Martha Wells' excellent novella series finally gets the full-length installment it deserves! Fans of Wells' terminally-anxious-yet-empathetic cyborg Murderbot will have nothing to complain about: the novel launches Murderbot into a complex plot featuring alien remnants, greedy megacorporations, and most terrifyingly of all, human interaction. (Well, terrifying for Murderbot, anyway.)

Fans of the series will appreciate the callbacks to the novellas, while also getting an expansion on the universe and Murderbot's human (and not-so-human) associates. As always, Wells' writing is deft and enthralling, and Murderbot's weary, sardonic inner monologue is a joy to read. My only complaint would be that readers new to the series will likely be quite lost, as all four preceding novellas are relevant to the plot. Still, it's a delightful addition to a great series, and I can't wait to see what's next for Murderbot and Company!

Murderbot is back! This time, our favourite TV show binging, definitely not emotionally compromised SecUnit is getting their own full length novel. And while the heart and soul of the novellas are still present (don’t tell Murderbot I talked about “heart and soul”. They’ll think I’m being disgustingly emotional), there are a few execution errors that keep it from hitting the target’s center mass.

Murderbot just wants to keep binge watching their favourite shows and for their humans to stay alive. But in a universe filled with greedy corporations seeking to snatch up resources and hide misdeeds of the past, Murderbot very rarely gets what they want. So when the daughter of a previous client is kidnapped, Murderbot is understandably cranky and feeling like a bit of murder might solve the problem. Stuck deep in corporate space, Murderbot will have to untangle the mess they find themselves in with the “help” of some human associates and not-friends from the past.

Let’s start with what has always been the best part of this series: Murderbot. It feels odd to say that a story told entirely through the POV of an artificial intelligence is one of the most human and relatable stories of the last decade, but it’s the truth. Murderbot is that part of every human that puts up walls to protect themselves, but deep down has a heart of marshmallow fluff, no matter how much it might disgust them to admit it. Murderbot is also the part of every human that stays up late on a work night, binge watching their favourite show on Netflix. It’s these bits of character that make a story of AIs engaging in snark and space battles utterly addictive and relatable.

Network Effect takes the emotional journey (again, please don’t tell Murderbot I used the phrase “emotional journey”) that started in The Murderbot Diaries novellas, and builds from there. Whether Murderbot is mourning the death of a not-friend or sensing emotional turmoil in their clients, we see the depth of Murderbot under the sarcasm and armoured exterior. Wells’ capability to craft such a complex and compelling character is nothing short of masterful.

The part that didn’t work so well in this novel is the pacing and the density of the story. With the story being told from Murderbot’s POV, there is a lot of internal thought processing and much of the action is told versus shown. While typically, “telling, not showing” would be considered a cardinal sin in a novel, it works in this setting because Murderbot is hardly going to be giving us flowery descriptions while they annihilate their targets. But in the format of a full length novel, this style starts to feel real dense, real fast.

This leads into the pacing problems. The story starts off with a tense showdown, but after that we get a lot of backstory and a lot of talking to figure out what is going on. While this sets up for a much more action packed ending, it can get tiresome to slog through the first half. Network Effect is one of my most anticipated novels of 2020, and while I can normally read a 350 page book in a day or two, this one took me a week to finish. As excited as we all are for a full length Murderbot novel, it feels like some of the magic from the quick and quippy novellas was lost.

At the end of the day, going on a murdery space adventure with a sardonic killer AI is great fun. Murderbot will make you laugh and punch you in the feels a fair few times (definitely don’t tell Murderbot if they punch you in the feels. They may then choose to punch you in the face). Though it suffered from some growing pains, Network Effect is still a stellar story and I will always look forward to more Murderbot adventures.

Oh my! A full length Murderbot book! I was so breathless with excitement that I had to meter out how many pages I'd read each day, just to make it last longer.

I'll be honest -- I thought the Murderbot series had ended, but then this lovely, exciting (did I say it was full-length, no novella?) book was released, and I was one of the lucky few to be able to read it as a galley ahead of the May publication date. This was a seriously bright spot for me in the midst of the Covid mess. Thank you, publisher!

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I admit, I had gotten used to the fast-moving plots from the previous much shorter books, but once I settled in for the ride I realized it had all the elements I love. Murderbot itself is always reliably mostly the same. . . cripplingly self conscious, mostly antisocial, awkward, and scathingly/hilariously sarcastic, but also incredibly smart ('cause of its machine parts), analytical, brave, strong, quick witted, and devoted to protecting its humans at all costs.

Many new characters were introduced, and the Sec Unit develops new, enduring relationships with both humans and a powerful bot pilot. It was interesting to watch the relationships develop and change. The plot involves very dangerous aliens, a hostile planet and numerous battles which escalate in ferocity. And somehow, it was a very fun and enjoyable book to read. I highly recommend it.

I was glad to see that the ending left open the possibility for a sequel. Yes, yes, yes! Bring it on!

Thanks again for sharing this advance galley with me.

