Fugitive Telemetry

By Martha Wells

The New York Times bestselling security droid with a heart (though it wouldn't admit it!) is back in Fugitive Telemetry!

Having captured the hearts of readers across the globe (Annalee Newitz says it's "one of the most humane portraits of a nonhuman I've ever read") Murderbot has also established Martha Wells as one of the great SF writers of today.

No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

A standalone adventure in the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning series!

The Murderbot Diaries
All Systems Red
Artificial Condition
Rogue Protocol
Exit Strategy
Network Effect
Fugitive Telemetry
System Collapse


At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Apr 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781250765383

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.

Book preview

Chapter One

THE DEAD HUMAN WAS lying on the deck, on their side, half curled around. A broken feed interface was scattered under the right hand. I’ve seen a lot of dead humans (I mean, a lot) so I did an initial scan and compared the results to archived data sets, like human body temperatures vs. ambient temperature, lividity, and various other really disgusting things involving fluids that happen when humans die. This was all data I still had in longterm storage. The comparison let me estimate a time of death. I said, Four hours, approximately.

Dr. Mensah exchanged a look with Senior Officer Indah. Dr. Mensah’s expression was dry. Senior Indah looked annoyed, but then she always looked like that when I was around. She said, How do you know?

I converted my scan data, my query, and the comparison results into a report that humans could read and sent it to her feed address, with a copy to Mensah. Indah blinked, her gaze turning preoccupied as she read it. Mensah acknowledged the report as received, but kept watching Indah, one eyebrow raised. (I was still using scan and visual to examine the scene, but I had a task group of my new intel drones circling above my head, supplying me with video.)

We were in a junction in the Preservation Station mall, a circular space where three small corridors met, one a short passage that led through to a large secondary main corridor: the Trans Lateral Bypass. (All the corridors here had names, a Preservation tradition that was only mildly annoying.) This was not a well-traveled junction, whatever its name was; it was mostly a shortcut to get from a residential area to a work area. (On this station there was no separation between transient spaces and longterm station housing like on stations in the Corporation Rim, but that wasn’t even close to being the weirdest thing about Preservation.)

This junction, and Preservation Station in general, were also weird places for humans to get killed; the threat assessment for both transients and station residents was low anyway, and mostly involved accidents and cases of intoxication-related stupidity/aggression in the port area. In this specific junction, threat assessment for accidental death was even lower, close to null. There was nothing here except the lights in the high ceiling and the standard silver-blue textured wall panels, marked with some old graffiti and drawings that were actually being preserved as part of a station-wide history exhibit. I guess if you were really determined, you could find a way to get yourself killed by exposing the power connectors under the panels and shielding and, I don’t know, licking them or something, but this dead human clearly hadn’t.

The full station threat assessment for murder was sitting at a baseline 7 percent. (To make it drop lower than that we’d have to be on an uninhabited planet.) (I’ve never been on a contract on an uninhabited planet because if I was on the planet on a contract then we’d be inhabiting it.) You never found dead humans lying around on the floor like this.

Well, Indah began, having finally finished reading the report. (I know, it takes humans forever.) I don’t know how accurate this is—

Another security person walked in, one of the techs who normally worked on checking cargo shipments for biohazards, feed ID Tural. They said, Our scan analysis says the victim’s been dead for about four hours.

Indah sighed. Tech Tural, who had obviously expected this information to be greeted a little more enthusiastically, was confused.

ID? I said. The dead human’s interface was broken so I couldn’t pull anything off it. If whoever did it had been trying to conceal the dead human’s identity, were they naively optimistic? Preservation Station kept an identity record and body scan for permanent residents and every disembarking transient passenger, so it shouldn’t be that hard to run an identity check. Known associates?

