The first full-length novel in Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series.
An Amazon's Best of the Year So Far Pick
Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Book Riot | Polygon
"I caught myself rereading my favorite parts... and I can’t recommend it enough." ― New York Times
You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century.
―
I’m usually alone in my …
WINNER of the 2021 Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards!
The first full-length novel in Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series.
An Amazon's Best of the Year So Far Pick
Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Book Riot | Polygon
"I caught myself rereading my favorite parts... and I can’t recommend it enough." ― New York Times
You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century.
―
I’m usually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are.
When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
The first few books of the Murderbot series were very short. This one is the first true novel-length installment and it features all the usual fun:
Murderbot is trying so much to read humans and understand their communication
Murderbot is learning to navigate its own emotions
Murderbot meets ART again, and they are both fond of each other, trying to learn to have a relationship from one bot to the other
And of course, all of it is very funny. Murderbot shut down its own governor module, which was installed to make sure it complies to human orders. Now, murderbot only complies to its own motivations and rules. But another task of the governor module seems to have been anger management, and without such module, murderbot is angry most of the time.
I really loved this book, the best so far. I'm ordering the next two installments now.
My kind of fiction for sure, the sentients makes (mostly) logical choices and doing what they do best (being assholes about it) while keeping the humans alive and saving the day.
I guess it gets partially heavy in the action and combat scenes, the science part is soft and hand wavy but the quirky interactions is kinda funny and assholey, just the way I like it. Whatever traces there are of aliens is weird and not delved into, making them feel more mysterious and foreign when compared to bland, humanoid "trekkie aliens". The story reminds one of B-graded scifi shows, broadcasted on thursdays, and gives a hint of nostalgia (heh).
So far this has been the best book in the series even though the first book was a strong contender.
3.5 a bit too long for my liking of murderbot stories. the middle especially felt like it dragged on forever. still, yet another wholesome murderbot story, this time with the return of ART!
My review of Murderbot Diaries was that 1-4 should have been released as a single novel. Together they form a fantastic story instead of underwhelming novellas. Network Effect is exactly that -- a long-form Murderbot adventure that showcases what Martha Wells can do when not restricted by word count.
Network Effort is fantastic. Murderbot's distinct narration and voice is still the highlight, but combining it with a unique mix of science-fiction action and detective mystery really makes Murderbot something special. There is a fantastic mix of energy weapons flying around while your brain is engaged with the intellectual challenges, barely keeping up with the AI/construct characters as they try to get ahead of their antagonists.
And finally, the not-friend's return is perfect.
That said, the novel itself isn't. The sense of suspense is never there, and it's mostly a light-hearted romp through a surprisingly grim view of the future. Basically, …
My review of Murderbot Diaries was that 1-4 should have been released as a single novel. Together they form a fantastic story instead of underwhelming novellas. Network Effect is exactly that -- a long-form Murderbot adventure that showcases what Martha Wells can do when not restricted by word count.
Network Effort is fantastic. Murderbot's distinct narration and voice is still the highlight, but combining it with a unique mix of science-fiction action and detective mystery really makes Murderbot something special. There is a fantastic mix of energy weapons flying around while your brain is engaged with the intellectual challenges, barely keeping up with the AI/construct characters as they try to get ahead of their antagonists.
And finally, the not-friend's return is perfect.
That said, the novel itself isn't. The sense of suspense is never there, and it's mostly a light-hearted romp through a surprisingly grim view of the future. Basically, I'm not emotionally invested. It's fun, but it won't hit me in the feels, and so it's a recommended 4-stars but nothing truly spectacular.
ART's return basically makes this book. Murderbot always needed more characters and ART was the only one that was ever very interesting. The Corporate Rim is absent so you get less of that tongue-in-cheek criticism, but instead we get exposed to Alien Remnants (literally) and while thought provoking, didn't ever feel like much of a threat.
Finally, Three's character was a bit of a fail for me. I appreciated how it was foreshadowed via the flashback chapters, but Three was very boring. Murderbot 2.0 was actually more interesting, but of course, a copy of your MC should be!