An incredible addition to the Murderbot saga. The story takes up where we left off, with Murderbot working with Dr. Mensah on Preservation, but then shifts to a new mission that goes badly awry when ART--real name: Perehilion--kidnaps Murderbot's crew in an act of desperation when an infected Pre-Corporate Rim colony attacks its own crew. I loved seeing Well's flex her storytelling muscles in a longer Murderbot story where she could really dig into one continuous storyarc. I loved all the development of Murderbot and ART and the relationship--Murderbot would hate that term--between them.

The book continued to explore many of the themes developed in the previous quartet of novellas in the Murderbot universe: autonomy, corporate greed, trauma and resiliency, friendship and found family. It's all the things I've loved about the series in a beautifully developed and wonderfully (as often hilariously as cleverly) written novel. I can't sing its praises enough. Martha Wells has truly created something spectacular with this series, and this first full length novel is the pièce de résistance. The story is wrapped up nicely, but there's definitely room for future novels. And I can only hope Martha Wells has plans for many more of them!

I love Murerbot and I was thrilled that I got a chance to read the newest one in the series. Thanks to netgalley for an ARC and for letting me write an independent review. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed the previous books in this series. The same things that made those excellent novellas have translated to make this an excellent novel.
Murderbot goes out with members of preservation and ends up on an adventure to keep them safe. Old friends reappear as well, which I thought was fantastic.
I loved the humor, I loved the emphasis murderbot places on his humans, and I love that Murderbot continues to slowly grow.
Overall an excellent book. One thing that really stood out to me was this book examined what makes murderbot murderbot and how that might differ from a secunit with different experiences.
A 5 star sci-fi book and I can't wait for the next one!

I've loved Murderbot and I still love Murderbot and this was fantastic.

Here's the rundown:
• The snark!
• Murderbot + <spoiler>ART</spoiler> snark
• Murderbot has FRIENDS.
• Murderbot <spoiler>1.0 and 2.0 snark</spoiler>
• The only thing that was weird for me was <spoiler> the introduction of the third SecUnit. I definitely enjoyed the interaction between Murderbot and SecUnit 3 but I would've liked to see it happen earlier. Where it lands in the book, it's kinda of sudden. </spoiler>
• The first third definitely felt like I was reading one of the novellas because there was definite action and conclusion. However, then things picked up more like a novel.

Overall, however, this was fantastic and I'd highly recommend it!

Muderbot sure does say F*** a lot but it’s always plot relevant and contextual appropriate. :-)
I presume anyone reading a review of a 5th book has already read the first 4 books but if you haven’t you should go read All systems red right now. The first four books are novellas so it won’t take you long to catch up. Murderbot is awesome and I can’t praise how enjoyable a read this series is highly enough. You can find the series order at https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/martha-wells/ and
I’m super happy to see a book 6 listed there to be published next year!

Murderbot does not have friends only associates and this time some are captured and an old associate needs help. So Murderbot to the rescue. Off course it does not go as planned and the rescuer becomes the rescued. I love Murderbot and was thrilled that this time it is a full length book. The action is wonderful fun, there is tension, and living in Murderbot's head kept everything interesting. There is a nice set up for more stories featuring this interesting characters so stay tuned.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

I rarely give 5-star reviews, but this book earns it in spades. I've been a fan of this series since the first book came out, and the books never fail to keep be enthralled, entertained, and in laughter. The main character, who thinks of himself as "Murderbot", is basically a cyborg: part flesh and part machine, but with builtin weapons, sensors and more. Through an accident (of fate?), his electronic governor has been disabled, allowing him independent thought and actions. Murderbot acts as narrator in this series, continually giving snarky comments about everything going on around him. As the series progresses he gathers a supporting cast, who he learns to (mostly) tolerate.

The current book is the first full length novel in this series, but it keeps you just as engaged as all of the previous novellas have done. We get all of his regular humans, plus the return of ART, the artificial intelligence that handles a large transport ship. I won't go into details about the plot of this books, except to say that it is fast moving and detailed enough to keep you interested. The book also leaves us ready to go wherever the next book may take us.

Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'm going to go back and re-read the first book, which has one of the best opening paragraphs I've ever read.

Martha Wells' MURDERBOT DIARIES is one of my favourite book series ever. I powered through the novellas, loving each and every sentence so much, and when I first heard that a whole novel (a whole novel!!) was coming out, you can't imagine how excited I was. Keeping all this in mind, you can imagine how high my expectations were. They were so high, in fact, that I was starting to feel sure they were going to be disappointed.
But.
BUT.
They were not. This book is fantastic. Incredible. It is everything a sci-fi book should be and more. This series really reminds me why I love the genre so much. At the same time it would be so wrong to reduce this series to simple science fiction books, because it is so much more. Martha Wells talks about character relationships, about internal character conflicts, and discusses such complex moral issues that sometimes, you almost forget that you're in space. (You shouldn't. The space bits are great!)

Before this turns into a complete praise-rant, let me talk a bit about the plot.

First of all: As this is the fifth part of the series, the question arises whether or not to read the first books before this one. And I'm going to go with a hesitant ... probably? Officially, it's a standalone. I do think that you would be able to understand the plot without having read the novellas, as the relevant plot points are re-capped in this book. However, you are probably going to feel a bit lost among the characters, settings, and general references in the book (then again, the novellas kind of throw you in, too). And (of course), this book heavily spoils the first parts in the series. Finally, the novellas are just really, really good, so I would definitely recommend reading them before this one. (Minor spoilers for them coming in the rest of this review, heads up!)

