Network Effect

Written by Martha Wells

Narrated by Kevin R. Free

Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot series exploded onto the scene in 2017, and the world has not been the same, since.

Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel, Network Effect.
You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century.

—
I’m usually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are.
When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
Drastic action it is, then.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980021711

Martha Wells

Martha Wells is the author of five previous novels: The Wizard Hunters, the first book of the Fall of Ile-Rien, The Element of Fire, City of Bones, Wheel of the Infinite, and The Death of the Necromancer, which was nominated for the Nebula Award. She lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband.

Reviews for Network Effect

[Becky Baumgartner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love the plot twists and crazy ideas Murderbot has. Listening to this was challenging because of several similar-sounding character's names (not narrator's fault) which were hard to keep straight at times.

[tuusannuuska-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I will never not love Murderbot. This series is just perfect scifi for me and I wish it never ends.
---
Upon re-read I've realised that Murderbot is my emotional support SecUnit. Such a comforting series for some bizarre reason.

[Delia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It’s just an over all great series, while this one is not as fastpaced as the other four it has more character development. Therefore it was a different read than the other ones but I still liked it very much and I loved to see how murderbots relationships develope.

[S Sri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reads easily, lots of action. Didn't understand it completely. Echoes of'the southern reach' trilogy.

[Marcin Bukiewicz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent. I'm waiting for next part. I hope it will not be to long.

[Caterina Trench Vidale · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Phenomenal. Loved it even more than the previous books in the series <3

[Alex · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love this series, loved this book, and the narration made it easy to tell characters apart.

[Dixiane Hallaj · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved the character development. It took a while for me to get into the story, but the characters soon hooked me. Great story line and original world building. Can’t wait to hear more.

[Helen Taft · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not me crying over a friendship between AIs. I’ve grown to care for so many of these characters - I don’t know what I’m going to go when I’ve listened to the next one and have to wait for more to be written!

[kelly imamura · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Character development, plot twists and world building. Murderbot is fascinating. Whole series is great.

[James Oliver - Evolved Toaster · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book ? one of the better ones out of the series. Loved it!

[Billie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Network Effect
by Martha Wells
(The Murderbot Diaries)
Science Fiction
Scribd Audio

Finally a NOVEL, not a short story! Murderbot accompanies his human associates on what is supposed to be an innocent research trip, but they get attacked by a ship that is familiar to Murderbot, and it, along with a few humans, find themselves abducted, and taken through a wormhole. On board this familiar ship there are gray humanoids demanding the weapon and malware-type programming that had killed the ship and a few humans.

Antisocial introverts, you can't help but relate to Murderbot within all of these pages and descriptions. I couldn't wait to find out how they were going to get out of the situation.

Even the narrator seemed as if he was having fun reading it. I am positive that if I'd been reading it, I would've gotten through it faster.

I am in love with Murderbot. The almost perfect hero.

4 Stars

[AJ Jaegli · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A masterpiece. A culmination of the preceding novellas and a return to beloved characters. This book really delved into the relationships Murderbot has developed since the first and expanded on them (and added some more). It really explores what Murderbot wants to do in life and the plot is still as fast and engaging as usual with fights and mysteries to carry you along! Personally, I thought it was even better than the novellas and can't wait to read more.

[Valerie Bok · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very entertaining. I enjoyed the longer format of this novel.

[Mari Melting · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Murderbot rocks. Make sure you read the novellas in order to get the most from the series as there are reoccurring characters. So happy the next instalment is available on Scribd.

[Alaina Sveen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing series. One of the best sci fi series. A bit of comedy, some good world building.

[Jonathan Thomas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing listen really loved the plot lines. Thank you.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This fifth book in the Murderbot Series is the first full-length novel. It is a good idea to read the previous books first, since this one picks up plot points covered previously. It is a mystery-adventure set in space. The reason I am reading this series is that I particularly enjoy the main character, the SEC Unit, as it gains independence and develops a “personality.” There are some great observations about human nature, pointed out in a humorous way by the SEC Unit as an impartial observer. The novel-length format allows the author to further develop the character, adding nuances and complexities. I rarely read books in a series, but I am very much enjoying this one.

