Officially known as a Security Unit, or SecUnit for short, it refers to itself as Murderbot. And it's just about the most identifiable Murderbot you're ever going to meet! System Collapse picks up after the events of Network Effect. The Barish-Estranza Corporation has sent rescue ships to a lost colony planet in trouble due to alien contamination.
Anyone who knows Barish-Estranza, or most corporations, knows that they are up to no good. They've also brought along a contingent of SecUnits of their own. Normally this wouldn't be much of a problem for Murderbot, especially with ART on its side. But something's wrong with Murderbot and if it doesn't figure out what that is quickly, things could go sideways in a hurry.

The stranded colonists are so long removed from the wider universe, that they are unaware of the corporations' reputation, and have no reason to trust one set of humans over the other. Murderbot and ART must work with their human crews to come up with a compelling way to convince the colonists or risk seeing them hauled away as slave labor.

Martha Wells has created a fascinating universe with corporation-heavy governance, built on top of a little-understood pre-corporation settlement system, with a sprinkle of very poorly understood alien influence. This creates fertile ground for interesting politics and exploration. Add a sarcastic killer robot who just wants time to watch soap operas and you have an unbeatable combination.

Murderbot is the driving force and for all its sarcasm, the humanity it is coming to find within itself gives tremendous heart to this story. Murderbot knows it is not operating correctly, and furthermore realizes that the lives of the colonists and the humans that it has come to care about are in danger unless it figures out how to repair itself. Fortunately, ART is there to offer assistance and understanding that maybe nothing and no one else is equipped for. Murderbot and ART is one of my favorite buddy pairings. (A Murderbot/ART buddy cop movie is something I'd pay to see). Hopefully, it's enough to let them figure a way out of this mess.

Martha Wells delivers again with another outstanding story with my favorite character.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

Murderbot is not itself and its people are concerned, which...yuck. Dealing with trauma, alien contamination, colonists and corporate baddies makes watching entertainment media even more enticing, but...
The start of this one was slow for me, because I didn't remember what had happened previously. It took me a while to realize that I was reading how Murderbot was processing, or not, its trauma and the insecurities it was dealing with in respect to keeping its people alive and how things were changing for it. Happily, by the end Murderbot is finding its feet again, kicking butt, solving problems and dealing out snark. I loved it, and of course am already looking forward to the next installment.

3.5 stars rounded down for the middiest of mid reads I can remember. I became a somewhat enthusiastic fan of Murderbot after binging the first 4 novellas, but the series kinda lost its luster and momentum with me with the full-sized novel in Network Effect. Then we went back in time strangely with the next novella that has left very little trace in my memory before returning to the present time directly after Network Effect with this one.

And what an awkward transition it was into the new story -- the beginning of System Collapse is one of the clunkiest starts to a sequel I've ever experienced with just way too many human names bandied about for characters that are basically indistinguishable. But thankfully it didn't take overly long before we set off on a new mission that got me settled in more comfortably and feeling like I was reading something closer to a Murderbot plot from the earlier books. I still enjoy the way Wells writes Murderbot's POV, with lots of sardonic inner monologue and copious use of parentheticals, which is a fantastic touch that so few writers do.

We also got plenty of Murderbot interacting with other non-human intelligences, and that also continues to be engaging for me. However, I just wasn't really engaged by this particular plot, and I found everything pretty hard to visualize. The humans continue to feel un-compelling, and so I don't really care if Murderbot can keep them alive, and I can't muster emotion to care about Murderbot's own emotional investment in keeping them alive. For such a short book it took me 5 days to get through it since I rarely found myself eager to pick it up.

I do think this short-novel length of 240 (slim) pages seems like possibly an ideal size for a full Murderbot adventure to play out without overstaying its welcome. It was ok and besides the beginning I generally enjoyed my time with it, but I fear it will be yet another book from the series that leaves barely any kind of mark in my memory. I guess Murderbot is just kind of drifting away from being something that holds my interest.

I am a huge Murderbot fan, but with this installment I am starting to feel like the character's story has run its course. I didn't love this as much as previous outings, and part of that was that our construct hero's constant discomfort at every single situation they are in has become a bit grating.

