Artificial Condition
Murderbot Diaries Book 2.0
ISBN 9781250186928
eISBN 9781250186935
ASIN B075DGHHQL
I read the first volume in this series over three years ago, I had picked up this second instalment but it got lost in the plethora of new books from Christmas and birthday gift cards. I stumbled upon it late one night when I couldn’t sleep and was scrolling way down in my ‘to be read pile’ and started reading it. I finished it in under 20 hours reading during three sittings. And now I am desperate to read the next instalment in the series. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Prior to reading that first book I had never heard of Martha Wells, but author Arthur Slade mentioned his on social media. And specifically, he mentioned that first book, which he had just finished. I have read a few books over the years that Art has plugged and have never been disappointed. And that was the case that time as well. I bought and read book 1 while sitting in PICU after my son had spinal surgery. When I picked it up, I did not realize that it was part of a series. Let alone this long. A series, but it gives me several more books to look forward to that year, or at least that was the plan. It is in many ways a classic science fiction tale. It reminds me of stories I read a lot of in my youth but only pick up from time to time now. The description of this second instalment is:
“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…”
Our hero was formerly property. But It was being given some freedom, and decided just to go on a quest. It is in search of answers and answers that can only be found one place. The answers will hopefully unlock some memories and help us understand why it calls itself Murderbot. But in order to facilitate the journey it goes through some physical alterations, and it takes on some clients acting as security personnel. But wait that is after an encounter with a very intelligent and powerful ship!
Yet again very quickly things go wrong, the humans have data they desperately want to recover. And Are willing to risk a lot for that data. Soon Murderbot finds itself looking out for them in ways well above and beyond the contractual agreement. The story uncovers some of the past, but not all questions are answered and maybe even more are raised.
There is some great action, but not as much as this first, in many ways this read more like a space noir. It is more detective and leg work, and lots of time to think between periods of action. Some more excellent character development, and a very sound story line in this second volume.
In the first book I highlighted a few passages:
“I COULD HAVE BECOME a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don’t know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.”
And the second:
“The sense of urgency just wasn’t there. Also, you may have noticed, I don’t care.”
That one alone made me think of James Bolivar diGriz, Slippery Jim aka The Stainless Steel Rat. And as you can tell from the first, it is a thinking book. Not just fluff to entertain. That feeling was even stronger with this second offering.
The story in some ways reminds me of the Stainless Steel Rat Series by Harry Harrison. And in other ways it reminds me of Starship Troopers by Heinlein. The action and mystery reminds me of the rat. And the deep reflective internal dialogue of Rico. It was another great read in what is shaping up to be an excellent series.
Books by Martha Wells:
The Murderbot Diaries:
0.5 Compulsory
1.0 All Systems Red
3.0 Rogue Protocol
4.0 Exit Strategy
4.5 Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
5.0 Network Effect
6.0 Fugitive Telemetry
7.0 System Collapse
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