All Systems Red Archives - Gary David Gillen

Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. All Systems Red (Book 1), Artificial Condition (Book 2), Rogue Protocol (Book 3), and Exit Strategy (Book 4)

Introduction

The Murderbot Diaries are a series of four novellas that complete a self-contained single story. I have reviewed the first novella called All Systems Red. The review is linked to the link section of this review. I will review the other three novellas in this review. The protagonist of the diaries is a SecUnit (Security Unit), a partially organic and partially mechanical cyborg, or as she calls herself a Murderbot.

Summary

Summary of All Systems Red (Book 1)

The story’s complication occurs when they lose contact with the DeltFall Group survey team, the only other survey team assigned to their planet. Dr. Mensah, the leader of the PreservationAux Group, investigates at DeltFall’s habitat despite the SecUnit’s suggestion they leave the investigation to the Company. What they find at the habitat changes their perspective on the Company and on their SecUnit’s behavior.

Summary of Artificial Condition (Book 2)

The SecUnit leaves Dr. Mensah and the PreservationAux Group, but she doesn’t remember all that happened during her contact with the DeltFall Group. She takes passage on a research vessel she names ART. ART has more intelligence than most bot ship drivers and it finds out she is not on a contract. They become friends and ART helps her look more human so she can go back to Ganaka Pit, the place where her memory was purged. What she finds there sends her on a mission to discover the truth behind what happened at Ganaka Pit.

Summary of Rogue Protocol (Book 3)

SecUnit learned from her last mission that the GrayCris corporation was involved in what happened at Ganaka Pit. She takes a transport ship to a planet named Milu to investigate what GrayCris did at a terraforming station they have closed down and sold. SecUnit unravels their plot and looks for incriminating evidence against GrayCris. She is helped on her mission by a bot the humans treat as a pet named Miki.

Summary of Exit Strategy (Book 4)

SecUnit heads back personally give the information she discovered to Dr. Mensah. GrayCris has kidnapped Dr. Mensah to lure SecUnit into a trap.

Recommendation

This is great. The Murderbot Dairies read like a long episodic novel. The action moves and SecUnit is an engaging protagonist. All she wants to do is re-watch episodes of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, but her past intrudes on her watching. Those pesky humans always have to be protected, and she does it well with snark, at least in her inner dialogue. Fortunately, we are there for the ride. I want to read the Murderbot novel, Network Effect, that is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2020.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page for All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32758901-all-systems-red

This is a link to my review of All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Book 1 of The Murderbot Diaries.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

This is the link to the Goodreads page for Network Effect by Martha Wells. It is the Murderbot novel due to be published on May 5, 2020.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47902784-network-effect

Introduction

The SecUnit (Security Unit) for the PreservationAux survey group has hacked and disabled her governor module during her last contract. The hack lets her follow the Company’s programming or to ignore it. She saves Dr. Bharadwaj from certain death from the hostile fauna of the planet where the PersevationAux group has been surveying to decide if they want to bid to the Company on building a colony there. The SecUnit calls herself Murderbot, but never out loud. Her feelings of companionship for her human employers impede her programming. What will she do when an unknown enemy threatens her charges, hide or fight?

Summary

SecUnits are made by the Company and must be used by every survey team for protection. The Company supplies all the materials to each survey team from the lowest bidder, so the materials are unreliable and suspect. SecUnits are half organic and half mechanical, so she is a cyborg. SecUnits are supposed to be perceived by their contractors as autonomous robots. They can be repaired using the MedSystem. She communicates with the HubSystem of the habitat to keep the security of her charges. The story’s complication occurs when they lose contact with the DeltFall Group survey team, the only other survey team assigned to their planet. Dr. Mensah, the leader of the PreservationAux Group, investigates at DeltFall’s habitat despite the SecUnit’s suggestion they leave the investigation to the Company. What they find at the habitat changes their perspective on the Company and on their SecUnit’s behavior.

Recommendation

I loved this story. The action is tight, and the conclusion completes this story. The protagonist has the perfect blend of sarcasm and drive to understand her reasons for existing. She wants to sit back and watch her space soap operas, but her human charges keep getting in the way, making her have feelings she doesn’t understand. She is not the Murderbot she pretends to be and they catch on to her deception. This novella begins her transformation into something else. This story is the first of four novellas in the Murderbot Dairies series. I want to read the other three novellas available and the Murderbot novel that is scheduled to be released in 2020.

This is the link to the book’s Goodreads page.