Murderbot is back! Again!

Last time we saw it, publishing-order-wise, was actually a larger step back in time. Fugitive Telemetry took place in between Exit Strategy (book 4) and Network Effect (book 5). Now Martha Wells is following up the plot events from Network Effect with System Collapse, with Murderbot still dealing with the alien contamination that nearly wiped out a corporate colony.

At the outset of System Collapse, Murderbot is definitively not having a good time. Something redacted happened to it, and it is not about to talk to anyone about it. Not its humans, not ART (Asshole Research Transport) or ART’s humans, and not Three, the new rogue SecUnit that’s following in its footsteps toward independence. The struggle against the contaminated humans and the malicious code that infected them has left a mark on Murderbot. To make things worse, that fight may not yet be over. A hidden colony on the same planet has been located, and there’s a possibility that the same alien contamination might have infected it. Murderbot’s humans have decided that they need to investigate, since attempts to contact the colony have gone unanswered.

A rival corporation, Barish-Estranza, already has designs on the planet, regardless of any contamination that may be in place, and finding a group of colonists that they could force into indentured servitude would be icing on the cake. It’s up to Murderbot to find the colonists (if they’re alive) and get them off-world before that can happen. Its performance levels are not anywhere near its standards, and it knows it, but redacted continues to get in the way of it doings its job properly, to the potential risk of its humans. Resources are limited (no armor, less than half of its usual complement of support drones, and no direct communication with ART’s full set of sensors) and its own growing paranoia may just get the better of our favorite rogue SecUnit.

Martha Wells is one of my all-time favorite science fiction writers, and the Murderbot Diaries remain one of the best modern series in the genre. System Collapse is a tight, intense narrative that reminds us just why we love to follow Murderbot’s internal monologue, and why we’ve done so for seven books now. It’s full of corporate criticism and mental health crises, and I absolutely loved it. It’s out in the world today, and I’m incredibly grateful to Tor.com and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for a fair review.

This review originally appeared here: https://swordsoftheancients.com/2023/11/14/system-collapse-a-review/

Murderbot, my beloved!

This next installment lives up to the rest of the series and it was so much fun to see Murderbot and ART interact with each other and their humans some more. The dynamic between Iris and Murderbot was fun to watch because Murderbot is aware of how special she is to ART and so it takes that in to consideration. I love found family and I love the like frustrated affection Murderbot has when it realizes that it has so many more humans to protect.

I look forward to reading wherever their next adventure goes!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

What a sweet little SecUnit, dealing with trauma while still having to be in charge of keeping humans safe. System Collapse, while tense, is not as action-packed as other Murderbot books, which is both great and not as exciting. This story also combines a couple crews, which had me confused at first.

Overall, a fun continuation of the Murderbot series, but not the most action-filled installment. It has its own uniqueness in how problems are solved, which makes for a still-interesting story!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the e-ARC.

The Murderbot Diaries have rocketed Martha Wells to genre stardom, and it’s easy to see why. They’re fast-paced and fun, with a part-mechanical, part-organic construct—the titular Murderbot—whose social anxiety sets the stage for some heartwarming character growth and whose facility with weapons and desire to save humans from mortal peril provide a healthy dollop of plot-related tension. After enjoying the first five novellas and single novel, there wasn’t a question of whether I would pick up System Collapse, the only question was when. 

Though seventh in publication order, System Collapse picks up directly after the events of the fifth book, Network Effect. A 3.5-year publication gap can make it hard to remember some of the background details, but the narrative gives enough clues to help a forgetful reader infer from context. But Murderbot and friends are in a scrape, as always. The difference is that in this case, Murderbot is sufficiently traumatized from its last adventure that it spends the opening chapters redacting references to the whole episode. 

Though System Collapse is the second full novel in the series, it’s significantly shorter than Network Effect, and it’s structured more like an extended version of the novellas than like the previous novel. It opens with exploration of an uncertain situation, introduces Murderbot to unfamiliar bots and humans, and ends with a big action sequence in which Murderbot must save the day. 

It’s a good formula that has worked well so far. I find that the character moments are usually better than the action sequences, but the stories are compact enough that the latter never overstay their welcome. While System Collapse generally sticks to this structure, Murderbot’s PTSD forces a more internal focus, with relatively less interaction with others. This change is something of a mixed blessing, as Murderbot’s attempts to work through trauma provide some of the most compelling aspects of the novel, but at the expense of the character interactions which had truly been the highlight of the series. 