Everyone's favourite Murderbot is on a research mission, looking after Dr Mensah's daughter Amena on her first solo trip, when both of them are kidnapped by a research vessel that feels a little too familiar. Trying to find out what the hell is going on while keeping Amena safe, it realizes that the vessel is actually its casual-acquaintance-definitely-not-friend ART, which is when things to sideways in earnest.

This book is so much fun! A deadly, antisocial and recently-gone-rogue SecUnit should not feel so incredibly relatable, but for some reason, this remains the series in which I've gone "yes, same" the most. Murderbot's entire "just stop being stupid and let me do my job" attitude, combined with the occasional "I'm having one emotion" moment make this narrative voice one of my absolute favourites. This book is just so entertaining to read, and especially the constant banter slash bickering between ART and Murderbot had me laughing out loud.

This is the kind of sci-fi novel that snags at your attention, that needs you to give it your full attention to understand what is happening and make connections before the characters do. It's one of the books that give you the constant feeling that the main character/the author is slightly smarter than you, It's FANTASTIC. The plot is so many-layered, and has a couple of moments that had me go "ooooohh!". (And who doesn't love going "ooohh!" at a book?) It also manages to do something new and separate from the novellas, so that even if you've compulsively read them (not me, of course), this book feels like a completely original, fresh thing (which, after reading this back, sounds very obvious).

This book isn't only funny and very entertaining though. It is exciting (think fight scenes and space-ship battles), unpredictable, hold-your-heart beautiful, heartbreaking and, all in all, my new favourite sci-fi book.

Murderbot's journey to understand itself, others, and its place in the universe continues to be fascinating.

Martha Wells did it! A full-length Murderbot with all of the excitement and addictive re-readability of the novellas - such an excellent read!

Our Murderbot is back, and is simultaneously figuring out their feels & what they want, dealing with hapless, self-destructive humans (& augmented humans), and saving the day. New worlds and new people, with the same old obstacles, as well as some new ones tossed in to make a little more chaos. This has a pretty intriguing mystery, on top of all the Murderbot action, angst-lite, and wit. Perfect!

Welcome back to the world of everyone's favorite bot: Murderbot. Martha Wells is back with a full-length Murderbot story. ** For those wanting to read this title, it's highly recommended you read the previous novellas. While the story is fantastic on its own, without the context of the previous novellas in the series, most readers will be completely lost, but probably entertained nonetheless. **

Murderbot is on a more grand adventure than ever before. In this story, the ship Murderbot is on gets attacked, but then spins into a conspiracy, and investigation by Murderbot and its various associates. The action scenes are fantastic, Murderbot is as melodramatic and funny as always. However, there are a few plot lines that really keep the reader guessing until the end.

I was excited for this Murderbot novel, and it met my expectations, and I look forward to at least one more title in this series if not more.

Martha Wells is a fantastic writer, and should be considered among the top SFF writers out there today. She deserves the recognition!

Murderbot is back in the fifth installment to The Murderbot Diaries series. Dr. Mensah asks Murderbot to accompany her daughter and members of her family on a research trip, and an excursion that seems like a (thankfully) uneventful trip turns into a nightmare for poor Murderbot. Murderbot's dear friend ART (Asshole Research Transport) ropes everyone into a rescue mission that means not just keeping a bunch of clueless humans alive, but requires something Murderbot has never been good at--socializing.

This was a novel length Murderbot book, which will delight fans of the series--normally we only get novellas in the series. As usual, the characters are excellent, the dialogue is snappy and clever, and we see more and more character development of the delightful (despite being glumly monikered) Murderbot. She's seeming more human than some of the human characters.

If you havent picked these up yet, there's still time, as this is only #5 in the series, and as I mentioned quite a few of them are novella length. An action packed, fun, and funny read. (review will post on publish date)

I absolutely loved Network Effect. I admit to being a little apprehensive about going into this novel, as the previous installments in the series were novellas, but Wells did a spectacular job of bringing more Murderbot to the page in a way that felt authentic. I never felt like there was too much plot crammed in (which happens way too often) and I still came away wanting MORE. I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading about Murderbot and I hope that Wells is ready and willing to keep on writing.

This is the book I’ve been waiting for all year! It totally lived up to the hype and wait. Wells’ Murderbot is sarcastic, loyal, and wonderfully relatable. This first full-length novel (in the series starting with All Systems Red) is a fast-paced thriller with action, mystery, and a fair amount of mayhem. Just a relatively normal few days in the life of my favorite Security Unit who’d rather be binge-watching something totally unrealistic, then having to save its humans.

I was worried this wouldn't live up to the Murderbot novellas, but it's DELIGHTFUL. Honestly the best analogy I can come up with is the Die Hard or Fast & Furious movies -- tons of great action sequences, but at the heart it's about family. I tend to like some romance in my scifi, but I didn't even miss it here. Murderbot learning to love its friends is enough. <3 <3 <3