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System Collapse by Martha Wells

System Collapse, Murderbot Diaries 7 by Martha Wells

Science Fiction

Expected Release: November 14, 2023BASE__COVER-OF

4/5*

Available Formats: Coming Soon

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.

 

7 books into The Murderbot Diaries, we finally get some fairly major character development from its protagonist. Murderbot has a pretty good grasp on the human concepts of anger and sarcasm and employs them regularly. In this installment they learn something new: fear. They don’t want to go down the long, dark corridor where who knows what is lurking. They’re terrified of what could happen to them, not just their team.

This new version of Murderbot is a very welcome one. A sci-fi version of the old Western and Samurai tradition, Murderbot usually finds a mission rescuing helpless humans and rides off into the sunset. Over the past few installments, they have begun amassing a group of people they care about. Familiar faces appear throughout the novella: Dr. Mensah, Pin-Lee, Amena, along with new ones from ART’s crew. It provides a nice addition to the old formula, allowing us to care just a bit more than we did early on.

Several books in this series could just be picked up without having read the previous titles, but this is not one of them. One really does need a good grasp on the world Wells has built along with the characters we’ve come to know to be able to enjoy this one. If you’re already a Murderbot fan, be sure to pick this one up. If you’re new to the series, you’re gonna have to go back to the beginning.

For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.