The result is an entertaining and bingeable book, but one that doesn’t reach the lofty heights of the previous novel. Murderbot’s own progression makes for a compelling read that fits very well with the established character, and the interpersonal midway climax is exceptional. But the action-packed finale isn’t quite at the same level as what comes before, and some of the interpersonal energy from previous books is missing here. It’s a really good read that will doubtless please series fans, but at the same time, it’s not Network Effect. 

Recommended if you like: Murderbot, mental health focus.

Overall rating: 16 of Tar Vol’s 20. Four stars on Goodreads.

I absolutely love this series, and the latest installment did not disappoint. I did wait to read it until I could get my hands on the audiobook since I absolutely love the reader for this series. I think the books are great on their own, but Kevin R. Free just brings Murderbot to life.
I would not describe myself as a fan of Science Fiction, and I often recommend these to readers looking for something different. While the main character is not exactly a person, these books are definitely about what makes us human. I love them!

Murderbot is back in the seventh book in the series, and the second full-length novel - System Collapse.

The new book follows the events of book #5, Network Effect. Murderbot and the team are still on the planet to which they were hijacked in that book. The inhabitants here are survivors of a failed colonization attempt and were abandoned to their fate on a half-terraformed planet. The terraforming operation had been stalled, and the inhabitants themselves had been contaminated by alien artifacts. But thanks to the actions in Network Effect they were safe as that book wrapped up.

As book 7 opens however, they now face a new danger from the Barish-Estranza (BE) corporation. A team from BE has landed on the planet hoping to claim it, and its “assets”. In the universe of Murderbot the corporations rule, and the “assets” the BE team is referring to are the surviving inhabitants themselves, who they are hoping to trick into signing contracts, for what will effectively be slavery, on a BE owned mining colony planet.

BE is a corporation, and as I said, corporations rule. So, its team is used to getting their way. They won’t hesitate to use whatever means are necessary to do so. This sets up the action between the BE forces, and Murderbot, ART and their team, who are feverishly working to counter the BE forces and convince the inhabitants to instead seek a free future with their help.

Fans of the Murderbot novellas are used to action from beginning to end. But as in Network Effect, the other full-length novel in the series, the action is more sporadic here. For the most part Wells fills the pages in-between the action scenes with Murderbot’s continued growth, and his awareness and understanding that he is more than a construct. Without the control of his governor module he is becoming more than the sum of his inorganic and cloned organic components - more than a mechanical “SecUnit”. His human side reveals itself with a bout of pain, which he won’t tell us about for a good part of the book. It’s not physical pain - he’s felt that before - but mental pain.

Murderbot experiences PTSD with a flashback so impactful that it causes his systems to do a hard reboot - the system collapse of the title. This is something that’s never happened to him before, and in the aftermath he’s confused, not understanding why sometimes he just doesn’t “want” to do the things he knows he should do. He’s experiencing real, human pain.

Yes, Murderbot feels our pain.

But he’s still the same cynically sarcastic and cranky Murderbot we’ve come to know. So he still says things like “I’m 73 percent certain that never happened to me”, and “I was paying 87 percent of my attention to Iris”, and “that’s why the stupid Barish-Estranza team and their stupid SecUnit had walked right up on me and I had no f***ing idea.” And he’s still watching soap operas and trash TV (i.e. the “entertainment feed”) in his downtime.

If there is one thing I was disappointed in with System Collapse its that Three - the SecUnit that Murderbot rescued in Network Effect - didn’t have a bigger role. He’s mostly a background character here. I had half expected some interplay between the two SecUnits that might help Murderbot deal with the pain of his journey, as Three starts down the same road that Murderbot is travelling.

Plus there’s the whole intriguing notion that Three perhaps had a “relationship” with the two SecUnits who didn’t survive when he was rescued. SecUnits aren’t supposed to have relationships. At least you get to understand, as Murderbot tells us, that SecUnits, like humans, each have their own destiny. Three may not travel the same road as Murderbot.

I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I do hope there will be a more substantial role for Three in Murderbot #8, if and when that happens.

RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating Comment: If you are a fan of the Murderbot series, System Collapse will not disappoint. As I said in my last post about books #5 and #6 in the series, if you are a science fiction fan who has somehow never read any of the Murderbot books my advice is to immediately do so.

NOTE: I read an advanced ebook copy courtesy of NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group. The book is available to the public today, November 14, 2023. I thoroughly enjoyed the ebook, but I did miss the narration by Kevin R. Free that made listening to the audiobook versions of the prior installments a real pleasure.

I love it when there is a new book in the Murderbot series, especially when ART is back as a character!! In this outing, there is something wrong with Murderbot and it isn’t running with normal operational parameters and he has to analyze his system and figure out what is wrong and get it fixed quickly because a SecUnit has gone rogue.