Hugo Best Novel 2021, and I can kind of see why. The Murderbot stories do not normally speak to me, but this one was actually gripping and had a bunch of interesting turns. The people still feel somehow wrong, but the scifi story here works.
“Why do you call it ART? It said it’s name was Perihelion.” “It’s an anagram. It stands for Asshole Research Transport.” “That’s not an anagram.” “Whatever.”
The struggle is real—what do I read while I wait for more Murderbot and ART and Preservation? Nothing. I’ll just quietly pull up a chapter in this book, like Murderbot does with Sanctuary Moon.
This was a great book. The familiar characters and settings of the Murderbot series, but a longer tale to really flesh out the growing relationship between it, ART, and other humans. It also ends with the promise of more adventures, too! If you're a fan of Murderbot you should pick this one up.
The first full length Murderbot novel throws it into a novel situation with lots of pew-pew action and, gasp, emotions.
4 stars
A great Murderbot novel that shows Murderbot continues to mature as an organism with free will and learning to deal with his emotions with his 'clients' while discovering new things about them and what they are willing to do for him.
The novel starts with Murderbot doing what it does best: protecting its clients. But this turns out to be a prelude to the start of a situation where Murderbot gets kidnapped along with his clients and ends up with a situation involving a former bot friend and possible alien technology contamination at a forgotten colony world. Of course he has to get out of it, with his clients intact.
But more than just the 'pew-pew' stuff (which Murderbot is obviously good at), this is also a detective story as he has to figure out the reason why it and his clients were kidnapped, how the alien contamination occurred, how …
A great Murderbot novel that shows Murderbot continues to mature as an organism with free will and learning to deal with his emotions with his 'clients' while discovering new things about them and what they are willing to do for him.
The novel starts with Murderbot doing what it does best: protecting its clients. But this turns out to be a prelude to the start of a situation where Murderbot gets kidnapped along with his clients and ends up with a situation involving a former bot friend and possible alien technology contamination at a forgotten colony world. Of course he has to get out of it, with his clients intact.
But more than just the 'pew-pew' stuff (which Murderbot is obviously good at), this is also a detective story as he has to figure out the reason why it and his clients were kidnapped, how the alien contamination occurred, how to save his bot friend (and clients) and how to overcome his opponents. But along the way, he will discover new things about himself, and also about what his clients really think about him and what they are really willing to do for him.
The 5th book in Murderbot's series, and the first full length novel, it tells the story of Murderbot getting kidnapped by ART, who we first met in book 2, Artificial Condition. Murderbot's relationship certainly veers all over the place, but it is always funny. Murderbot helps rescue ART's crew and maybe begins more adventures with ART.
I have to admit finding it a bit harder than usual getting thru this book. Maybe the novella length is perfect for Murderbot. It seemed like about the same amount of things happened in this full novel as happened in the previous novellas, but it just took longer for things to happen. Don't get me wrong, Murderbot was still pretty damn funny. Their observations of human interactions, and their growing disgust at their own, are truly inspiring. And coming across (creating?) another "rogue" SecUnit is pretty fun too.
But there were a lot of …
The 5th book in Murderbot's series, and the first full length novel, it tells the story of Murderbot getting kidnapped by ART, who we first met in book 2, Artificial Condition. Murderbot's relationship certainly veers all over the place, but it is always funny. Murderbot helps rescue ART's crew and maybe begins more adventures with ART.
I have to admit finding it a bit harder than usual getting thru this book. Maybe the novella length is perfect for Murderbot. It seemed like about the same amount of things happened in this full novel as happened in the previous novellas, but it just took longer for things to happen. Don't get me wrong, Murderbot was still pretty damn funny. Their observations of human interactions, and their growing disgust at their own, are truly inspiring. And coming across (creating?) another "rogue" SecUnit is pretty fun too.
But there were a lot of characters and too much boring interaction. I really enjoyed Murderbot's exchanges with Amena, a teenager they really don't understand, and they are precious. So it is definitely worth the read, but just not as snappy as previous installments. 3.5 out of 4, but I gotta go with the higher rating.
