Submitted by angryscout2 t3_yrgfhk in books
I just read this book yesterday in one sitting. I picked it up on the recommendation of a buddy of mine and was amazed. From my perspective good sci-fi has been a desert for the past several years with a few notable exceptions. The story picks you up and carries you along with it like few books I have read recently do. I am now waiting for the other books in the series as I think I may have just found another author to add to my list of must-reads
I've read her MurderBot books and I really enjoyed them.
Many of my faves from the Golden age and beyond are shorter format. I don't always want to dive into a Niel Stephenson doorstop. Murderbot is lovely.
This is the first one and I am already hooked. I really relate to Murderbot
Agreed. I am on book 4 of her Murderbot Diaries series. Really enjoying it.
I am Murderbot and I approve this message.
The second one is my favorite in the series.
I don't know if you're reading vs audiobooks, but the narrator for the audiobooks is really good.
I love the characters, but her "books" have grown way too short and way too expensive.
>when I got to full length novel it never really grabbed me like the others had.
Same. It was good, but it didn't feel like a part of the story. The first four novella are all kind of connected and complete an overall story. You could probably stitch them together and call it a long novel. The novel just feels kind of "extra" as does the novella that comes after it.
I love ART.
The narrator really performs the work, and does t just read it
Yeah I get that. The novellas get to keep introducing new things and people and guilt and they have incredible pacing. By the time the novel hits you know a lot of the world and characters and there’s less “new”, so there’s slower pacing and more in depth world building. Or maybe not in depth, but, broader? I dug the novel, but agree the pacing is very different
I love Murderbot!!! I've only read the first two books because the waiting lists on my library app (Libby) are huge. I keep recommending the series to all of my friends because they are so fun and delightful and exciting. Recently was on a big road trip and got my partner into it by playing the audiobook of the first book. 🤖
I am reading. I have tried fiction audiobooks and just can't like them. I find it irritating when the narrator attempts to do different voices. I am strictly a non-fiction audiobook guy, specifically history or international relations
All books are expensive, when I started reading a hardback cost $7.99 and I thought that was ridiculous now $30 or so is the norm
Murderbot is good stuff.
I still have it on my reading list… I need some lighthearted sci-fi in my life.
You'd probably like the stuff Wil Wheaton narrates, then. Dude doesn't even try to do voices. I don't like it, but might fit your tastes.
Murderbot series my beloved; I'm on Network Effect (book...4? 5?). It's all pretty great stuff.
You should try the Phule's Company books by Robert Asprin, they are as good as Discworld but in space
Just stop reading 3/4 of the way through the Stephenson doorstops and you’ll enjoy them a lot more.
Thank you!
Murderbot is the greatest. I read the first one like you, in one sitting. Then I just devoured the rest. I think I will happily read anything else Martha Wells creates.
Two things really stand out to me about the Murderbot stories, in addition to the truly fabulous central character. One is the inclusion of a protopian society, and how plausibly Wells reckons with how the society can uphold its approach even among more hostile and mercenary circumstances. The second is that the action seldom hinges on anyone’s incompetence. Murderbot’s clients, generally, are at at worst lacking in sufficient context rather than acting thoughtlessly or selfishly. Their motives make internal and contextual sense, and they mostly behave rationally, so it’s not about people being awful or idiotic to drive the plot forward. Even the antagonists, as evil as they are painted to be, aren’t, by and large, faceless mustache twirlers so much as bureaucrats removed from the human consequences of their choices. I really like getting to exist in a universe that demonstrates the possibility of productive collaboration without homogenizing everyone’s personalities or motives.
The first person narration was what got me hooked. It’s like you get a ride along with the murderbot. I also liked how he used media to distract himself from his terrible existence.
Absolutely addictive series, one of the best thrillers I can remember reading. I compulsively check every 2 weeks to see if she's announced a new murderbot book yet.
My favorite series I also discovered recently! I just finished book 6 last week, and I'm itching to re-read the series already.
The whole concept and narration is hilarious.
Interesting you identify MurderBot as male.
Murderbot is probably one of my favorite characters in literature. The entire series is amazing. We actually named our newest dog Security Consultant Rin from Rogue Protocol. We call her Rin for short obviously. I'd love to read an analysis of Murderbot because I feel like I relate so much to them as a character.
Well said. Wells did a pretty amazing job with this series.
I'm wiling to bet only one of the 3 books will be Murderbot. The others will be other fantasy books.
Yeah, it’s fascinating and a little disquieting how easily we assign genders to people. Even though I know Murderbot has no gender, sometimes I can’t help but think of them as a ‘she.’ And I have no idea where that gendering came from!
Did that with Dodge in H. Worked great.
