Book Review: Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells is book 4.5 in The Murderbot Diaries series. This story is short, very short at 19 pages. The story is just a catch-up on all the major things that have happened in the first 4 books leading up to book five Network Effect. This story was originally part of the release for book five only if you preordered it, now thankfully it was released and my library had it. I’m pretty obsessed with Murderbot and have read every book but the seventh that was published last year (and my library has not received it yet). The story quickly establishes the threat of what Murderbot and the team are trying to do, showing that one of the biggest corporations in the universe is corrupt and tried to have them killed because of a discovery the team made. Murderbot was supposed to be the killer but went against orders and now works to help the crew take down the corporation. Not all the crew exactly trust Murderbot but Ayda the team lead does and most fall in line. The story is short but it does its job well establishing the crew, what their mission is, how hard it is to pull off, and how dangerous it is. AppleTV+ has recently announced that they will be developing a ten-episode Murderbot series starring Alexander Skarsgård and the creators and directors are Chris and Paul Weitz. Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells was published on May 5, 2020.

Plot Summary: Murderbot is back with the crew he saved when he broke protocol and went rogue from his mission to kill them. Murderbot has gathered evidence exposing the corrupt corporation that tried to kill the crew. The leader discusses the meeting and her fellow crew members’ thoughts on Murderbot. Can they get along and trust each other enough to get the evidence in the right hands before the corporation has them all killed? Questions are answered in book five Network Effect.

What I Liked: In this quick story a little bit of humor is worked in. The story did its job of recapping and showing the next mission. I love Ayda’s and Murderbot’s relationship and she’s the only one who knows that he refers to himself as Murderbot.

What I Disliked: It was too short and Muderbot is barely in it, he’s being discussed but is actually in the short story for a page.

Book Review: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells is Murderbot Diaries book 6. This time Murderbot plays detective investigating a murder at Preservation Station that only it can solve. After the epic Network Effect that was my favorite in the series comes the sadly lackluster Fugitive Telemetry that is my least favorite so far. The plot is okay, it’s not really a murder that can be solved but the right beats are there, The problem with this one is Murderbot doesn’t have that much interaction with anyone, and the action is really limited. This has been one of my favorite series but this book just didn’t gel with me. I read Fugitive Telemetry through advanced readers copy curtesy of Netgalley and Macmillion-Tor/ Forge books. Fugitive Telemetry is published on 4-27-21.

The Plot: Murderbot discovers a body on Preservation Station. He’s the main suspect for a while thinking he got hacked, but Murderbot convinces and works with the local security to solve the crime. Murderbot has vowed not to hack his way into security, so this case is going to be harder than he thought.

What I Liked: The couple glimpses of Murderbot personality are good. The plot was not that bad. I did enjoy the twist reveal, and what the killer turned out to be. The Murderbot and Dr. Mensah still works and is still the most interesting. I liked the couple call backs to past novels.

What I Disliked: When we last saw Murderbot he was staying on a transport with ART saying he must go away, so I was pretty shocked to see him already back on Preservation Station with Dr. Mensah who he just told was leaving. This novel felt like it was the Murderbot before he was changed at end of the last book. Not enough witty Murderbot scenes.

Recommendations: This is the only Murderbot book that I have not recommended. There’s not much character development in this one the lowest amount so far. It seems this was an experiment it just didn’t work out for me. I still love this series and eagerly await the next installment. I rated Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells 2 out of 5 stars. I raked the 6 book series so far in order from best to worst: Network Effect, Artificial Condition, All Systems Red, Exit Strategy, Rogue Protocol, and Fugitive Telemetry.

Book Review: Network Effect by Martha Wells

Network Effect by Martha Wells is Murderbot Diaries number five. This is the only full novel in the series with the rest being novellas. I have read and loved the character of Murderbot for 4 previous novels. The series has had highs and lows, I felt the formula was getting a little predictable, then Network Effect came out and changed the narrative making this book my favorite in the series so far. It took the best parts, intense action, witty dialogue, human interaction, and character growth, and expand them. The pace of this book is pretty fast it slows down a little in the middle but after intense scene after intense scene I welcomed the slow down. Network Effect brought back my favorite character from the series ART (an acronym for “Asshole Research Transport”) from Artificial Condition book 2. I do think you have to read all the books to understand all the relationship, and just to see how far Murderbot has come. I read this because I received an advanced readers copy from Netgalley for book six Fugitive Telemetry I plan on reading it soon as it comes out on April 27.