Tural glanced at Indah and she nodded for them to answer. They said, There was no subcutaneous marker or clip or augment or anything else with ID. We’ve done an initial search on recent arrival passenger lists using physical details, but couldn’t come up with anything. At Indah’s dissatisfied expression, Tural added, Without an interface, we have to wait until Medical gets here to do the body scan so we can try to match it with the visitor entry logs.

Indah said, And Medical isn’t here yet because…?

Tural’s face formed an anticipatory wince. It’s preventative health check day at the school and the bot who normally does the mobile body scan is busy with that? It has to move the mobile medical suite they use?

Humans do the make it a question so it doesn’t sound so bad thing and it still sounds bad.

Indah did not look pleased. Mensah’s mouth twitched in an I would like to say things but I am not going to way. Indah said, Did you tell them this was an emergency?

Tural said, Yes, but they said it was an emergency until the onsite medic pronounced the person dead/unrevivable, after that it went to the end of the list of non-emergency things they have to do.

Preservation has to make everything complicated. And that’s not a metaphor for my experience here. Okay, yes, it is a metaphor.

Indah’s jaw went tight. This is a murder. If whoever did this kills someone else—

Mensah cut her off. I’ll call them and explain that it’s not an accidental death, and yes, it is an emergency and we need them here now. She looked toward the body again, her brow furrowed. The council closed the port and deployed the responder as soon as we got the alert, but are you certain this person is—was—a visitor and not a resident?

The responder was the armed ship currently on picket duty, discouraging raiders from approaching the station and rendering assistance as needed to local and transient shipping. With the port closed, it would be out there keeping any docked or undocked transports from leaving until the council ordered otherwise.

Tural admitted, Actually no, Councilor. We’re just guessing that they’re a visitor.

I see. Mensah’s expression was not critical, but I can tell you the face she was making did not indicate that she thought Tural or Indah or anybody in the immediate area was doing a great job. It was obvious Station Security was out of its collective depth here. (At least it was obvious to me.)

Indah must have known that too because she rubbed the bridge of her nose like her head hurt. She was short for a Preservation human, a little lighter brown than Mensah and maybe a little older, but with a solid square build that looked like she could punch someone pretty effectively. That probably wasn’t why she was senior security officer, which was more of an admin job. She told Tural, Just keep trying to make an ID.

Tural left with the air of escaping before things got worse. Mensah’s eyebrow was still aimed at Indah and it was getting pointed. (Not really. It’s hard to describe, you had to see it.) Indah made a hands-flung-in-the-air gesture and said, Fine, let’s go talk about this.

Mensah led us away from the incident scene and out to the Trans Lateral Bypass. It was wide, with a high arched ceiling that projected a series of holo views of the planet’s surface as if you were looking up through a transparent port. It was an offshoot of the main station mall, a thoroughfare to a section of service offices, with branches into supply areas. Traffic was minimal here right now, but a bot that worked for the station was out with a glowing baton, directing humans, augmented humans, and drone delivery floaters away from the junction entrance and Station Security’s equipment. The group of security officers standing there tried to pretend they weren’t watching us. Mensah’s two council assistants who had walked down with us were watching the security officers critically.

The bot could have engaged a privacy shield but Mensah and Indah just stepped behind a large plant biome with giant paddle-shaped leaves that was screening the entrance to a food service place. (A feed marker in multiple languages and a colorful sign in Preservation Standard Nomenclature indicated it was called Starchy Foods!!! and noted that it was closed for its cycle rest period.)

It was relatively private, but I had my drones scan for any attempt to focus a listening device on us. Indah faced me and asked, You have experience at this?

Watching her via the drones, I kept my gaze on the Starchy Foods!!! sign, which had little dancing figures around it which I guess were supposed to be starchy foods. I said, With dead humans? Sure.

Mensah’s pointed eyebrow was now aimed at me. She tapped my feed for a private connection. I secured it and she sent, Do you think this is GrayCris?

Ugh, maybe? Right now all we had was an anomalous death with no indication of a connection to Mensah or any of my other humans that GrayCris might want to target. I told her, I don’t have enough data to make an assessment yet.