It’s been a long time since I’ve identified with a protagonist like I do with Murderbot.
Yes, welcome to the Murderbot fan club. You will not be disappointed.
btw I recommend reading Fugitive Telemetry before Network Effect. Timeline wise FT happens before NE and I feel it works much better in that order rather than publication. Loads of big splashy exciting adventures happen in NE and it feels weird to go back to a relatively small adventure after that. When you are just dying to know what happens with Murderbot and [redacted].
YES! If people ever tell me they don't know how they feel about audiobooks, these are the ones I recommend. I feel like Kevin R. Free NAILS it.
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I just reread the first five last week (a lot are available through kindle unlimited). Not the last one...too expensive and sounds like it precedes #5. I found these after reading the Ancillary Justice series by ann leckie. Those were great too though much more space opera-y.
Please read the link: she is contractually signed for 3 more Murderbot books.
Murderbot is great. I honestly feel like I am in a golden age of scifi. Adrian Tchaikovsky has been pumping out absolutely classics in the last decade. How about Three Body Problem? Other suggestions: Andy Weir. Anne Lecke. Blake Crouch. Ted Chiang with some mind-blowing short stories.
I've seen this popping up in my ebooks for a while now, but haven't gotten to it yet.
But I'll definitely put on my to-do list now. Thanks!
Murderbot is the most relatable character I've read in a long time! Especially the way it feels about feelings!
I read that ordering too so that was my plan but thanks for the heads-up
Daniel Suarez as well although he is kind of cyberpunk
Not OP, and a non-native English speaker, even though English has been my first/primary language for a while now.
I also referred to Murderbot as "he" in my first review (before I realized what its preferred pronoun is). I did not assign a gender to Murderbot though - I thought of it as a genderless entity, if I thought about its gender at all. I just tend to use "he" as the default pronoun without thinking. My mother tongue doesn't have gendered pronouns, and I have never really gotten used to thinking of gender identity before using a pronoun. In my mother tongue masculine words also generally double as neutral gender words (similar to old English where man = human of any gender, and wif-men = wife-men/women/men of the female gender). So I just tend to default to male words in English too, unless I'm consciously making an effort.
She is so fun!!! Murderbot is awesome. I’m reading her Raksura series now. It’s really different but still great. Martha Wells is 💯💯💯💯💯
Agreed on all the above! Going to doubly ensure there isn't one I've missed in the series.
Murder Bot Diaries made me feel a bit better about AI nightmare scenarios, despite the name!
Your lucky, these aren’t even in my library system
I really hope they put out the series as one audiobook, I just don’t feel like using audible credits for short stories is worth the money.
I’ve envisioned Murderbot as “she” from the beginning; I don’t know why.
I approve too
It was programmed to be a weapon so I'm not sure that logic applies.
Interestingly, I thought of MurderBot as being more female than male. I'm not sure why tbh. I assumed because it was written by a woman, so MurderBot had female undertones come through in the writing.
Yup, I thought of it as a "she" too tbh. I figure because it was written by a woman that the writer's female undertones came through in MurderBot. I can't help but find that books written by women do have something about them that makes them feel different to those books written by men. I can't put my finger on what exactly it is though.
Maybe this is an age thing but I couldn't finish All Systems Red. My guess is the main character resonates with alot of teenagers and that's why it is loved so much and gets recommend on here all the time.
To me it was a poorly written sci-fi with a memorable main character, but not memorable for any good reasons.
Yes!!!! Please more people read murderbot it's sooooooo good
The whole series is absolutely excellent.
I only read the first 3 (maybe 4) books but I really liked that it was something that I could finish in one sitting.
I identified Murderbot as agender but leaning feminine in presentation and voice. I listened to the audiobook after reading the first two and the male reader was a bit jarring.
This entire series is amazing. You will not be disappointed. I believe a book #7 is coming next year.
Good to know!!! I havent cracked open the Raksura books yet but it’s in my plan
Yo I’m 54 and I love MurderBot with all my cold dead heart. It’s not an age thing. It’s a “you” thing - they just didn’t work for you.
Gahhh, I've read the last available book in the series and now I'm stuck waiting for the next one.
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My favorite thing about Murderbot series is how they dangle the whole "What measure is a human" concept and not just ignore it but just frankly not care about it. It's really refreshing.
Me too! Luckily they were almost all on kindle unlimited.
This is something I really wish I had known beforehand. I read them in “order” without looking details up because I was worried about spoilers and was extremely confused when I started reading FT.
Right?? Leave me alone so I can consume my media
I agree. I strongly think the Murderbot series and Project Hail Mary are mandatory in audiobook form. Absolutely outstanding, both of them.