4.5 This is the book for all of those who - like me - complained over the length of the novellas if nothing else. It is not quite as good as the four preceding novellas taken together, but it sure is a tight little narrative with just the right amount plot and character development. Pacing is a little uneven, though I did like help.files where murderbot gets to tell us about life on Preservation. I also think there may have a been a tad little too many new characters, though I see why they needed to be there. It just gets a little difficult doing all those different voices for reading to my SO (what? you say I don't need to do that? preposterous!) The plot is also not completely surprising in every regard, but it is satisfyingly logical and I would regard it a bit as a Whodunit. What …
4.5 This is the book for all of those who - like me - complained over the length of the novellas if nothing else. It is not quite as good as the four preceding novellas taken together, but it sure is a tight little narrative with just the right amount plot and character development. Pacing is a little uneven, though I did like help.files where murderbot gets to tell us about life on Preservation. I also think there may have a been a tad little too many new characters, though I see why they needed to be there. It just gets a little difficult doing all those different voices for reading to my SO (what? you say I don't need to do that? preposterous!) The plot is also not completely surprising in every regard, but it is satisfyingly logical and I would regard it a bit as a Whodunit. What was done very nicely is all the emotional development, not only of AIs, but also the human characters.
Murderbot definitely excels as in a novella format. The jittery, jumpy writing style of being inside of a robots head works in small doses, but felt like real work to follow after the first hundred pages.
Also, I felt there was a large amount of setup for an Alien based finale that... Never really delivered on its promise.
NETWORK EFFECT finds Murderbot summoned to help various associates and not-friends who are in danger and in need of help, with lots of Targets to shoot and interfaces to hack.
As the first full novel in the series, Network Effect handles the transition from novella to novel beautifully. It expands the scope and feel of the characters while still keeping things connected to the earlier books. My favorite thing was the addition of new point of view characters, it was strange but cool to get perspectives other than Murderbot, especially since they have some very specific similarities while obviously being distinct characters. Murderbot itself was delightful as always, it’s really grown throughout the series in terms of relating to other entities and figuring out what it wants, slowly becoming proactive rather than reacting against what it was ordered to do before. As usual for Murderbot there’s danger, rescues and heist …
NETWORK EFFECT finds Murderbot summoned to help various associates and not-friends who are in danger and in need of help, with lots of Targets to shoot and interfaces to hack.
As the first full novel in the series, Network Effect handles the transition from novella to novel beautifully. It expands the scope and feel of the characters while still keeping things connected to the earlier books. My favorite thing was the addition of new point of view characters, it was strange but cool to get perspectives other than Murderbot, especially since they have some very specific similarities while obviously being distinct characters. Murderbot itself was delightful as always, it’s really grown throughout the series in terms of relating to other entities and figuring out what it wants, slowly becoming proactive rather than reacting against what it was ordered to do before. As usual for Murderbot there’s danger, rescues and heist things, which were all great. It really feels like a longer version of a Murderbot book, which is perfect.
This doesn’t specifically wrap up anything from the previous books, but it does continue developing the definitely-not-friendship between Murderbot and Dr. Mensah, which is noteworthy given how little time they spent together this time around. The main storyline starts here and wasn’t present previously, it’s definitely its own story, with the main plot being pretty self contained. It’s not the last book, and at the end it clearly leaves something for later books to pick up as Murderbot starts to picture a life for itself and gets an unusual offer. I mentioned before that there are some additional narrators, because of plot reasons they have a lot of similarities to Murderbot, but they are differentiated in some cool ways. This would make sense if someone started here and didn’t know about the rest of the series. The first four novellas were a set telling a complete story, while this volume is pretty self contained. Everything you would need to know in order to understand what’s going on gets explained, partly because Murderbot has to provide some explanations since the other characters mostly were not around in the other books. That means that Network Effect technically could be read by itself, but if the plot description intrigues you you should definitely start with the first novella.
This is a great entry in a fun-to-read series about sentience, personhood, and self discovery in space and on various planets.