I always enjoy Murderbot’s world, but I must admit that I struggled a little bit in this one. I found it difficult to visualize the setting at times and at times I was a little confused. I did still enjoy this and will continue reading this great series. If you are new to this series, I feel it is important to say that you should begin at book one and continue on from there otherwise you may be very confused.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up cause I love Murderbot too much. I'm grateful that Martha Wells graced us with another longer story, and I hope she continues!

I just had a bit more difficulty getting into this book, for several reasons:
- Network Effect came out 3 years ago, with Fugitive Telemetry in between, so the events weren't fresh in my mind. I remembered the gist of it, but it wasn't enough to fully grasp the reasons why Murderbot acted so differently. I highly suggest a re-read to anyone like me.
- It always takes me a while to fall back into the rhythm of this world's specific language and terms.
- The plot felt a lot slower to kick into gears, and it didn't help with my issues above.
But thankfully when the tension rose in the second half, I was able to fly through it like I usually do.

Murderbot's PTSD was a bit jarring, because we're so used to seeing it extremely efficient and with its grumpy sense of humor. Here it was quite emotionally lost for the most part. But it was very interesting to see, as Murderbot needs to keep evolving. Its friendship with ART is still a highlight, and I love the way they both care for their humans. The Preservation and ART crews are an awesome found family.
It was also great to see how Murderbot continued to care for other SecUnits. I hope this subplot will become a main one (constructs revolution!!!). SecUnits that appear are always a menace first, and it takes Murderbot to remind us that they're just like it before it had free will.

So it's another decent entry in the series. Just not as good as Network Effect, if we compare full novels. (Wells said she struggled a bit writing it due to the pandemic, which is understandable).

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

A new Murderbot book is always cause for celebration; these books are a blast to read. He's back, battling evil corporations, hanging out with his AI friend ART, protecting his gaggle of humans from themselves and their adversaries, solving mysteries, and trying to find enough time to binge watch his entertainment shows, He's continuing to develop a wider range of emotions - kicking and screaming - and this brings complications.

This is a must-read series for any fan, science fiction or not, who enjoys clever writing, mordant humor, and human warmth.

This novel was given to me through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, lucky me !

First thing, if you've never read the Murderbot series before, you shouldn't begin with this one : "System collapse" follows up on "Fugitive telemetry". If you've already read "Fugitive telemetry", refreshing your memory would be a good thing. Anyway, reading the whole series is a much better idea, you won't regret it.

Second thing, if you've read my reviews before, you know I'm a huge fan of this series and of this author. The Murderbot's middle name must be Sarcasm, and he handles it with mastery. I love this robot with human parts here and there, how he hates socialising, how he avoids feelings at all costs, how he apparently thinks low of humans but has his favourite humans (the lists keep growing), how he handles situations efficiently and astutely to save his team, how he deals with other robots (ART !) and avoids trauma by watching entertainment fervently. (Now, I've read so much about Sanctuary moon that I wish it as an actual show.)

In this particular novel, "something" happened to the Murderbot, he's been "redacted" and feels a little out of sorts ("since the thing that happened I don’t think I’ve had an emotion that wasn’t the visual equivalent of a wet blanket crumpled on a floor."). He doesn't know exactly what happened, he struggles to recover his memories and doesn't act completely like he used before, which doesn't help with his grumpiness. The situation doesn't help either, with a corporate team trying to enslave the population of a contaminated planet.

I love this series because it's not only a criticism of capitalism but a reflection on mental health and robots vs humanity. And it's lots - and I mean lots - of fun.

Poor Murderbot. It’s been a rough go for it. PTSD without any real coping mechanisms or ability to deal with basic emotions much less trauma. Another excellent entry in the series.

The Murderbot Diaries is a series that is near and dear to my heart. I normally read these with audiobooks and really enjoy the narrator. ‘System Collapse’ is the first entry of the series that I have read in the traditional sense. This has made it a different experience than the six previous outings but still a great entry.

If you are looking to jump into ‘System Collapse’, it is best to read the other books in the series beforehand. ‘System Collapse’ continues the story that was established in ‘Network Effect’, the fifth entry of the series. If you are currently working your way through the series, I would suggest reading ‘Fugitive Telemetry’ (the 6th book) before ‘Network Effect’ to avoid hopping around in the timeline. ‘Network Effect’ is the only novel in the series that does a lot of heavy lifting to set up what is going on in ‘System Collapse’.