This series is my comfort read. I'm not kidding. I read All Systems Red again recently when I was going through some stuff and I wanted to read but my brain just wouldn't allow me to focus on any other book.
I read the audiobook, which was narrated by a guy, even in as agender as he could, you could still tell. It was easy to think of Murderbot's gender as male, rather than Murderbot.
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If it helps, try downloading both Libby and Hoopla. They have different titles available on each even when I'm signed in with the same library card. Or sometimes one will have the audiobook version while the other one doesn't. The method of checking things out is slightly different between them, too (Libby is the one with limited copies available and puts you on waiting lists for popular ones; Hoopla has everything available always but with a limit on how many you can check out every x days).
Apologies if I'm telling you stuff you already know. 🥲 But it might be helpful info for someone out there!
Talk to the librarians, you should be able to pull them from InterLibrary Loan.
The whole series is awesome. https://www.goodreads.com/series/191900-the-murderbot-diaries
While reading all the books, I had this looping in my head: "My name's Murderbot and I care what you think", to the refrain from 21 Pilots, Stressed Out.
Martha did an interview with Elicia and Christopher White on the Embedded Podcast #432 two weeks ago.
Same. Mostly non-gendered, but sometimes thought of it as a 'she'.
> Ted Chiang with some mind-blowing short stories.
He blows me away. His first anthology is from the 90s, but they hold up today, and Story of Your Life hit me hard.
I listened to the audiobooks, and it's a male narrator (Kevin R. Free, fantastic), so I do lean toward the main character being male. But the chosen pronoun is "it" and it makes clear that it has no gender, and really gender is disgusting (LOL).
"No hugs. It's in my contract"
Love the Murderbot Diaries books!
It is so good and you've inspired me to start a re-read!
WELCOME TO MURDERBOT.
They're all amazing and I cannot wait to read the new ones coming out. I think i read the entire series in a week.
Excellent writing, couldn't recommend more.
I really didn't get the hype. It was different and mildly funny but for the most part, it felt very meh. I feel like I'm alone in this
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I listened to the audiobook and Kevin R. Free does an amazing job. The voice did bias me towards thinking of Murderbot as male until they made their deep disgust with the idea of having sex related parts clear. Between the role as a security guard, which scans male to me, and the narrator I can at least understand how I jumped to my conclusion.
I kind of think of those big egg shaped security robots that are around today as male. If they had the capacity, they probably would not appreciate that.
Murderbot would probably prefer we didn't talk about it, though. At all.
Maybe a Combat SecUnit. I imagine that the company would not want the ones that guard many very annoying clients to be "really murderous". Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
This series got me into reading this year from a 4 year dry spell
That's a great name! Give your Security Consultant a skritch from me , please
Every time he reads “narrated by Kevin R. Free” I can’t help but internally comment, “no that’s not grammatically correct, it’s Kevin IS Free”.
I listened to the book as an audiobook and the narrator was male, so I guess I identified with the voice. I didn't even think about it.
Network Effect is the only one I had trouble getting into and had to restart five times over the period of 6 months until I finally got it. Probably because the structure was different due to it being a novel instead of a novella, and my mind kept fighting it.
I loved it! I got through the first 4 I think and then felt like that was good enough. The story felt kinda, I dunno, it felt like intentionally delaying answering questions to prolong the series
I really have to listen to the Murderbot audiobooks. I loved the books, and I loved Kevin R. Free on the Desert Bluffs episodes of Welcome to Night Vale.
Adding Claire North with the 15 first lives of Harry August!!! The writing is on par with A.T.
I usually debate about audiobooks that are not worth the credit but those are really worth it!
Agreed. When my major complaint is that I wish she’d write more (or that they were longer), I guess that means I’m a fan.
Agreed! Read and enjoyed the whole thing, but the pricing is a bit over the top.
I love Murderbot! The whole series is really well done.
If you have a library card from a local and live near a big city, check and see if you are able to double up on cards. My city allows me to use my local card to check books out from them even though they aren’t affiliated.
Agreed with all of this. A great example of making the protagonist competent without making everyone else stupid. And hell, sometimes everyone gets to be competent—I thought the way the group worked on the mystery in book one exemplified this. No one would be a scientist on this mission if they were an idiot.
Nice. Thanks for the recommendation!
Murderbot has been very clear that it does not have and does not want a gender.
Yep. Love Murderbot. Snarkiest protagonist ever.
Same here.
Hey I just did the same thing a few days ago! Got through the entire book in a day and will definitely get the rest of the murderbot series
I want to read this, but the audiobooks using a full credit for such a small part of the series seems very expensive. I’m just gonna keep my eye out for a package deal or something.
I bought all of them as ebooks when they were first released and then as physical hard copies. Now I'm looking for signed editions. I've heard every single book about 10 times each. All Systems Red I've read about 30 times. Perfect series to snuggle up with on an airplane.