Understood. Then she added, I want you to work on this with Station Security. Even if it isn’t anything to do with our corporate problems, it’s a good opportunity for you.

Double ugh. I told her, They don’t want me. (Hey, I don’t want me, either, but I’m stuck with me.) And it would be easier for me to investigate on my own, particularly if my investigations led to me having to do things like disposing of abruptly dead GrayCris agents.

(No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall, for fuck’s sake.)

She said, If you want to stay in the Preservation Alliance, improving your relationship with Station Security will help immeasurably. This might lead to them hiring you as a consultant.

Mensah didn’t usually take the this is for your own good, you idiot tone, so the fact that she had meant she really thought it was a good idea. Also, I’m not an idiot, I knew she was right. But it wasn’t like I could leave Preservation yet, anyway, even if I didn’t like it and it didn’t like me. My threat assessments were still rising steadily. (I had an input on my threat assessment module continuously now so I could get real-time updates instead of just checking it periodically, and yes, it was a constant source of irritation because it reacted to everything. No, it was not helping my anxiety. But it was

Reviews for Fugitive Telemetry

[comfypants · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A 2021 novella, book 6 in The Murderbot Diaries.Murderbot assists with a murder investigation.B (Good).I guess Murderbot is a cop now? I was entertained, but this is definitely a step backwards for the series.(Dec. 2022)

[rakerman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's ok. Chronologically it is set after #4 Exit Strategy and before the novel #5 Network Effect.It's a standalone novella with Murderbot improbably playing the role of detective on Preservation Station.Unlike Network Effect it does feel very much stylistically like a Murderbot book. But I would only read it if you really want more of the character.

[beserene · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fugitive Telemetry is Murderbot #6 and is the only one that almost stands alone, though of course I think everyone should read the whole wonderful series. This installment has a strong mystery plot and the usual delightful snark along with it from our POV character. Wells has written, frankly, the best voice in science fiction here and I love every bit of this series; this might not be the strongest volume of them all, but it's just as enjoyable as the rest.

[terran_9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Murderbot is back and dealing with humans in a more understanding way. Still complaining and sarcastic and wanting only to watch its own media feeds, but seeming to gain a bit of patience. It is assigned to help Preservation planet security solve an unusual case of murder. Unusual because the planet has only a 7% chance of a murder ever being committed on it. Murderbot (aka SecUnit) cooperates to a large extent and impresses the security leaders in spite of itself.

[jscape2000 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A tidy detective story. It felt unmoored from the larger narrative arc of the previous books, which was fine. Not so good that I'd recommend someone start reading here and then go back for book 1, but a solid addition that underscored a few motifs that have been hinted at in previous books: the universe is big, and the residents of Preservation colony know very little about it; the hyper-capitalist system of companies is corrupt; Murderbot is not the only person in the universe who would like to break free of the companies' governance.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good entry in the Murderbot series, with more mystery and less action than the other books.

[dbsovereign · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wells' books featuring Murderbot are all fun - this one a bit overridden by specialized robot speak at times, but still an action-packed, very cinematic book. The story takes a back seat to the central character AI who has an ingrained aversion to humans and would rather be catching up on his shows. The character reminds me a little bit of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe who would rather be playing with his orchids. Lots of tongue-in-cheek humor.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So far, Murderbot has never disappointed me -- not in snarky dialogue, not in adventure, not in mystery or awkward friendships and this episode is no exception. I admit the full length novel has whetted my appetite for longer adventures, but there are some really interesting seeds for new relationships in this novella.

Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.

[luminous4path · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A perfectly cromulent novella. The refugee angle was fresh. The mystery kept me guessing. Murderbot is growing as a...person? and I liked the development of its relationship of mutual suspicion with Senior Indah. I missed Dr. Mensah and, of course, ART.