At 250-ish pages, I also think this book suffered from in-between syndrome - not long enough for a fully sketched out narrative with the usual novel beats, not short enough to squeeze a fun, thrilling, roller-coaster plot into the fast-paced novella format. That said, the story is still pretty fun and thrilling with plenty of action to satisfy and a new setting - underground caves at the pole of the planet Murderbot helped liberate from a terrible hybrid virus in the last book.

The introduction of a new and unfamiliar (and decidedly human) experience to Murderbot's growing list of personal problems as an independent entity was interesting. Without spoiling, I will say that I liked that it was explored both internally in their usual wry inner monologue and externally via relationships with AI ship ART and their "humans".

I'll keep reading these as long as Wells continues to write them, but I do have to wonder where Murderbot will go from here and what their ultimate fate will be.

Another gripping episode from Murderbot, this one more so as the MC Bot is struggling with it's own internal troubles in addition to the volatile atmosphere the entire cast find themselves in.

The relationship between Murderbot & ART is sublime and one of the best arc's, I've read in sci-fi.

The pacing is spot on and the book balances delicately between the emotive content and the action sequences.

Another feather in Martha's and Murderbot's metaphorical cap!

This slid right into one of my top favorite spots for this series. I could tell from the second I started it, I was going to love it. Murderbot is such an endearing character, incredibly relatable, and has the perfect dry sense of humor. Experiencing the story through a robot's eyes (with sarcastic asides to the reader) is so unique. The world building is perfectly done, no info dumps, just immersion. I love figuring it out as I go! This book we see Murderbot grappling with its own growth and change and as it embraces more human like characteristics and emotions, I started to wonder, is it less effective? The character growth and various arcs for Murderbot and ART are so compelling, I couldn't put this down and binged it in a day.

I really enjoy this series and how intelligent it makes me feel without it being super long. This installment actually had a lot that relates to modern day as well, such as using social media to get the word out about something that’s going on.

This was a great edition to the series!! I love Murderbot and I just want this series to go on forever. So glad I could read the eARC.

I am so happy to be back for another adventure with my favorite robot, Murderbot! System Collapse is a novella that focuses around a search and discovery mission followed by a rescue mission. Murderbot and ART are their usual witty, sarcastic selves and a joy to read. Murderbot struggled through the repercussions of a future failed mission and has to overcome self doubt to keep his humans safe. There is still plenty of robots watching media to keep it feeling like a true Murderbot Diaries book.

I absolutely loved this book. It kept me laughing and smiling. I recommend these books to all my sci-fi reader friends.

I aam so invested with this swries. Short yes and I wish it could've extended a little bit more on some aspects for me to get like a total picture but nonetheless awesome!

I would literally read volumes upon volumes of Murderbot just watching media and bickering with ART, but I particularly liked the plot in this one and really hope we learn more about the deeper lore of the pre-Corporate Rim civilizations; it's just so fascinating. Either way, this continues to be an absolute instant-read series for me, even so many books in

I was ridiculously happy to see Book 7 because I am a big fan of the Murderbot series. System Collapse is actually a continuation of Network Effect so at first, I was confused with the continuity as that particular story was two books ago. As a reminder, in Book 5, the SecUnit ends up on a colony planet against his will but eventually relents and helps out an old AI buddy to save their crew. Well, this new story shows what happens next on the colony planet, the politics and greed being front and center, pushing Murderbot and ART into rescue mode again.

System Collapse is entertaining as usual with a bit of intrigue and action but I think it could have been shortened to a strong novella or maybe expanded into a more in depth book. I wish the author had given Murderbot and his crew more interaction with the Separatists which seems like a lost opportunity. Murderbot and company finding a group of settlers who have isolated themselves for generations from the rest of their planet with absolutely no communication is an excellent setup. Although, I still recommend the book, it’s not my favorite. But any new Murderbot adventure is still a fun time.

If you decide to venture into the series, I would suggest reading Book 7 after Book 5 so the storyline flows better. Also, novellas make up most of the Murderbot books so the series goes fast. Please listen to the audiobooks because Kevin R Free as the SecUnit rules at defining the smart, snarky-talking baddass AI human/bot.

