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.