The Murderbot Diaries
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
This slim novella introduces one of the most memorable characters in science fiction. "Murderbot", as it calls itself, is a SecUnit, a mechanical/organic composite android manufactured to guard corporate workers and customers from danger. A governor ensures it will follow orders. Except Murderbot has hacked its governor. It does its job anyway. It would prefer not to get caught and have its mind wiped again. Besides, somebody has to be protecting its clients.
Martha Wells is master world-builder. All Systems Red has the feeling of limitless worlds and cultures that all good space operas should have. But Wells also modernizes and revitalizes the genre. All Systems Red shows a post-cyberpunk future of ubiquitous social media, streaming entertainment and surveillance capitalism. Murderbot's great comfort and its main source of knowledge about human society is binge-watching thousands of hours of serial dramas.
Murderbot is guarding an exploration party of scientists when things start going wrong. It becomes clear that they are under attack, but they have no idea who is attacking them, or why. The only way they can save themselves is by working together. This is not going to be easy. A SecUnit is a thing, not a person. SecUnits are objects of fear in the popular media, always going rogue. Because of that, and because of its own secrets, Murderbot is very anxious around humans.
About all the more I can say is that things move very fast.
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Murderbot has a troubling past. It knows there was a massacre at a mining facility where a SecUnit went rogue and killed a large number of people. It knows it was assigned to that mining facility at the time of the massacre. But its memory was wiped and it does not remember any details. It is concerned that it might have caused the incident. Maybe it tried to hack its governor module before the incident. Is it responsible? Could it happen again? Hitching rides on automated interstellar transports, Murderbot makes its way towards the mining colony where the massacre happened. But the colony is private property. Only authorized workers may get in. And Murderbot is obviously a SecUnit. If it is to uncover the secrets of its past, it is going to need something it has never had before: Friends.
I enjoyed how this book added to the richness of the world-building. There are more insights on the complex political and corporate structures of the future society. There are characters with different cultures and gender signifiers. And there are some significant characters who are AIs and different types of 'bots.
This is the second book in The Murderbot Diaries. It is scheduled to be published on May 8th, 2018. The ARC has a blurb on the cover from Ann Leckie: "I love Murderbot!". I was kind of wondering why some of my friends were spontaneously exclaiming "I love Murderbot!" but then I read the ARC too, and okay, I get it.
There are two more volumes in The Murderbot Diaries:
This entry was originally posted at https://voidampersand.dreamwidth.org/29574.html.
This slim novella introduces one of the most memorable characters in science fiction. "Murderbot", as it calls itself, is a SecUnit, a mechanical/organic composite android manufactured to guard corporate workers and customers from danger. A governor ensures it will follow orders. Except Murderbot has hacked its governor. It does its job anyway. It would prefer not to get caught and have its mind wiped again. Besides, somebody has to be protecting its clients.
Martha Wells is master world-builder. All Systems Red has the feeling of limitless worlds and cultures that all good space operas should have. But Wells also modernizes and revitalizes the genre. All Systems Red shows a post-cyberpunk future of ubiquitous social media, streaming entertainment and surveillance capitalism. Murderbot's great comfort and its main source of knowledge about human society is binge-watching thousands of hours of serial dramas.
Murderbot is guarding an exploration party of scientists when things start going wrong. It becomes clear that they are under attack, but they have no idea who is attacking them, or why. The only way they can save themselves is by working together. This is not going to be easy. A SecUnit is a thing, not a person. SecUnits are objects of fear in the popular media, always going rogue. Because of that, and because of its own secrets, Murderbot is very anxious around humans.
About all the more I can say is that things move very fast.
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Murderbot has a troubling past. It knows there was a massacre at a mining facility where a SecUnit went rogue and killed a large number of people. It knows it was assigned to that mining facility at the time of the massacre. But its memory was wiped and it does not remember any details. It is concerned that it might have caused the incident. Maybe it tried to hack its governor module before the incident. Is it responsible? Could it happen again? Hitching rides on automated interstellar transports, Murderbot makes its way towards the mining colony where the massacre happened. But the colony is private property. Only authorized workers may get in. And Murderbot is obviously a SecUnit. If it is to uncover the secrets of its past, it is going to need something it has never had before: Friends.
I enjoyed how this book added to the richness of the world-building. There are more insights on the complex political and corporate structures of the future society. There are characters with different cultures and gender signifiers. And there are some significant characters who are AIs and different types of 'bots.
This is the second book in The Murderbot Diaries. It is scheduled to be published on May 8th, 2018. The ARC has a blurb on the cover from Ann Leckie: "I love Murderbot!". I was kind of wondering why some of my friends were spontaneously exclaiming "I love Murderbot!" but then I read the ARC too, and okay, I get it.
There are two more volumes in The Murderbot Diaries:
- Rogue Protocol is scheduled to be published in August, 2018.
- Exit Strategy is scheduled to be published in 2018.
This entry was originally posted at https://voidampersand.dreamwidth.org/29574.html.