[fred_mouse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Murderbot continues to be their own prickly self. A very strange murder leads through some twisty plotting. The murderer becomes apparent about halfway through the story, although the What and the Why take longer.

[lavaturtle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fun, short one-off Murderbot adventure. I like the worldbuilding around Preservation and the outside world, and the cast of characters who are often more than they appear.

[monnibo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

We love Murderbot. Book 6 in the series sees our intrepid SecUnit joining the team to solve a murder on Preservation Station. I liked how stand-alone the adventure was (only loosely connected to the previous conflicts), and how much emotional character growth there was for Murderbot.

[paulmorriss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like to read series in order, but I jumped in to this one after only ever reading the first, and it still made sense. There may have been references to previous books, but I could follow along without knowing them. Muderbot still has the same sarcastic attitude, and the murder-mystery plot keeps you reading.

[streamsong_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the sixth in the series of Murderbot novels.Murderbot is an enhanced not-human not-robot AI super Security Unit. He’s a snarky independent thinker and is the only one of his kind that has gained his freedom as an independent being.As this novel begins, he and his Mensah colleagues are on a Preservation station when a human body is found.Murderbot has agreed to work security on the station and to try to get to the bottom of the murder. As humans fear and distrust SecUnits, he is forbidden to access the stations’s security recordings. This makes his task much more difficult but he’s a keeping-his-promises kind of guy so he does it.Murderbot turns from his usual protecting-by-combat role to super sleuth. As his favorite non-duty pastime is watching video show feeds, he has a backlog of detection shows to teach him. At the same time, he continues to juggle his growing relationships with both humans and non-humans and explore what it means to be both and neither in his snarky, hilarious way.

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After the previous novel in the series, I was expecting this book to be on ART, and I was at first disappointed. That disappointment evaporated quickly.
Murderbot Holmes, is this cozy mystery set in space. Hell no it's Murderbot and now he's solving mysteries. This may well be my favorite entry in the series since the first. I love that he gets most of his investigative skills from entertainment video's.

The only part that I dislike is that Murderbot is still being treated unfairly by the humans, many of which he's saved. But I think by the end at least

Indah the head of station security knows more about Murderbot and I believe is starting to warm towards him, as she invites him to take part in future "weird" cases. I'd love to see more of that in the future.

This entry also confirms that I think Murderbot works best in the novella format at least it does for me.

[amkitty-511462 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

MurderBot is back and still adapting to life as a ... well, sentient not-human on Preservation Station, working for itself as security for its not-friends. To keep occupied while awaiting recognition as a being with rights instead of a piece of equipment, MurderBot contracts as a consultant to station security to solve a murder. But first, it must overcome the suspicions and prejudices of its new clients. Oh, and keep its identity concealed from other station inhabitants to prevent mass panic and hysteria. If that’s not tricky enough, all these new challenges must be overcome without hacking into station security feeds as part of the contract work with Preservation Station Security. MurderBot successfully manages its anger and any relationship emotions well enough to keep its contract and solve the murder. In fact, there seem to be a few new not-friends on the horizon. Another installment in the education of MurderBot about what is required to navigate the uncomfortably emotional world of humans when its own abilities far exceed those of its teachers in everything except humanity.

[bdartnall_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great installment - interesting character development: Murderbot has become even more sarcastic and a bit more profane? but we can see the slow transformation from SecUnit to his more "human" side.

[cataloger623 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Marath Wells is able to combine genres I have learned to enjoy. This is at its heart a murder mystery and its set in the future. I love the principle character Murderbot and his view of humanity. This is a special book.

[bibliovermis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The publisher plot descriptions for the Murderbot books make them seem like they might be flippant, irony-fueled, shallow (to quote one deeply inadequate description, "pew-pew") space fight books. But that's not really the vibe at all! They're certainly funny and action-packed, but they're also fundamentally kind, intriguing space mysteries with a deeply traumatized but entirely badass robot narrator. I care so much about Murderbot.