Murderbot continues to be one of the most relatable characters I've ever read. Which is a funny thing to say about a sentient, fully armed and armored robot originally coded for security. 'System collapse' is literally robot-speak for 'trauma', something I'm certain, we've all had to struggle with on some level in our lives. (And Murderbot does just as well with dealing with it as the rest of us do.)

I will continue to be in awe at the fact that Martha Wells is able to explore the spectrum of human emotions and the time and energy it takes to process that spectrum in her writing. And she will continue to be one of my favorite authors.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the advanced reader copy of System Collapse by Martha Wells to be reviewed.

Martha Wells could step on my neck and I’d say thank you. I love this series so much and every single book is just a perfect 5/5 every single time. This was no different. Absolute perfection.

DNF at 36%. I love Murderbot and was super excited for the newest installation but unfortunately this one just wasn’t working for me. I loved the usual snark but found myself bored by the plot and decided to stop. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I love everything about the Murderbot Diaries series. I just adore the grumpy Murderbot who wants to be left alone to watch its shows. The straightforward comments on its own situation is fabulous and funny. I highly recommend this series, and always prefer to read in order. The audio version is stellar and I prefer it.

System Collapse follows closely after Network Effect's events, not Fugitive Telemetry. The timeline threw me off a little bit. Everything is a bit off with Murderbot because redacted. It's busy dealing with the current situation while trying to figure out its non-optimal performance. In spite of the threat of corporation goons, there is still time to watch Sanctuary Moon, and make "friends" with other systems.

The wonderful characters we have come to know and love are on this mission, including ART. ART is patiently helping Murderbot with redacted. We know about the agri-bots and contamination from Network Effect and now we learn about the different groups of humans who have colonized the planet. Our team is trying to protect them from being taken over and put into slave labor by the corporation.

Suspenseful and dangerous, Murderbot navigates the situation to help and protect its people. Luckily, it finds parallels to help in Sanctuary Moon and to help emulate human behavior. Once the crisis is ended, there is still plenty of work for the Preservation team but Murderbot decides to go with ART next.

It's always a joy to pick up another Murderbot adventure, and System Collapse drops us right back into the action after the events of the previous book.

The fight against unethical corporations (an oxymoron?) continues as Muderbot and Co. attempt to free the colonists on the planet they've recently saved, while Murderbot itself tries to win the fight against trauma (reader, it is hard).

Always a fun time with the sarcastic, comedic dialogue, and I felt like this book had a lot more tech-focused plot descriptions than previous installments.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

SecUnit aka Murderbot is feeling all the feels in this one! They suffered through trauma and you can see the effects of it throughout the book. We’re going through the motions of a group of people in trouble and SecUnit going to save them, but you see their walls falling down and notice that they’re developing an attachment to their humans. They become vulnerable and I’m so excited to see how SecUnit moves forward in the series!

Thank you NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love Murderbot as a character (and the wonderful supporting cast of characters) but I didn't necessarily think this was the strongest entry into this series.

We pick up with Murderbot & co. attempting to help rescue humans off a planet that has had alien contamination (and to not let them be taken by a corporation who would take them to a work camp). At the same time, we're aware something has recently happened to Murderbot that has caused it to redact some of its memories in its narration. It's a compelling premise, but also a confusing one. I am used to Wells dropping us into the middle of an adventure, but for a while I wasn't sure if this was a direct continuation after Network Effect or a whole new story.

This story had some fun twists and turns but it just didn't feel as novel or exciting as some of the other books in this series. The way that our team "wins" felt a little contrived and while Murderbot's arc was wrapped up, it didn't fully resolve the rest of what was happening to the other characters. However, I still had fun with the characters and will definitely pick up any further Murderbot books.

This was awesome and I could not put it down.

I like the humor and the banter between Murderbot and ART. Murderbot wanting just to have some quiet time to watch media with ART is so relatable. And I *spoiler* also liked the appearance of Holism, I hope it appears in the next books too. *spoiler*

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.