Plot: Murderbot is back with the first science team that he saved and was released by. After Murderbot spent time on self discovery, and looking for evidence to back the scientists claims. He found the evidence and had to save the crew once again, and now he is back living among them as part of the crew. Dr. Mensah entrust Murderbot with her most valuable thing, her daughter Amena, which don’t get along it could be that he doesn’t listen to her or the fact that he almost killed her boyfriend reading him as a threat. Murderbot, Amena, and other members are on a scouting mission, right after they enter a wormhole the ship his hit and invaded, some of the member escape but Amena stayed behind, and so did Murderbot to rescue her. Murderbot takes the invaders down who are looking for a weapon, he starts to notice the other ship is his old buddy ART who he stowed away on to get a way last time. ART helped change his identity and gave Muderbot some of his code. Murderbot finds that ART has been purged from the ship and finds a way to bring him back, with ART telling him he sent the hostiles here to grab you. Murderbot is the Weapon they want.

What I Liked: The action and humor are great and the highlights of this book. Murderbot becoming more human, everybody telling him to sit down and think that he is becoming emotionally compromised, but Muderbot can process thought so fast he doesn’t get while people are telling him to sit down. ART and Muderbot’s relationship goes through so much to loss, happiness, confusion, and anger. Muderbot’s relationship with Amena is a great one as well as they figure out how to communicate with each other, Murderbot going after the hidden boyfriend is great. The twist and turns in this book are great. I like the other SecUnits so you can see how far Murderbot has come.

What I Disliked: The descriptions could have been a little tighter, I had a hard time following all the action especially the drone action scenes. I can’t picture how big the drone is, I’ll read another passage and think it is smaller.

Recommendations: This book is amazing if you’ve started this wonderful series you have to read up to this point. If you’ve never read this series then you’re in for a treat. Start with All Systems Red the first four books are short novellas and easy to read in a day. I totally recommend this series. I rated Network Effect by Martha Wells 5 out of 5 stars, my highest rating so far for the series. I raked the 5 book series so far in order from best to worst: Network Effect, Artificial Condition, All Systems Red, Exit Strategy, and Rogue Protocol.

Book Review: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Exit Strategy by Martha Well is book four in The Murderbot Diaries, book series. This is the last of the 4 novellas the next books in the series is a full length novels. The fourth book comes full circle all the way back to the first book and the first humans that he saved and started to generally care about. This novel has a bit more heart because of the reunion and the character of Murderbot has grown emotionally throughout the series. The ending was perfect for this chapter in Murderbot’s life. My one problem with this series is the formulaic plot, this book like the one before it had Murderbot try to get undetected on some transport, something happens to human’s he’s around Murderbot must save them, he does and he runs away. This book did change the ending but the plot points are the same. Murderbot’s dialogue was as fresh as it has ever been but the plot being kinda of the same bother’s me I actually took a break in the series for this reason. I feel this was trying especially in the end to change some things up I remain a fan but slightly disappointed.

The Plot: In the first Murderbot novella All Systems Red, Muderbot hired by a team of scientist doing lad surveys on a planet, a shadow company, GrayCris, has been doing it’s own research on the planet, and found aliens have visited it and have left technology, they fear the scientists finding out and send a kill order of the scientist. Murderbot saves them as they find out about the alien visit and learn more about the GrayCris, Murderbot is bought by the scientists and granted freedom. Murderbot runs away. In the second Murderbot book Artificial Condition Murderbot investigates the place where he became a mass murderer and finds out he was hacked and taken over by GrayCris that wanted settlers dead. In Rogue Protocol Murderbot is going to a planet that GrayCris deleted from record. Murderbot wants to grab proof of a coverup and give it to the scientists who released him and still fighting GrayCris. He joined a survey team that doesn’t understand what they are walking into, he lies his way in as security, and reluctantly has to protect the humans and a naive droid he has nicknamed Puppybot. In Exit Strategy Murderbot has the evidence and wants to show it to the team of scientist that helped set him free, before he can give the evidence, Dr. Mensah, the lead scientist is taken and ransomed for the evidence that Murderbot has. Can Murerbot save Dr. Mensah and keep the evidence?