You'll like it I think! Moon(protagonist of Cloud Roads) and Murderbot have quite a lot in common!
this book looks like something i would really be interested in! just a quick question in though, does it have any major romance in it that dulls the actual plot of the story? this is a pet peeve of mine, and i find that in so many sci-fi stories i read this is a problem. so, to anyone who has read this book, would you say there is a lot of romance? (also just letting me know the amount of romance in this book would be nice.)
You could also check if your library has them (through Libby/Overdrive or Hoopla). That's how I listened to them.
Murderbot reads pretty strongly as some variety of neurodivergent in my opinion. An intensely well-written character whose blatant awkwardness is relatable rather than off-putting.
Please consider reaching out to your local library or seeing if it is available for you through the mobile app "libby" with your library card. Several libraries also have inter library networks where you can either get materials from neighboring counties or even sign up for other library cards for other jurisdictions in your region. This can expand the ebook and audiobook selection available to you through libby even if you can't physically go to a neighboring county location. Your local librarians will know best how to help if they are able to! Happy reading!!
She appreciates your support in her security endeavors. She enjoys the occasional skritch between patrols of the perimeter because she doesn't trust our station security.
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds is really good.
Murderbot is great!!! I love the whole series. There is a free short story out there as well, set after the 4th novela.
https://www.tor.com/2021/04/19/home-habitat-range-niche-territory-martha-wells/
I also adore her Raksura books as well. Its a very unique world with no humans, just different species all around.
Agree, and for them to be novella length on top of the price... I went to the library for the last few after the sticker shock.
Nope, no romance in Murderbot diaries. Murderbot expressly is disgusted by humans and their squishy love chemicals and parts.
I'm halfway through the last book in the series. Have loved each one of them!
ooh, sounds perfect
I got almost all of them from the local library. I got them on CD, but they also subscribe to a couple audiobook suppliers that allow you to download and listen.
I loved this series. I happily used a credit (Libro) for the one full novel in the series
Thank you for this! I didn't know it existed, and now my night is made!
Thank you! I had missed this completely. I love these stories!
One of my favourite series. I have to convince my reader friends to read it (the fools), so I'm glad to see that many other people love Murberbot as much as I do. Not sure if I should find Murderbot as relatable as I do, lol.
I read the series, it was good but I felt sometimes it wasn’t interesting or I wouldn’t understand what’s going on
I read the first book. Absolutely loved the world building, the characters, the plot, the voice. Everything was great, everything made sense! Last couple pages just dropped it off a cliff for me. Zero desire to read the rest of them. No trust that stubborn little SecUnit won't do it again. Shaking them I'm so happy for everyone who loves it, and I hope as many people as possible pick it up! But it doesn't make me happy, and that's what I need in the books I read now. I don't want to spoil it but if you finished it you know what I'm talking about lmao!!
Don't forget Becky Chambers, taking the genre in a new direction!
I’ve read all the Murderbot material that’s out and I love it
Yes murderbot is so good!!! I had to read them all.
You know, you’re right!! He’s so grumpy lol. I really love him. And Stone.
MURDERBOT!
That may actually be the most fun word in the English language. I want to shout when I say it.
The whole series is terrific.
Great in audio.
That's exactly how I'm doing it, through my online library... FREE!
Like a couple others have said, check your local library. All I had to do was get a library card and then I could check out books and audio books, both, online using the Libby app.
I lost steam with the series, personally. The next two books feel a bit like filler. They aren't bad by any means. But they didn't compel me to press on with the series.
I read the entire series in like 2 weeks. I dont think I've ever related to a character more. I am an introvert and am on the spectrum, and I have always thought of these things as personality defects. I feel like I've spent my entire life learning how to be human. But seeing how likeable Murderbot/Sec unit was, even with an introverted and awkward personality, made me look at myself in a new light. I'm not defective, I'm just different, that's all. I've become much more accepting of my own personality since reading this series. And being accepting of myself has helped improve my relationships with others. Its funny how books change your perspective. I read the first book expecting an exciting scifi adventure, and ended up getting a epiphany about myself.
Im on the spectrum, and I had the same impression.
Perhaps there are multiple Kevi, which are pluralized as "a Kevin"?
You could always read them instead of listening to them too
I'm not on the spectrum (officially), but I've had a few armchair diagnoses claiming I clearly am. I kinda figured that was the reason I related to them so well.
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Sad_King_Billy-19 t1_ivtj68g wrote
I think sci-fi, or at least classic sci-fi, is better in shorter format. I read the rest of the novellas in the series and loved them. when I got to full length novel it never really grabbed me like the others had.