I’m still in love with Murderbot…
I started the Murderbot Diaries series with Fugitive Telemetry, which was, back then, the latest book in the series. But I fell in love with Murderbot anyway, even though starting at the end can be problematic. However, having started with Fugitive Telemetry, which really WAS a murder mystery set on a space station, I assumed that that the whole series would be like that. So, when I received a review copy of the newest book in the series, System Collapse, I kept waiting for the dead body. But there wasn’t one! Once I figured that out, though, and also learned that System Collapse more directly follows the second previous book, Network Effect, rather going in strict publication order, I was able to get into System Collapse too.
On its surface, System Collapse is an adventure/thriller set on a “possibly-alien-contaminated lost colony planet”. (We all know how much Murderbot loves planets…) And it can be read simply on that level and be a lot of fun.
But in my opinion, a couple of the best things, one trivial and one not, about this series are Murderbot’s fine touch in snark (unserious, but awesome), and Murderbot’s ongoing growth as an independent actor with feelings (serious stuff). Emotions can be both good and bad however, and therein hangs a good chunk of the real story as Murderbot works through events from the past – and also shows a fine touch of avoidance from time-to-time with its “media consumption habit”. And, of course, Murderbot also has to simultaneously fight the bad guys and keep its humans/friends alive. In the end, things work out for the good guys: the nasty Barish-Estranza corporation gets a major boop on the nose, and Murderbot may or may not have started a Sec Unit revolution.
If I had any complaint about System Collapse it would be that author Martha Wells doesn’t provide enough (any?) background information, and even though I had read the previous book, I was still a bit lost at the beginning. As with Wells’ Witch King, though, once I figured out what was going on, I loved it. So, here on my blog, where I can give partial stars, I’m giving it 4 ½, with just a minor ding for my confusion at the beginning. And finally, I really hope the next book is coming soon, and my thanks to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy.
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