Murderbot has gone through a lot of trauma during ‘Network Effect’ and doubts what it can do at this point to keep itself and ART’s humans safe while trying to save an entire colony of people from a money-hungry corporation. Murderbot has doubted itself before, but the fight to survive the threat before this book has taken a toll on its already low self-esteem, and we see it relying on its coping mechanisms, such as watching media like ‘The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon’. These are some of my favorite moments because I have done that myself to cope with things that are out of my control.

The aspect of the book I am enjoying is the continuing introduction of ART’s humans. We got a taste of them in ‘Network Effect’, but we are seeing them more on display and getting to explore some new backstories and motivations, which help spice the story up. I do like that we have brought in the majority of the cast from previous books, such as Ratthi, Dr. Mensah, Pin-Lee, Overse, etc., even if they are more fringe characters in this book.

The found family trope is present, just like in all the other Murderbot Diaries, but it is done in such an obtuse way that keeps it fresh. One of the things that continues to stand out is Murderbot’s view on friendships with humans and especially ART. It keeps things lively and feels more human than a lot of other fictional characters I have read in different books.

Martha Wells does such a great job of crafting the characters to have depth and be relatable to most readers. The characters that she wrote don’t feel paper-thin but have the sense that they have lived life. The mixture of sci-fi, humor, mystery, human experience, and a smidge of thriller keeps you turning the page to see what comes next. I highly recommend ‘System Collapse for anyone wanting to explore how to realize that you aren’t just the job you do but so much more to the people that matter most.

Another full length novel in my favorite series?? Sign me up! System Collapse is set immediately after the end of Network Effect and features Murderbot, ART, and their humans as they rescue the abandoned colonists on the planet suffering from alien contamination from becoming indentured servants for a greedy corporation. Oh, and it’s a story of mental health struggles and a critique of rampant capitalistic approach to life. I would highly, highly recommend this ENTIRE series to anyone living on planet Earth (or elsewhere). Seriously. It's that good.

A BIG thank you to NetGalley, Tor, and Ms. Wells for the opportunity to read an ARC of System Collapse. An honest review was requested but not required.

Everyone's favorite somewhat homicidal and totally sarcastic (some might say "snarky") Murderbot is having a crisis. A crisis of confidence? A crisis of identity? A crisis of memory? Yes. D, All of the above. Murderbot's shakiness in itself is echoed in the plot, which is a bit disjointed but it meshes well with Murderbot's state of mind. ARE things disjointed? Or is that just how Murderbot is processing them?

As always Murderbot's snarktasm is a joy to read. I highlighted MANY passages. I would share them but I'd rather you, the Reader, discover the joy for yourself. I wish Asshole Research Transport, aka, ART, was fully present the entire time rather than being reduced to ART drone (which seemed vaguely person shaped?) and I wish that #3 had been present for more of the story. But I will take MB any way shape or form I can GET MB and I can have no complaints. This story was a fun ride with one of my favorite book characters of all time. I will hitch a ride on Murderbot's ship anytime. PS, I love that Murderbot's obsession with consuming media finally paid off.

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 stars HAPPILY rounded up to 5 (and would have been five, if ART had had more page time)

One of the finest Murderbot Diaries installments. System Collapse is a must-read for fans of Network Effect. The plot of Network Effect is continued in this book. While navigating the aftermath of their last adventure, Murderbot and the group also come across a brand-new adventure—along with an abundance of issues.
It features all the elements you have come to love about previous Murderbot novels: sarcasm and pessimism, our bot attempting to cope with its trauma and anxiety, lethal combat, a plot heavily influenced by media, and reflections on what it means to be human.
I’m really excited for the next book!

How does Martha Wells keep getting better and better? I don't know but I'm here for it!

System Collapse follows everybody's favorite Murderbot and his family and friends. System Collapse picks up from where Network Effect left off with the discovery of a new colony and ART's crew accepting Murderbot's friends as crew. Murderbot has had a time and it just keeps getting better! Each book has so much sarcasm, adventure, and self-exploration that this series is my go-to recommendation for people who want to get into sci-fi....and even people who show no interest in sci-fi because everyone will love Murderbot!

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Space Opera, Science Fiction
Language: High with plenty of f-bombs

This is a great continuation of the Murderbot Diaries with Murderbot dealing with feelings in a new way all while trying to save humans.

There's a lot more angst and self-introspection going on in this book. It still reads like a space opera with all the expected adventure. I've enjoyed this book for so many things: snark, interior dialogue, deep distrust, the evil corporation, and how humans are as messy as the bots.