What I Liked: The character of Murderbot thoughts and actions keep getting better as the character grows. I liked seeing the old scientific team from book one especially Dr. Mensah who say Muderbot for more than a robot. I do like that Dr. Mensah is the only other person that knows he refers to himself as Murderbot, I liked how that added it to the story. The action was better than previous installments because of Muderbot caring more than usual. I loved that Dr. Mensah to ease tension asked Muderbot about his favorite TV show, Sanctuary Moon. The end of the novella run was a good one and really shows how far the character has come.

What I Disliked: The plot points make this awesome series a tad episodic and I hate that. Here’s what it mad me think of; Lassie the old TV show. In every episode Timmy or somebody will get hurt and the only thing to save them is Lassie, that’s what I felt a little when reading this that I knew all the story beats, because I saw or read this episode before. I will say if this was the first book of the series I read I would think the writing and characterization are really strong and I wouldn’t know how formulaic it is. I’m not going to rate this book too harsh but it will lower my rating of the series, because I feel individually this book is the better written of the series.

Recommendations: The character of Murderbot is so good I will recommend the series just for that. love the character. Muderbot is the first character that I created a Spotisfy playlist for. The books are good and highly entertaining if not a tad predictable. I rated Exit Strategy by Martha Wells 4 out of 5 stars. I rated all books in the series 4 out of 5 stars, but I would rate the series 3 out of 5 stars to the formulaic nature. I will read the next book in The Muderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells Network Effect with a slight hesitation.

Book Review: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells is the third installment of The Murderbot Diaries. This novella like the previous stories in the Murderbot Diaries follows an A.I. SecUnit that is self aware and detached from the mainframe that controls all other SecUnits. He refers to himself as Murderbot because he has murdered hundreds as he was controlled and part of the mainframe. He know tries to discover mysteries of his past. The Murderbot Diaries are part character study and part action adventure. The character study is usually the best part, but I preferred the action a little bit more in this installment. The thing that drives this series is Murderbot wants to be alone, but situations keep thrusting him into action. I like how he manipulates other robots that are all to ready to conspire with him, without human knowledge.

The Plot: In the first Murderbot novella All Systems Red, Muderbot hired by a team of scientist doing lad surveys on a planet, a shadow company, GrayCris, has been doing it’s own research on the planet, and found aliens have visited it and have left technology, they fear the scientists finding out and send a kill order of the scientist. Murderbot saves them as they find out about the alien visit and learn more about the GrayCris, Murderbot is bought by the scientists and granted freedom. Murderbot runs away. In the second Murderbot book Artificial Condition Murderbot investigates the place where he became a mass murderer and finds out he was hacked and taken over by GrayCris that wanted settlers dead. In Rogue Protocol Murderbot is going to a planet that GrayCris deleted from record. Murderbot wants to grab proof of a coverup and give it to the scientists who released him and still fighting GrayCris. He joined a survey team that doesn’t understand what they are walking into, he lies his way in as security, and reluctantly has to protect the humans and a naive droid he has nicknamed Puppybot.

What I Liked: Miki or Puppybot as Murderbot thinks of him, is a different side of A.I. one that is shown and only knows love. His interaction with the very cynical Murderbot are what make this book so fun. I loved seeing Mili showing the strength that rubbed off of Murderbot near the end. I liked Murderbot, who is an avid consumer of T.V. shows quoting some of the lines that applied to criminal justice, to the would be criminal were really good. Murderbot plot summary of the first two books made me laugh, because of how cynical it was to the human’s and the robot’s that helped him but still not really wanting their help to begin with. The action was really good and easier to follow in the past. The twist was pretty great because it was so plausible and made you think a character’s motivation went one way when it was the other.

What I Disliked: The plot setup is getting formulaic. Murderbot travels somewhere using lies to hide true intention, gets to destination and someone gets double crossed, he has to complete original mission by saving dumb humans. The books are different but I got a little plot Deja Vu.

Recommendation: I totally recommend this series, it’s fun, it is one heck of a character study, and it has amazing Science Fiction action. One of the cover quotes I really agreed with is, “One of the most humane portraits of a nonhuman, I’ve ever read” by Annalee Newitz. I rated Rogue Protocol 4 out of 5 stars. I will continue reading the Murderbot Diaries series that is currently 5 books comprised of 4 novella and one novel. So far every book has been 4 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: Artificial Condition By Martha Wells

Artificial Condition By Martha Wells furthers The Murderbot Diaries with the second installment. Man is this series good, I described All Systems Red  the first novella in the series as a character piece with burst of action, and this one continues in that same style. The story picks up exactly where the last one left off, where Murderbot, the A. I., is on a mission to find himself by unlocking his past. I love how Martha Wells wrote Murderbot’s personality as a nonconforming teenager who would rather spend copious amount of time consuming media than interacting with a person or another machine for that matter. The conversations about life and past really made me me think, and the humor of being more human and all the problems that come with it.