[ftbooklover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Murderbot discovers a human who has been murdered on Preservation Station, it becomes involved in the investigation to find out who committed the murder. Even though it has saved the life of Mensah more than once, the security team is leary of having Murderbot participate in the investigation, but it isn't long before they realize that its presence is necessary.

Fugitive Telemetry is another good entry in The Murderbot Diaries series. The only real disappointment is that this book isn't full length as the last one was, but the mystery story was fully developed and Murderbot once again displays its usual sarcasm and snark as it tries to solve the crime while making sure Mensah is safe from GrayCris and making her proud of its efforts. Overall, Fugitive Telemetry provides another look into the world of Murderbot, which is always a joy.

[antao-3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“[…] And the humans on the station wouldn’t have to think about what I was, a construct made of cloned human tissue, augments, anxiety, depression, and unfocused rage, a killing machine for whichever humans rented me, until I made a mistake and got my brain destroyed by my governor module.”In “Fugitive Telemetry” by Martha Wells Take “The Mars Trilogy” as an example: Frederic Jameson's former student, mixes hard-science research with lit-crit in-joking (check how long the deluge at the end of "Red Mars" lasts against 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', for example) and takes time to show characters completely changing their opinions and allegiances. Not perfect but it shows what's available to any writer willing to do the homework and think through what it would be like. Each change has consequences, and those consequences affect each other and the people living through it. This is what marks SF out from the work of writers who use a borrowed trope and plonk it into an otherwise orthodox novel (e.g. “Never Let Me Go”, in which technical advances that could completely rewrite our world were there in the 1950s and altered one small detail of middle class normality to “Make A Point About Class In England”). I always argue that Doctor Who (although it's execution is admittedly often far from perfect) shows us pretty much the perfect genre a work can fall into, namely, one where the characters can go anywhere and do anything; however, I generally feel that space operas are where we see these sorts of ideas best demonstrated, as anyone who as ever watched Cowboy Bebop or the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Picard visits his brother's vineyard (and maybe as much as 5 minutes of anything happens that definitely involves the captain of a starship visiting home rather than the captain of a 20th century naval vessel) will be able to tell you.At the end of the day, however, quality defies genre, medium, setting and all. In amongst my favourite works of fiction you'll find stage plays about being earnest, animated television series in which being Meduka Meguca is suffering, radio plays about a man in slippers and a dressing gown escaping earth before its destruction and meeting a clinically depressed android, video games about graffiti artists fighting a corrupt police force, and books about the heirs to a vast fortune trying to escape from unfortunate events.The way things are looking we'll probably get some form of confirmation of what SF readers have been saying for decades, that the brain processes SF prose differently from most other forms (it's a line that's been coming up in various places - John EO Stevens has a good summary of the neurology and reader-response theory involved but I can't find a link right now.) SF exists, as has been said many times in many ways, at the level of the sentence and is as much as anything a method of systematically disrupting smooth reading-processes, rather as Apollinaire did. That the early authors could do so and tell 'Thrilling Wonder Stories' on sale in 30s pulps is a marvel, not an indictment.Could “Fugitive Telemetry” happen without being SF-disguised-as-Crime-Fiction or Crime-Fiction-Disguised-as-SF, why not do it that way? Episodic television has different demands from self-contained books or plays, and the economics mean that series are more cost-effective ways to make anything you can't shoot the way Ken Loach does (RTD-era 'Who' was a brave stab at squaring that circle).SF is the genre that deals with ideas, their consequences and how they can exist - the latter meaning that there is a considerable amount of world building that goes into it. An hefty amount of effort goes into ensuring that the implications and extrapolations are consistent with each other - a kind of ensuring that the hidden implicit world makes sense. Believe me, as a life-long SF reader, the hidden world consistencies have to be worked out, or the work of science fiction quickly falls apart. A good example is Larry Niven's “Ringworld”. He had to write a second novel to explain the hidden contradictions his engineer readers pointed out. Does this kind of thing happen in SF-disguised-as-Crime-Fiction or Crime-Fiction-Disguised-as-SF? These kind of novels will always lag behind SF novels when it comes to new ideas. These novels will always lag behind SF novels when it comes to style and technique to give that extra bit of resonance with the subject matter to the reader. Hence there will always be antagonism between the two groups.In SF-disguised-as-Crime-Fiction or Crime-Fiction-Disguised-as-SF novels, I almost always find them disappointing. They tend to be watered down SF and watered down Crime Fiction. I think this boils down to pace, which in turn finds its roots in the arguments above. After 5 MB novels, my first disappointment. 3 stars. SF = Speculative Fiction.