If you're already read the other 6 books, you're not going to want to miss this one. If you're new to Martha Wells, start on book 1 of the Murderbot Diaries.

Happy reading!

Picking up immediately following the events of Network Effect (if you haven't caught yourself up on the rest of the series again before reading this, do yourself a favor and give Network Effect a quick read again - you'll be glad that you did), we are dropped right into the action as Murderbot is trying to cope with a *thing* that has happened to it, and then also trying to keep not only its humans and ART's humans alive, but also saving the colonists on the planet from being conscripted into slave labor as well. Its a lot to deal with, quite frankly, and Murderbot is really not having any of it, except it's Murderbot, so it does what it needs to do to save its humans.

This is still one the best series I have read in a long time. @marthawellswriter continues to impress me with her ability to convey such humanity through the eyes of a very inhuman character. The nuances of what Murderbot is going through in this book, particularly with the *thing* that happens, shows such growth of character, and I'm wildly anxious to see where this new level of humanity will take Murderbot.

If you haven't read this series yet, I simply can't recommend it enough. Even for those who are not fans of scifi, this is an excellent book. If you have read the series, don't skip this entry; the snark is alive and well and you don't want to miss it.

A huge thank you to @netgalley & @tordotcompub for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Murderbot is back and better (or maybe worse?) than ever.

I loved this seventh installment in the series and can't wait for more people to read it.

This book kicks off right where Network Effect ends, so I can't say much on the plot without spoiling things. Basically, though, Murderbot is working with a cast of characters, both familiar and new, to deal with an unstable political situation on a colonized planet and evade corporate interests.

I loved the expanded cast of this book; the two groups that come together at the end of Network Effect remain in play here, and the new group dynamics were so fun and interesting to read. In particular, I liked the way this book focused on Murderbot's efforts to navigate new relationships and its concerns over the opinions (and fear for the lives) of the newer characters.

I also loved the way that, although this book can be read as a fun and exciting space adventure like the rest of the series, it has a very different tone from the earlier Murderbot books. This book focuses on Murderbot's trauma and anxiety in a very direct way, in that Murderbot itself has to deal with those things in order to move forward in the plot and help its humans. I also thought that it was interesting the way these issues, as well as the series' recurring themes around identity formation and purpose, expanded out from Murderbot to become vital elements of this novel's larger plot. The interplay between the individual and group explorations of these ideas was really compelling, and illustrates what I have come to love about the series: its ability to deal with big, heavy issues in a fun, engaging, thought-provoking way.

If you already love Murderbot, I think you'll continue to love this installment. If you haven't already picked up this series, I cannot more emphatically recommend it.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of "System Collapse" by Martha Wells in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I am an huge fan of the Martha Wells and the Murderbot series. Even so, when this story opened RIGHT where Network Effect left off, I found I needed a refresher. So I reread Network Effect and settled back in for another wild ride. I was NOT disappointed.

When last we saw Murderbot and friends, they were on the surface of a planet, having just defeated the effects of alien contamination on the local inhabitants. Now, they are confronted with a new threat: an evil corporation wants to indenture the survivors and press them into working their corporate mines.

Murderbot's ship friend ART (aka Perihelion) and its crew specialize in disrupting these kinds of corporate machinations, but their attempts to do so this time are complicated by the existence of a second, disconnected group of settlers living in the north. This group has been out of contact via standard communications for decades, so Murderbot and crew head north, hoping to 1) determine whether this group still exists and 2) if they do exist, convince them NOT to join up with the evil corporation.

To make things more dicey, Murderbot is suffering from *redacted.* (It's a legit spoiler, but Murderbot keeps redacting the story until it feels ready to share that part with us.) The effects of this *redacted* is that it no longer trusts in its abilities and fears whether it can do the job it needs to do. In terms of character development, I love this because it layers even more complexity into a fascinating character. It sucks for Murderbot, but it really further blurs the definition of "what" Murderbot is. It's not human, but it's not fully machine either. Murderbot's been grappling with having FEELINGS since the start of the series, but now it has to contend with *redacted* too.

This story also amplifies the effect that Murderbot has on the greater universe. Those ripples started early in the series, but certain actions in Network Effect and System Collapse should have significant consequences down the line. I CANNOT WAIT.

In short, as usual, I really enjoyed this story from Martha Wells. It has a little less snark and a bit more angst than previous installments but I see this character development as a real bonus. Readers can still expect the kind of heart-pounding action scenes that they are accustomed to, but the focus has shifted a smidge.

I fully recommend this for fans of the series, but for new folks, I do NOT recommend starting here. This story does NOT work as a stand-alone.