Short Fiction Friday: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

After finding out the truth about its past, Murderbot has set a new initiative for itself.

Murderbot has decided it's time to help its new owner. Dr. Mensah purchased the SecUnit, basically setting it free. For all intents and purposes, that is. While Dr. Mensah never implicitly said that the SecUnit can go out on its own, the scientist's actions do allow for autonomous existence on the part of Murderbot.

And Murderbot is still a little burned up about what happened when it was working for Dr. Mensah in the first place. Now, it's decided it's time to find out more about the plot that put Mensah and the rest of the team in danger. And that means traveling to Milu, an abandoned planet that was once being terraformed by GreyCris. The SecUnit's hope is that it can finally get evidence Dr. Mensah can use against GreyCris. Evidence that will prove once and for all that the corporation is up to no good.

Unfortunately, Murderbot didn't plan for yet another group of unprepared and uninformed humans being involved. It appears someone is out to scavenge Milu and Murderbot can either attempt to avoid contact and notice or, once again, lend a hand where needed.

I really do love Murderbot. It's quite probably my absolute favorite character in fiction right now!

Above all, Murderbot has to protect itself from being caught as a free SecUnit. And people are looking for it, which makes it that much harder. Alterations in the previous installment have allowed it to mask itself a bit, but it can't avoid detection forever, especially when other bots are involved.

It would be easier if it didn't repeatedly find itself having to choose between saving people or leaving them to their own devices! Ah, the plight of a conscientious security android. Time and again, Murderbot proves that it's more than just a series of codes and programming!

If you haven't treated yourself to Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries novellas yet, do it now! I think there's probably no better science fiction out there right at this moment than this series!

Short Fiction Friday, er Saturday: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Murderbot is on the run and on a mission!

After hacking itself and being bought out by its client, Murderbot sets off on its own. It doesn't exactly have the blessing of that new owner but it doesn't care. Being beholden to humans isn't its idea of fun. And neither is not knowing its own story.

Apparently Murderbot turned on its clients during a past job - or so the story goes. As the only surviving SecUnit of an incident that's said to have been a massive malfunction, it believes the only reason it was put back into service was because it was too big of an investment to scrap. But its memory of the event in question was wiped. And given recent events, it can't be certain the story released to the public is the real thing.

But finding out the truth isn't as easy as it might seem. The site of the incident has been shuttered, the exact location wiped from record and Murderbot, because of recent publicity, isn't exactly unrecognizable. In order to get what it needs, it'll have to enlist help from an unexpected source.

Ooh, Murderbot! I love Murderbot so much!

As it travels trying to find out its own past, it's on a journey that makes it more and more human with each passing day. Both literally and figuratively considering it has to change its appearance and mannerisms in this second installment in order to go undercover and pass as human.

But it keeps getting tangled up in human issues!

Murderbot hasn't exactly been treated great. Even though its memory banks are wiped with each new assignment - security for hire is what it was built for and following human orders is deeply ingrained programming for all bots and SecUnits. Witnessing how others are treated is enough for it to know that this blind submission is not something it's anxious to return to. But if anyone discovers its newfound independence, it risks being reprogrammed!

While the main character in this series is a robot, it should be obvious that it's the kind of character and story anyone can identify with. Murderbot wants to be autonomous. It doesn't want to be at the mercy of its clients' whims and fancies. Nor does it want to be responsible for actions beyond its control.

But it also doesn't want to be involved in politics. Unfortunately, it can't seem to avoid them. Murderbot, in spite of programming, has a conscience and a moral code!

Wells is a truly brilliant writer. This series, each new installment, is short and sweet but packs such a big punch in terms of both emotion and plot. I desperately want more Murderbot and can't wait for each new piece of its story to arrive!

Pre Pub Book Buzz: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Say it with me now, Murderbot! Murderbot! Murderbot!

When I started Martha Wells's All Systems Red earlier this year, I really didn't know what I was in for. Yes, the description sounded fun but I was new to Martha Wells. Aside from the fact that I've loved just about every Tor.com novella thus far, I didn't really know what to expect.

Readers, it was oh, so freaking fabulous! And now, the second installment in Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries is probably the sci fi title I'm most looking forward to at this very moment! Here's a bit about the book from Goodreads:

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”.

But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

This one doesn't come out until May, but you can tide yourself over until then by reading the first one if you haven't yet. Trust me, you want to - you're in for a huge treat!

Short Fiction Friday: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Tuesday marks the release of All Systems Red, the start of Martha Wells's newest series, The Murderbot Diaries. And if the name of the series isn't enough to catch your attention, maybe this review will!

It calls itself Murderbot. A SecUnit, assigned to protect a group of scientists involved in mapping and studying a mostly unknown planet, Murderbot spends her ample downtime binge watching shows. Of course, in order to do that in the first place, this unit had to hack her governor module. Which means it's pretty much autonomous - something its clients and the company can never find out.

Built for protection and defence, the SecUnit is a combination of organic and mechanical parts. Typically, orders and upgrades are downloaded directly, much as that of a computer. But because Murderbot has hacked its system, it can pick and choose. Which may choose to be a saving grace for both Murderbot and its humans.

All Systems Red immediately caught my attention. The synopsis, the cover art, and the always present fact that the Tor.com novellas have in large part been some of my favorite reading of late. The promise was one of fabulousness and Wells definitely came through.

Murderbot is an android. It has human pieces and robot pieces and, as we learn, a mind of its own. The people around it, as we learn, don't really understand what the 'droids are or what they're capable of. And it's clear that Murderbot's own owners (the Company) are in the same boat.

Whether others are capable of the same is unclear as Murderbot is our narrator. What is clear is that in this case, the people its been tasked to protect are a bit unlike others its worked with before. And when Murderbot saves one of them, they begin to warm to it in ways its not sure it really likes.

Of course part of the fun in this tale is the fact that Wells humanizes Murderbot. I mean, it binge watches TV! And it forms its own opinions - opinions about the people it's tasked to protect, people it's worked for in the past, even the situation on the planet. Some of that is programmed, sure, but it does become very clear early on that Murderbot has thought and even emotion capabilities well beyond what can be explained by simple programming.

I loved All Systems Red and certainly don't want to spoil the fun for you! Murderbot definitely joins the ranks of favorite 'droids and bots in SF, though, and I'm dying to read more of its "diaries."