Publishers Weekly
09/18/2023
By this point, seven books into bestselling Hugo Award winner Wells’s Murderbot series (after Fugitive Telemetry), readers come mostly for more snark from Murderbot, the killer robot with a heart of gold who narrates. So, though the mission the sassy, sentient Security Unit is sent out on this time breaks no new ground, fans won’t mind. Still as brutally honest as ever, Murderbot is now inexplicably acting below performance reliability parameters. It must figure out the issue and repair itself while on a mission to rescue the human settlers of a newly colonized planet from the Barish-Estranza corporation’s attempts to exploit them as slave labor. To convince these isolated colonists to trust Murderbot’s human crew over the corporate goons, Murderbot and its frenemy ART (Asshole Research Transport) decide to create a propaganda video using all the things they’ve learned about human emotions from watching television, especially Murderbot’s favorite space soap, Sanctuary Moon. The plot feels familiar and therefore somewhat unexciting, but Wells has turned a corner in her characterization of Murderbot as its human side shows more and more. This is a solid episode for the beloved android. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
A Finalist for the Locus Award!
An Indie Next Pick!
A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Pick!
“If you need something light, a little violent and laugh-out-loud hilarious, dive into this series: You may find that you have more in common with Murderbot than you think.” —Liz Braswell, The Wall Street Journal
“Readers won't miss the wall-to-wall action that defined the series from its beginning. The characters and the world building remain engrossing and rewarding.” —Booklist, starred review
Praise for The Murderbot Diaries
“I love Murderbot!” —Ann Leckie
“The most heartwarming action-packed literally explosive space opera I've enjoyed in a long time. Martha Wells is the best writer of loveable snarky gender-subversive killing machines out there!” —N. K. Jemisin
“We are all a little bit Murderbot.”—NPR
“I might have a little bit of a thing for a robot. Its name is Murderbot... Network Effect [is] great.” —Wired
“I can think of no better company than this paranoid android.” —The New Scientist
“Murderbot, with its on-point observations and addictive interior monologues, is easily one of my favorite characters in SF... Highly recommended.” —Charles de Lint for Fantasy & Science Fiction
“I could read about Murderbot all week.” —Locus
Library Journal
09/01/2023
As readers drop into Murderbot's head for this seventh outing, after Fugitive Telemetry, Murderbot is having a long-running crisis of confidence. It's Murderbot's own system that seems to be collapsing. But its humans are in the midst of a delicate negotiation between colonial factions, with a rival corporation waiting nefariously in the wings, and Murderbot's degraded performance is going to get its humans killed—unless it can find a way to think very far outside its box while on the run from corporate SecUnits out to eliminate them all. As with previous entries in "The Murderbot Diaries," the story rides or dies on the cynical, snarky voice of Murderbot itself. But this time around that voice is hiding so much from itself that the story sputters a bit until the antihero pushes past its panic attack and gets its SecUnit skills firmly back online. Then it's a race against time and corporate skullduggery to save its humans and the colonists from the consequences of their own stupidity. Again. VERDICT Recommended for Murderbot's legion of fans and for readers who love cynical antiheroes of all types.—Marlene Harris
DECEMBER 2023 - AudioFile
What happens when Murderbot has a mental breakdown and can no longer reliably perform its duties? Kevin R. Free narrates the latest installment in the Murderbot Diaries. In a story taking place immediately after NETWORK EFFECT, Murderbot, ART, and their associated humans continue to assist colonists on a planet marked for corporate salvage. Free's depiction of Murderbot's unresolved mental trauma is harrowing, revealing just how agonizing that struggle is. Murderbot is robustly supported on its journey by ART, and while Free's portrayal is as sarcastic as ever, ART also comes across as suspiciously supportive. While digging into memories is upsetting, Free gives Murderbot a surprising amount of dignity as it does so. The highlight of Free's performance is meeting Holism, ART's rival and frenemy. K.M.P. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