[lisa marianne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The narrator is excellent in bringing the characters to life. It's the subtle cues and pauses that reflect the conflicted personality of Murderbot. The novel is wonderful, but the experience of it is enhanced with the narration.

[Rian K · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read an early copy of this in February and am glad to see some small changes were made. Does it matter? No. Cuz I still fucking love this series.

[Nick Landry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After rating the first four novellas at 4 stars for the weak need-to-know worldbuilding and the overpriced-novella-scheme, I can finally rate this one 5 stars. It's a full book, it didn't feel rushed, it went into greater detail, and it connected the dots on many things introduced in Artificial Condition, including ART's true purpose. The world building was still need-to-know, but this book went into greater detail on many things about the Corporate Rim by introducing us to another Corp that wasn't GrayCris, so that was much better. We also got to learn more about Preservation and the other non-Mensah humans, who no longer felt faceless.

I also loved the novelty of introducing other SecUnits / copies and using the first person narration for them too. That was a new touch and it worked. 5 stars for that too as it was not just a rehash of novellas 1-4.

[comfypants · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A 2020 novel, book 5 in The Murderbot Diaries.Murderbot & friends are kidnapped by people with alien technology.B+ (Very good).I liked this better than the novellas, mostly just because the full-length novel format works better for telling this sort of story. It does have some major faults, such as pivotal moments revolving around computer hacking. And the way the secondary characters are periodically swapped out for new ones makes me wonder if it wasn't originally conceived of as another series of novellas.(Nov. 2022)

[beserene · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Murderbot series: Honestly, the greatest thing since the novella renaissance began -- and even this, the fifth in the series and the only full novel -- is freaking great. I read and reread these books all the time. Murderbot, a sentient security construct just trying to get along (and watch TV) in a world where few people treat it as a person, has one of the best and most distinct voices in science fiction, period. And is a highly relatable character. Which is saying something, considering that it calls itself Murderbot for a reason. If you like sci-fi at all, you should have read these already. If you don't, read them anyway. Trust me. (But start with the first one or you'll be very confused.)

[macfiar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This series is so amazing. I cried twice while reading this book and laughed about a dozen times. I love these stories and hope Ms. Wells never stops writing them.

[Nick Ward · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic follow on from the original Murderbot Diaries storyline. The same wry humorous narration of a story blending elements of political space opera and hard s.f.
Longer and less episodic than the original four novellas, which lets it develop slightly more complex story and character arcs.
Plus Kevin R Free still makes a great voice actor match for murderbot.

[Mónica Eloisa Valbuena Ruiz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This series keeps getting better and better. ART + Muderbot 5EVER

[Melanie Rojas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it! It was everything I want in a murderbot story.

[Stacey Richardson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Always fun. Great main character. Good escapist read what with everything going on

[anniene · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this series.
The narrator is great!
So happy that this one is so much longer, and looking forward to the next one.
Read/listen to them in order if you can.
The development of the relationships develop over each book.

Because murderbot is non-gendered, wouldn't it be cool if they also recorded these all in a femme voice, too? Or if they had been recorded in an androgynous voice from the beginning? Then I wouldn't have an orientation to murderbot being male.

I think this is an important consideration. Murderbot is not a guy!

But I do think Kevin R Free does an amazing job with this narration, and I'm glad he has done all the books.
???

[eitanhalevy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was prepared for this to be idiotic. The premise and the goofy (Murderbot) title both intrigued and repelled me. I'm so glad I gave it a try. It's a thoroughly literarily modern take in iRobot, with all the world building of any good sci-fi, and the exploration of what it means to be human through the experience of a 'nearly-human' character. This achieved a level of complexity I was not expecting, and had me laughing out loud occasionally throughout. If you like science fiction at all you'll like this.