[sweetkokoro-61371 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thank you netgalley and Tordotcompub for an early review copy in exchange for an honest reviewOhhh yes Murderbot!! I just can't get enough of Murderbot.As usual this novella starts out with a bang and just continues on after that. There was plenty of that great snarky inner dialogue that Murderbot is so known for, and my favorite character trait of them. We follow Murderbot dealing with a murder case on Preservation Station and yes they get the opportunity to work with their most favorite sentient beings, HUMANS!We meet some new characters who don't all trust Murderbot but they must try and put their differences aside and work as a team. Some of the original crew from the first book make some small appearances and Murderbots moments with them are both adorable and hilarious.I really loved following a story set up of a murder mystery and seeing how Murderbot was going about trying to solve the case (faster than those silly humans mind you) One of the aspects I really enjoyed was watching Murderbot do their best to solve the case while following the rules and guidelines that where presented to it. It added a new element to the story since we are so used to watching them do things their way regardless of what anyone else has to say about it. I will say I was completely wrong as to who I thought the culprit was and I love that I was wrong, it made the reveal that much better. The action was on the smaller scale this time around but it still held that same amount of captivation like the previous books did.I really don't want to say anymore because its a novella and I don't want to throw spoilers in.Fugitive Telemetry is another fast, and captivating and absolutely hilarious installment in The Murderbot Diaries.

[bookappeal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This entry is one of the least tech-heavy in the series and less involved with politics and corporate evildoers, leaving more room for Murderbot's always-amusing personality development.

[karlstar_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A short but fun novella. This is not a full length novel, more a single extended scene. On a space station, SecUnit (aka Murderbot) must solve what appears to be a perfect crime - a killing with no evidence and an unknown victim. Good stuff, good on the science and amusing. I like how the technology is very present but not too heavy.

