all systems red is my favorite series, so my expectations were sky-high, especially after how amazing the last full-length novel was. this one didn’t quite live up to those expectations, but it was a great read.

i found it a little hard to jump into the story of the book, especially with the novella coming between (but out of series order). it took me a bit of time to figure out why the characters were here, etc. i thought that the overall plot of the book was a bit less compelling that the last stand-alone, and stripped a lot of the mystery/intrigue from the story. i felt like i was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it didn’t quite get there for me.

BUT that said, this book is another great installment in my favorite series. fans of the previous books will love to see murderbot/secunit’s return, along with the return of other fan favorites. this book explores a different side of murderbot, which wasn’t exactly what i expected from the synopsis! it felt like a natural next step in the series given the events of the previous books.

i wish there had been a little bit more action/excitement, but i love this series so much and had such a blast with this arc that i feel guilty even rating it lower than 5 stars! i am a murderbot fan for life.

The latest entry in the Murderbot Diaries lacks the biting sarcasm of previous installments. Instead, the titular Murderbot spends half of the novella avoiding any revelations about recent traumatic experiences. Wells seems to want to say something about the importance of storytelling in the development of empathy for those with different lived experiences, but stops just shy of fully realizing that message. As a reader and librarian, I would not recommend this as an entry point to the series. Thankfully, since the Murderbot Diaries consist primarily of novellas less than 200 pages in length, readers can start at the beginning and reach System Collapse with a more complete understanding of Murderbot's emotional journey.

This was a great addition to the series. I really enjoyed it. Not sure how I missed posting my review until now. We keep learning more about the characters involved. Great story

Another enjoyable instalment in Wells’s bestselling Murderbot series. Everything we’ve come to enjoy about the series is present: excellent writing, wry observations about humans and humanity, some good action, and a bit of mystery.

If you haven’t tried the series yet, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for. If you have, then you’ll need no encouragement to pick this up.

Recommended, as always.

Let me say first of all I was quite confused when this book started as I had not realized it was a DIRECT sequel to Murderbot #5 and I had just read Murderbot #6 earlier this month--

Anyway, this is a tricky entry in a GREAT series because it does pick up basically immediately after a previously published (but not direct predecessor) book ended, but also the narrative is a little less direct than future entries. However, there is a reason for this that we get explained some ways in (and that reason is: trauma processing/coping.... which is more obvious between the lines early on but In Case You Were Wondering, We Spelled It Out).

This one was harder for me to get into, and I think a lot of that had to do with just me not knowing the "reading order" but also, maybe I just wasn't in the mood at the moment? But it's Murderbot, so I wanted to read it? There's always great characters and great sort of snappy dialogue and ART! and I think with this entry wrapped up it makes me maybe even more than other entries excited to see where it goes from here.

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR for the eARC in exchange for review! Getting approved for this title finally got me to pull Murderbot #1 off my shelf and dive into such a rich and beloved world.

Another fun and full of heart addition to the murderbot series by Martha Wells. The relationships were particularly fun to watch evolve.

A delightful entry in the Murderbot series. Recommend reading the 5th book again as this one starts right where that left off.

Doesn't Murderbot tell you all you really need to know to want to read this book? Martha Wells is consistently funny with a dry, sarcastic humor that is just right. Murderbot continues his usual antics of saving the humans and corrupting other bots, and will hopefully go on to more adventures.

Another great entry into the Murderbot Diaries series with an adventure not only on a planet (Murderbot hates planets), but within said planet (literally the worst possible place to be for our favorite construct). Murderbot's going through a mystery crisis, there's spooky abandoned tunnels, and a race against time/corporates. Solid adventure, as usual, with a fun media twist.

Murderbot is back, and while they are not in fighting form, they are still gunning and punning. The relationships Murderbot keeps forming are all wonderful. It was a quick, easy read that was a bit heavyhanded with some of it's GET IT? IT'S MURDERBOT features. As much as I love Murderbot the character, Wells sometimes relies too heavily on repetition for characterization. Also, I cannot tell you what happens in these books to make it so the plots and, like, 75% of all the side characters just leak out of my head, but alas. As soon as I'm done, the plot is immediately forgotten. And this added even! more! side characters! So, you know.

I will always read murderbot book and love them. This is no exception. Martha Wells hits it out of the park again.

Anything by Martha Wells automatically goes to the top of my to-read list, and this much-anticipated release did not in any way disappoint. Amazing!

<strong>System Collapse brings us another full-length Murderbot adventure! </strong> ➽ It’s book 7 in the Murderbot Diaries but also the eagerly awaited <strong>direct sequel to Network Effect</strong> 👀 While not as long as its predecessor there is a lot going on and many interesting themes explored. It’s <strong>always difficult to pick a favorite from the series, but System Collapse comes close</strong> and makes me excited for the future of the series, as there are more books to come and there is SO much potential for them 💗

<strong>The conflict with Barish-Estranza is far from over, as they try to seize the remaining colonists </strong>➽ Meaning, we don’t leave the Lost Colony’s system that was the main setting for Network Effect, as <strong>Murderbot – together with ART’s crew – is once again trying to save humans from the corporates</strong>. Barish-Estranza is determined to trick the remaining colonists into a predatory ‘work contract’ with whatever means necessary.

Murderbot is joined by <strong>Ratthi</strong> (my favorite Preservation human), <strong>Iris</strong> (ART’s favorite human) and <strong>Tarik</strong> (ART’s newest crew member) as they venture planet-side to warn the colonists of their dangerous fate. I loved the crew dynamics, it was great to <strong>finally get to know Iris a bit better</strong>, especially as she’s ART’s favorite. Her interactions with Murderbot were great, especially as both of them mean so much to ART. <strong>Perihelion/Peri/ART</strong> is also along with the ride as a drone, which made me happy as it’s one of my favorite characters and its dry humor makes for some great banter with Murderbot! <strong>I also love Ratthi and his unwavering support, so I was glad that he got the spotlight again</strong>!

