Yes! This is more like it. Wells put some effort into this one: it’s not just snark and magical hacking and Mensah Mary Sue. It’s even new territory for Wells: a whodunnit, with an effective subplot that I think we’ll be seeing more of. Murderbot does not simply hack its way out of every problem; in fact, it even gets humbled on multiple occasions (in proper ways that lead to self-reflection, not eat-dirt ways). There are new characters, and brief appearances from old ones... but, interestingly, none from Mensah except for one or two terse feed exchanges. I appreciate this: Mensah has a life and responsibilities, and Murderbot needs to find ways to fit itself into Preservation. This was fun and tense and filled with promise of more to come.

Totally not suitable for Murderbot virgins—and wow does that come off as really weird-sounding. I mean, don’t make this your first Murderbot book: you won’t get it at all. Start with [b:the first one|32758901|All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)|Martha Wells|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631585309l/32758901.SY75.jpg|53349516], then maybe the rest (it’s OK to skip #4). But for those who love Murderbot and were disappointed with the last ones, I think you’ll enjoy.