[jamestomasino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Murderbot has settled into its new life on Preservation Station. This sixth book has also settled nicely into the setting. There's action, adventure, and a nice mystery. It's a solid continuation of the series.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Often when I make my way through books in a series, I grow increasingly fearful that the author will lose his or her mojo and let me down. No need to worry with Martha Wells! Her books in this series have been uniformly delightful.The protagonist, who is part robot with organic parts, calls itself Murderbot, because of an incident in its past for which it wasn’t guilty, but the appellation stuck. In any event, Murderbot is a security robot, or SecUnit, designed to protect its human clients from any threats. But Murderbot has gone “rogue,” having hacked its controlling module, so that it now has free will. Murderbot would like nothing better than to spend its time watching all the space adventure series it has downloaded, but still can’t resist the pull to rescue humans from all the scrapes they continually get themselves into.In this installment, Murderbot is on Preservation Station protecting Dr. Mensah, a former client whom Murderbot came to like and respect. Murderbot also, to its chagrin, made friends with Dr. Mensah’s colleagues.As the story begins, a dead human is found on the station, which is quite unusual - as Murderbot wryly notes, to have a lower threat assessment than there is on Preservation Station, “we’d have to be on an uninhabited planet. I’ve never been on a contract on an uninhabited planet because if I was on the planet on a contract then we’d be inhabiting it.” Generally, Murderbot observed, Preservation was “a very non-murdery station.”Dr. Mensah calls in Station Security headed by Senior Officer Indah and asks Murderbot to work with the group, pointing out it would be advantageous for Murderbot to gain their trust.Murderbot, going just by the name “SecUnit” so as not to alarm the humans on Preservation Station, immediately has suspicions:“It turns out the big danger to humans on any isolated corporate project, whether it’s mining or - okay, it’s mostly mining. Whatever - the big danger to humans is not raiders, angry human-eating fauna, or rogue SecUnits; it’s other humans.”Indah was slow to trust a rogue SecUnit and, as Murderbot described it, “was all ‘but what if it takes over the station’s systems and kills everybody’”. . . . So Murderbot had to agree to two restrictions: not to access any non-public systems, and not to hack any other bots or drones. It was, as Murderbot said, “an uneasy truce." Murderbot gradually figures out what happened - more slowly than usual because of the initial restrictions on hacking - and eventually reaches a rapprochement with Indah.There is less non-stop violence, action, and adventure than in previous books, but the story line behind what happened is more developed, and quite interesting. All of it is filtered through Murderbot’s dry sense of humor, sardonic wit, and constant existential angst. Favorite passage: Dr. Mensah asks Murderbot to come over and join her and their friends: “We’ll do something fun.” Murderbot replies, “You know I don’t like fun.”Evaluation: The humans in Murderbot’s life can’t help but come to love and appreciate this very odd SecUnit. Moreover, the desire to make sacrifices to save the other becomes mutual. The books are endearing, very humorous, and diverting in the extreme.

[randymetcalfe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Can a rogue SecUnit engage safely and sensibly with station security in the investigation of the murder of an unidentified human? I don’t know. Can sarcasm exist without animosity? Well, in the case of Murderbot, sarcasm is just a default setting and paranoia is just the rational response to everybody (from the Corporation Rim) trying to kill you. Sure, it can assist station security, especially if Dr Mensah says it is the right thing to do. Even if that means talking to humans face to face. Ugh!It’s another Murderbot adventure that tests our hero to its limits, though without the high bodycount its engagement sometimes elicits. At first it is just a mysterious murder at play, but soon enough the complications set in. And even though GrayGris is not involved, it’s highly likely that some corporate lies behind whatever is happening here. So it’s probably a good thing that Murderbot is on the case.Fun hardly begins to describe the pleasure in picking up another Murderbot story. From pacing to perspective, I like everything about this series. And I can hardly wait for the next one to arrive.Recommended.

[gwendydd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More fun snark from Murderbot! This time, Murderbot has to use their extensive experience of watching murder mystery shows to use by solving a murder mystery. Naturally, stupid humans complicate matters. This series continues to be fun and heartwarming.

[santhony_35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is installment five of the Murderbot Diaries, and like the four previous volumes, it is barely of novella length. Though clocking in at 150 pages, the pages are small and the type and margins are large. This book is easily read in under two hours.Murderbot is a fascinating and highly amusing character. As this is installment five of the “Diaries”, you have either read the previous four, or should do so before reading this one, so any explanation of who and what Murderbot is and does would be redundant. If you liked the first four entries, you’ll probably like this one, though I found it the worst of the five; more difficult to follow, with confusing and sometimes ambiguous terms and language.The price for such an incredibly short book is scandalous. I can’t recommend purchasing any of the “Diary” entries stand alone. I’ve got to think that at some point in the future, the diary “entries” will be combined into one full length book. When that occurs, I can heartily recommend it.

[adzebill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Murderbot is a vessel into which we can fit numerous identities; autism, trans, shy, social anxiety. The story of this lovable robot struggling with its body issues, with silly human social conventions, with facial expressions, with how amazingly smart it is but how much this will freak out the mundanes, with how much it just wants to be left alone to watch its shows…Murderbot is the dork, the nerd, in all of us. Possibly why this series has been so popular.