We see a bit of Mensa, Thiago and Amena as well, but they’re not really in focus this time. I <strong>hope in the future we’ll see more of Amena</strong> again – the ending definitely makes this a possibility – as&nbsp; I loved her friendship with our favorite SecUnit! Speaking of Secunits, <strong>Three is present, but not involved in the main action, so we only get small glimpses into its dynamic with Murderbot</strong>. I know lots of people were excited for more Three content, but there isn’t much – that being said I see lots of potential for future books to focus on this! A <strong>character that surprised me was Tarik</strong>, the most recent addition to ART’s crew and a specialist at dealing with corporations, as he’s got a past with them. He had hidden depths and now I’m excited to slowly get to know the rest of ART’s crew as well!

<strong>The story had a lot of good discussion about feeling helpless and your mental health catching up with you.</strong> ➽ Murderbot has always been a relatable character for me and the way <strong>mental health was approached in this book meant a lot to me</strong>! This isn’t called System <em>Collapse</em> for nothing, as Murderbot experiences glitches and irregularities in its parameters which leads to a lot of [redacted] incidents. It has always been 100% confident in providing security, as opposed to dealing with social situations and the anxiety that comes with them.

This book raises the question: <strong>what do you do if you can no longer adequately perform the one thing you feel confident in?</strong> The subtle shifts in Murderbot trying to desperately keep up with its function and protect its humans, while feeling on the edge of a mental breakdown (I can relate) were so well-written. I loved that the authors explored the meaning of helplessness and how <strong>Murderbot’s existence has always been conditional on it being useful for security</strong>. Now that it’s struggling, Murderbot is scared of the humans no longer wanting to work with it. There are now so many humans that care for it, but it’s tough to believe that there’s unconditional support when you have Murderbot’s background.

<strong>Throughout the series, we’ve also seen Murderbot’s PTSD symptoms and anxiety/depression</strong>. In fact, this is what I related to so much and why it’s my ultimate comfort character! System Collapse dives a bit deeper into this trauma in a way I won’t name here, as it’s a bit spoilery. Murderbot <strong>has come a long way since All Systems Red and I think that’s why <em>now</em> is the time that its trauma is resurfacing to this degree</strong>. It’s more settled and paradoxically that’s the moment everything it tried to bury strikes. The ending and its <strong>meaning for mental health support moved me to tears</strong>

I will never not love Martha Wells or Murderbot, but I have to say I was just a tiny bit apprehensive after I realized this book was (1) a novel instead of a novella (where I think Murderbot works best) and (2) picked up where Network Effect left off (my least favorite of the Murderbot books. And while I still maintain that books 2-4 and 6 are her best, System Collapse is another excellent addition to the Murderbot series. More please!

I think Murderbot is simply the BEST! System Collapse is a wonderful full-length addition to the sci-fi series. To get ready for System Collapse, I reread Fugitive Telemetry because I wanted everything to be fresh in my mind. However, this new book takes up immediately where Network Effect leaves off (book #5). So, I quickly reread Network Effect and then read System Collapse which was a great reading experience.
System Collapse is a pivotal book in the series that you won't want to miss. All the characters are coming to terms with what happened in book #5 and they're not ok, Murderbot included. I am eagerly awaiting the next book. I highly recommend this series to everyone I talk books with.

As always Murderbot is amazing. This installment made me so happy. I love watching them, dare I say... Evolve? This is one of my favorite sci-fi series of all time, and never fails me.

This review is absurdly late, for which I sincerely apologize. I was so excited to get the ARC for System Collapse from NetGalley, but just as I finished reading it, I got a new job and between wrapping up my life, moving across the country, and starting over in a new city, writing and submitting a review completely slipped off my mental radar.

System Collapse by Martha Wells continues Murderbot’s adventures in the aftermath of the events of Network Effect. As ART’s crew and the members of Preservation Station’s team race to stay ahead of Barish-Estranza and safeguard the colonists on the planet, they learn of another community of colonists that split off from the main group in the wake of previous contamination events and may still be living out of communication range. With a small team investigating the possibility of a hidden community of colonists, Murderbot must process its recent traumas and determine what path it wants to take moving forward.

Overall, I liked the book. Nothing beats the initial quartet of novellas, but I truly enjoyed seeing more of ART’s crew and some of the original characters from Preservation. As might be expected following its experiences in Network Effect, Murderbot is not dealing well, but is still pushing forward and doing its job with trademark snark. I love the way the events of the book (no spoilers) felt like such a natural evolution of Murderbot’s relationship with media and storytelling, both in relation to others and to its own sense of personhood. It’s a natural through line for the series that just keeps getting better and better. I can’t wait to see where the series will go from here.

The MurderBot Diaries is a Season’s Pass for me. I will ride ALL THE RIDES.

I love MurderBot’s inner dialogue.
I love that he ‘freed’ other SecUnits.
I love how hard MB works to keep humans alive, and his exasperation when they don’t make it easy.
I love the Human/Bot interactions as each learn how to be in relationship with each other.

I just love everything about it, and I can’t wait until the next installment.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for this ARC.

While I have enjoyed the Murderbot Diaries, this was the first one I read instead of listened to and I found myself having a harder time following the story and staying with it. It was still good, and I love Murderbot, but personally, I really enjoy the audio version of this series.

Murder Bot strikes again! This series is consistently so good, so snarky, and SO FUNNY! Cannot wait for the television adaptation!