Hardcover, 256 pages
English language
Published Nov. 14, 2023 by Tordotcom.
Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.
Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.
But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!
Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.
Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.
Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.
But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!
Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.
... and somehow many more characters than in the past. Or feels like it. Still fun, tho.
Suoraa jatkoa Network Effectille, jossa Murhabotti ihmisineen selvitteli siirtokunnan asioita planeetan pinnalla.
Toinen yhtiö ei vaan luovuta vaan haluaa kaikki asukkaat orjatyöläisiksi, mitä Murhabotin ihmiset haluavat estää. Siirtokunnan historiasta selviää uusia asioita ja täytyy lähteä tuntematonta kohti. Murhabotti itse ei ole oikein kunnossa.
Kirja lähti liikkeelle melko täysillä ja selittelemättä. Oli niin paljon erilaisia tunneleita ja hangaareja että vähän jo eksyin niihin. Ehkä ei ihan paras sarjassa.
... and I'm not satisfied and now keep waiting for a new book in this series. What is so fun is the always hard strategical thinking Murderbot and ART and their humans have to do, which always happens because they are always in dire straits because of buccaneering megalarge companies doing their power grabs over humans, other companies, even planets.
Also, because it's fun because Murderbot got rid of its governor module, so it can be free. But the governor module also manages anger, and since it's down, the anger is always up. Beware of ART, who is much bigger than Murderbot, and so he's got much bigger amounts of anger, you know.
And also because it feels like Murderbot is freeing lots of other SecBots everywhere and this might lead to a full stop revolution of SecBots and larger bots as well.
... and I'm not satisfied and now keep waiting for a new book in this series. What is so fun is the always hard strategical thinking Murderbot and ART and their humans have to do, which always happens because they are always in dire straits because of buccaneering megalarge companies doing their power grabs over humans, other companies, even planets.
Also, because it's fun because Murderbot got rid of its governor module, so it can be free. But the governor module also manages anger, and since it's down, the anger is always up. Beware of ART, who is much bigger than Murderbot, and so he's got much bigger amounts of anger, you know.
And also because it feels like Murderbot is freeing lots of other SecBots everywhere and this might lead to a full stop revolution of SecBots and larger bots as well.
Murderbot just has near infinite potential as a character. It's multiprocessing nature makes the stories complex but so rich, I feel like starting the whole series again now to pick up the bits I missed.
Murderbot just has near infinite potential as a character. It's multiprocessing nature makes the stories complex but so rich, I feel like starting the whole series again now to pick up the bits I missed.
I continue to love the Murderbot series. By this point, the action parts have lost impact because there's too much precedent for how they're going to turn out, so I think it's wise of Wells to play that part down a bit in this book, in favour of a story more about persuasion and trust building. And the ongoing saga of Murderbot learning about both its limits and capabilities continues to be one of the most relatable arcs in SF/F.
I continue to love the Murderbot series. By this point, the action parts have lost impact because there's too much precedent for how they're going to turn out, so I think it's wise of Wells to play that part down a bit in this book, in favour of a story more about persuasion and trust building. And the ongoing saga of Murderbot learning about both its limits and capabilities continues to be one of the most relatable arcs in SF/F.
This seventh Murderbot story is a direct sequel, a part 2 even, to Network Effect, which was not actually the previous book published. So if it's been a couple years since you read Network Effect, it's worth doing a quick reread before starting this one as there are a lot of references to the events in that book which will be hard to keep track of unless it's fairly fresh in your memory. Or at least read a plot summary somewhere.
That said, Network Effect did seem to leave a lot of questions unanswered at the end, so getting a part 2 is wonderful and learning a bit more about ART and the organization ART is part of were an extra treat. I ended this book wanting an entire side series about Three and where they end up. Another satisfying Murderbot treat!
This seventh Murderbot story is a direct sequel, a part 2 even, to Network Effect, which was not actually the previous book published. So if it's been a couple years since you read Network Effect, it's worth doing a quick reread before starting this one as there are a lot of references to the events in that book which will be hard to keep track of unless it's fairly fresh in your memory. Or at least read a plot summary somewhere.
That said, Network Effect did seem to leave a lot of questions unanswered at the end, so getting a part 2 is wonderful and learning a bit more about ART and the organization ART is part of were an extra treat. I ended this book wanting an entire side series about Three and where they end up. Another satisfying Murderbot treat!
Oh my [REDACTED] god, it was just too short.
System Collapse is the direct sequel to Network Effect (Book 5), therefore, it is highly recommended to review it prior to diving into this one. There is no introductory summary, and initially there are characters aplenty that would make you feel confused if you've totally forgotten the previous story.
Murderbot is having more feels, even if it doesn't like it. It continues bonding with more humans, and consuming digital media on the side to help it cope with everything going on. We still see it analyzing and overcoming the many situations it gets into (or rather dragged into by its humans), but it is struggling as it bears the weight of the recent events.
This new story has a more introspect and trauma-overcoming tone compared to Fugitive Telemetry's murder mystery and the action-focused Network Effect, but the action scenes are still there and still great.
The series has been really …
System Collapse is the direct sequel to Network Effect (Book 5), therefore, it is highly recommended to review it prior to diving into this one. There is no introductory summary, and initially there are characters aplenty that would make you feel confused if you've totally forgotten the previous story.
Murderbot is having more feels, even if it doesn't like it. It continues bonding with more humans, and consuming digital media on the side to help it cope with everything going on. We still see it analyzing and overcoming the many situations it gets into (or rather dragged into by its humans), but it is struggling as it bears the weight of the recent events.
This new story has a more introspect and trauma-overcoming tone compared to Fugitive Telemetry's murder mystery and the action-focused Network Effect, but the action scenes are still there and still great.
The series has been really relatable to me so far, and this is no exception. I continuously see glimpses of my own experiences and inner monologues in Murderbot. This one went a bit deeper though. I also have a diary where I've redacted a traumatic event that I tend to not think or talk about, and I had to learn how to process it. I don't blame Murderbot for not knowing how to process things; I'm human and I don't know how to process 90% of my emotions (yeah, I just had my performance reliability drop by 4 points). This read left me feeling emotions so I'm going to the couch to process them in private.
I'm really glad to have given the whole series a read over the last couple of months 🤖💜
