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andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Surprise, surprise! "Artificial condition" is a different animal than expected!(And I love the direction I see it going in the future!^^)
I heard from many booktubers that this second novella wasn't as good as the first one, but I dare to disagree! >..< (I think it depends on what got you in "All Systems Red")
I believe that Martha Wells wanted to create a world for Murderbot to explore why he is the way he is; why he makes choices that he could very well avoid and live perfectly given the setting and how all that speaks to us, the readers....after all, this universe is perfect for someone as him...literary antisocial and hyper-anxious!
<b>I WILL MAKE A STATEMENT! In this moment, my hot take on Murderbot is the following: this character is as much a stand-in for people to recognize themselves in, as he is a way to explore and talk about the human psyche!</b>...only time and reading more in this series will validate my opinion (maybe..>..>..this interesting focus of the story may just be a one-off moment for Wells)
Coming back to the novella, Murderbot makes an interesting decision at the end of the first installment. In this one, we get to meet ART (a rather annoying and emotionally fragile deep space research vessel - according to our MC..>..>) as the protagonist decides he wants to find out what led him in the previous situations and if his suspicions are valid( yey! ^^ we get to see the overarching plot! ^^) -> hence, mistery plotline engaged! Prepare for WARP!>..< (Star Trek reference here...nothing in common with the actual plot, in case anyone is confused..>..>)
Problems that are still there: besides Murderbot and ART, the other 4 characters: Rami, Maro, Tapan and Tlacey; are somewhat stale and one dimensional. If "Artificial Condition" were a novel, I would have had a bigger problem with this, but if we take into consideration the length, the amount of time in which we explore both Murderbot's psyche and issues AND a different character(ART); the well constructed action and intrigue; I will give it a yellow card instead of a red one...after all...it's a novella.(plus, the characters were ok, the interactions believable, AND, most importantly...we see them as our MC sees them...and we get to know and care about them only as Murderbot does...something that mirrors actual human life..we don't get to see highly complex and sofisticated people too much because we really don't care to spend so much time and effort on info that is ultimately irrelevant to us...)
A lovely surprise was the ComfortUnit we got to see and interact with. Not only we have a bigger mistery, it introduced tension in the story with Tlacey and our group of naive researchers, but it also gave us another important glimpse in the society of Murderbot's world!
Now we came to the moment in which i give <b>content warnings</b>: slavery for sexual reasons exemplified through a character entire motif to exist, discrimination based on status and occupation, violence and/or physical abuse and death.
I cannot wait to learn more through Murderbot's eyes! At the end of our side quest with the new humans...MC got some answers..some, it didn't like, and some left him confused as to "WHY?". It also grew as a person and managed to make a reliable connection!
This series seems to enstablish itself (in my eyes) as more world and close-up first person narrative with a big mistery, than plot-driven and high on action.
In conclusion, this second novella is more of a character study and exploration with interesting questions being asked than a mistery solving one, or a high action-high stakes narrative. If you were attracted to the character and world, I think you'll enjoy this one even better than the first! But if you came for the mistery, space action and other things than self-exploration...not so much...I still think you'll like it (based on the premise you enjoyed the first story), but yeah...this one may not be for you.
Before I forget, I switched to audiobooks narrated by Kevin R. Free and I must say I really think this is the way to go for this series!
Enjoy
I heard from many booktubers that this second novella wasn't as good as the first one, but I dare to disagree! >..< (I think it depends on what got you in "All Systems Red")
I believe that Martha Wells wanted to create a world for Murderbot to explore why he is the way he is; why he makes choices that he could very well avoid and live perfectly given the setting and how all that speaks to us, the readers....after all, this universe is perfect for someone as him...literary antisocial and hyper-anxious!
<b>I WILL MAKE A STATEMENT! In this moment, my hot take on Murderbot is the following: this character is as much a stand-in for people to recognize themselves in, as he is a way to explore and talk about the human psyche!</b>...only time and reading more in this series will validate my opinion (maybe..>..>..this interesting focus of the story may just be a one-off moment for Wells)
Coming back to the novella, Murderbot makes an interesting decision at the end of the first installment. In this one, we get to meet ART (a rather annoying and emotionally fragile deep space research vessel - according to our MC..>..>) as the protagonist decides he wants to find out what led him in the previous situations and if his suspicions are valid( yey! ^^ we get to see the overarching plot! ^^) -> hence, mistery plotline engaged! Prepare for WARP!>..< (Star Trek reference here...nothing in common with the actual plot, in case anyone is confused..>..>)
Problems that are still there: besides Murderbot and ART, the other 4 characters: Rami, Maro, Tapan and Tlacey; are somewhat stale and one dimensional. If "Artificial Condition" were a novel, I would have had a bigger problem with this, but if we take into consideration the length, the amount of time in which we explore both Murderbot's psyche and issues AND a different character(ART); the well constructed action and intrigue; I will give it a yellow card instead of a red one...after all...it's a novella.(plus, the characters were ok, the interactions believable, AND, most importantly...we see them as our MC sees them...and we get to know and care about them only as Murderbot does...something that mirrors actual human life..we don't get to see highly complex and sofisticated people too much because we really don't care to spend so much time and effort on info that is ultimately irrelevant to us...)
A lovely surprise was the ComfortUnit we got to see and interact with. Not only we have a bigger mistery, it introduced tension in the story with Tlacey and our group of naive researchers, but it also gave us another important glimpse in the society of Murderbot's world!
Now we came to the moment in which i give <b>content warnings</b>: slavery for sexual reasons exemplified through a character entire motif to exist, discrimination based on status and occupation, violence and/or physical abuse and death.
I cannot wait to learn more through Murderbot's eyes! At the end of our side quest with the new humans...MC got some answers..some, it didn't like, and some left him confused as to "WHY?". It also grew as a person and managed to make a reliable connection!
This series seems to enstablish itself (in my eyes) as more world and close-up first person narrative with a big mistery, than plot-driven and high on action.
In conclusion, this second novella is more of a character study and exploration with interesting questions being asked than a mistery solving one, or a high action-high stakes narrative. If you were attracted to the character and world, I think you'll enjoy this one even better than the first! But if you came for the mistery, space action and other things than self-exploration...not so much...I still think you'll like it (based on the premise you enjoyed the first story), but yeah...this one may not be for you.
Before I forget, I switched to audiobooks narrated by Kevin R. Free and I must say I really think this is the way to go for this series!
Enjoy
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual violence and Physical abuse
tungstenmouse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Violence
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