide security to a small group of scientists doing a field survey on an unfamiliar planet. While not performing its duties, Murderbot likes nothing better than to immerse itself in entertainment streams, mainly the future equivalent of current day 'soap operas' and to avoid interacting with its human clients as much as possible.
But things change dramatically when some members of the group get attacked by native wildlife. That wasn't in the planetary briefing. A closer look reveals missing information due to probable hacking. Then, a rival planetary survey on another part of the planet goes dark and things start to escalate rather violently.
In all this, …
A fun story about an AI construct who calls itself 'Murderbot' that has secretly hacked its governor module, so it doesn't follow any orders (in other words, it's a free agent). It's also a 'SecUnit' (security unit) leased out by the Company to provide security to a small group of scientists doing a field survey on an unfamiliar planet. While not performing its duties, Murderbot likes nothing better than to immerse itself in entertainment streams, mainly the future equivalent of current day 'soap operas' and to avoid interacting with its human clients as much as possible.
But things change dramatically when some members of the group get attacked by native wildlife. That wasn't in the planetary briefing. A closer look reveals missing information due to probable hacking. Then, a rival planetary survey on another part of the planet goes dark and things start to escalate rather violently.
In all this, Murderbot keeps its clients alive (although it technically doesn't have to) and learns to interact with its human clients (although it is still not comfortable with it). The clients, in the end, repay it for keeping them alive.
Now on to more adventures with Murderbot in future stories.
A socially awkward, traumatized by PTSD, has executive dysfunction, and just wants to be free and watch entertainment streams ... Murderbot is very relatable.
Bit of a quick read, but not going to complain. Personally I liked the storyline, the humour of the murderbot too.
I may or may not be (read : I am currently) throwing money at the other books right now.