The Plot: Muderbot is a self aware A.I. (who calls himself Muderbot, but not out loud) is on a search to find out his past, a while ago he went on a murderous rampage killing and had his memory scrubbed, and the event covered up by the corporation that owned him. No that he is rogue droid a free from the companies grasp, he has decided to investigate the grounds to see if he can find out if was an accident of if he chose to murder willingly. The planet is heavily guarded and the only way he can get on the planet is by pretending to be an augmented human, which means changing everything about himself and trying to become more human.

What I Liked: My favorite new character is ART the operating unit of the transport vessel. ART is so powerful has grown bored of his day to day task and sees an opportunity in Murderbot to go rogue and have some fun. I loved the dynamic between ART and a begrudging Murderbot that just wants to be left alone. I loved that Murderbot is basically a teenager and in this novel he kind of has puberty as he has to turn on his hair growth. I loved the conversation about adding sex and Murderbot’s strong reaction to it. The action is less than the first novella but I enjoyed the writing of the action more in this one. The humor makes this novella flow really quickly.

What I Disliked: in the series so far the villains have all been very one-sided and all about corporate greed, it would be really nice to see a more dimensional villain in future installments. I felt the stakes weren’t high enough in the end, I never felt a true danger for Murderbot.

Recommendations: I am loving this series, and totally recommend it. I was just announced by Martha Well that the fifth Murderbot Diaries book will be a full novel not a novella called Network Effect and will out in 2020. I did recommend the last one for teens, this one does amp the use of curse words up, but if you’re okay with your kid reading them then I would recommend this book in the series. I would recommend reading All Systems Red first this novella starts off exactly where it left off and even gave me some closure for the last story. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars and will be continuing this series soon.

Book Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

All Systems Red by Martha Wells is the first novella in The Murderbot Diaries series that is up to 4 book so far. This novel has one a plethora of award The Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for best Science Fiction Novella, as well of plenty of others. I’ve seen other reviews rate it quite high, and I personally was not disappointed. This novel is a unique character study with thrilling bits of action thrown in. The novel is told from the perspective of Murderbot, who is not your average bot, he has a rebellious side to him. Murderbot can me compared to a rebellious teenager as it choose it not to read reports, would rather spend time watching entertainment, would rather be alone than with the crew who doesn’t understand it and doesn’t know what it wants of this life.

The Plot: Murderbot is an SecUnit a self aware droid with human features and characteristics. Murderbot is what he calls himself but not allowed. He works as a piece of hardware for the Company which is a massive rental facility that provides security and gear for teams. Murderbot is not like other SecUnits he hacked himself out of the mainframe and does not have to follow orders, which no one know except him. He assigned to a group of scientists that are surveying soil on a distant planet through a worm hole. Murderbot is bored most of the time, a massive creature breaks up the boredom as it attacks the crew coming up from the ground. Murderbot kills the creature before it can inflict too much damage . The crew survives but end up finding that their survey of the planet has been modified with no mention of the creature and places on the map omitted. The crew find themselves in danger as someone doesn’t want them to leave the planet alive and Murderbot is their only hope.

What I Liked: This is not a stereotypical robot story there are not beeps and boops. The voice and personality Murderbot is unique and refreshing. The relationship of the crew toward each other and towards Murderbot. The action is easy to follow and exciting. The ending was unexpected I feel it was right for the character, even if I was a little sad of what the outcome means for the next novel and some of the characters. It is short but the story fills complete it could of added a couple more pages to fill in a scene that gets interrupted.

What I Disliked: The end of the rising action left me wanting to know what exactly happened, I felt a little cheated not knowing.

Recommendation: I totally recommend this novel, I look forward to reading more adventures of The Murderbot Diaries. I would recommend this to people who like science fiction, this novel is could be a good novel to get some one to try Science Fiction it is short and not overly detailed when it comes to science. There is one use of bad language, I would recommend this to teenagers, since Murderbot is so much like a teenager himself. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars and look forward to reading more of Martha Wells.