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skudiklier's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh my gosh! I was reading an ebook that had other books included all in the same thing, so I had no idea I was at the end of the book until it ended.
That was a really tense, fun, and interesting read, and I definitely want to read the next one in the series. I'm super interested in this world, and this character.
That was a really tense, fun, and interesting read, and I definitely want to read the next one in the series. I'm super interested in this world, and this character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Slavery, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Kidnapping
kristinewho's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Death
aralakh's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
justreadingby's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I didn't read this for the science; I finished this in one sitting because Murderbot is dry, awkward, anxious, and someone I grew to root for. The crew is equally compelling and wow, would you believe to learn that people who actually like each other and are competent workers both as individuals and as a group make for a great read?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Slavery, and Medical content
CW explained: mostly graphic depiction of gore and violence (there are fight scenes and death) but I'd say that if you like action movies like The Old Guard or a lot of Charlize Theron's filmography, then you're good. Gore includes blood and other fluids a bot may have. The human crew also briefly discusses slavery and how that they perceive its presence in Murderbot's life. Murderbot acknowledges this in the perspective of a being who has lived with this systemic oppression for all of its life.purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Decided to promote my friend Murderbot to 5 stars after a re-read. 🙂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
divine529's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
As I continue on my sci-fi journey, I knew I had to read this. Not only have I heard good things about it, but several people who know me, kept recommending it to me because they thought I'd like it, and they were right.
Normally, novellas aren't really my cup of tea, but this one was very well-paced and generally felt like a solid story. I'm not going to lie though, it did take me a little bit to settle in to the story as a whole (I loved Murderbot immediately though, but more on that in a minute), but once I did, I was hooked.
The gist of what this is about is it follows our main protagonist, Murderbot, who is a Security Unit (SecUnit) and part of this Corporation. He's part human and part robot and pretty much just wants to be left alone and not told what to do. But he's been assigned to this group of humans as their SecUnit for the duration of this contract and pretty soon things start to go wrong and they have to figure out what's going on.
Since you're in Murderbot's mind the entire story, it took a little bit to settle into the writing, since it's a bit stilted and awkward so it emulates a robot-human hybrid. Once I settled into that though, it was very fun and interesting to follow everything going on. The plot of this ended up being pretty interesting and involves a kind of murder mystery and some action which is always fun.
One thing I really struggled with with this novella was the world building. You're kind of thrown into the world and don't get a ton of information about what it's like. It takes place on another planet and there's this Corporation that controls these Units and acts as a kind of "Big Brother" almost, but you don't get much more than that. There's also a type of tier system relating to the beings. You have humans, augmented humans (humans who have computer bits in them that can alter certain functions) and then the Units who are half human and half robot. I'm still a bit confused about some of the distinctions, but I think we might learn more as the series goes on.
The strength of this was definitely the characters, but particularly Murderbot. I love Murderbot and he must be protected at all costs. He's incredibly precious and very relatable in so many ways. He really doesn't like humans and really just wants to be left alone and find his own way without being told what to do. But despite everything, the humans Murderbot ends up assigned to in this story end up being his favorite humans. I really liked 2 of the side characters a fair bit, but I also felt like they were the two we spent the most time getting to know. I wish we got to spend more time with all of them getting to know them properly, but at it's core, this story is about Murderbot and his life and his experiences, so on some level it makes sense.
Overall, I had a really fun time with this first installment, and I'm looking forward to continuing.
Normally, novellas aren't really my cup of tea, but this one was very well-paced and generally felt like a solid story. I'm not going to lie though, it did take me a little bit to settle in to the story as a whole (I loved Murderbot immediately though, but more on that in a minute), but once I did, I was hooked.
The gist of what this is about is it follows our main protagonist, Murderbot, who is a Security Unit (SecUnit) and part of this Corporation. He's part human and part robot and pretty much just wants to be left alone and not told what to do. But he's been assigned to this group of humans as their SecUnit for the duration of this contract and pretty soon things start to go wrong and they have to figure out what's going on.
Since you're in Murderbot's mind the entire story, it took a little bit to settle into the writing, since it's a bit stilted and awkward so it emulates a robot-human hybrid. Once I settled into that though, it was very fun and interesting to follow everything going on. The plot of this ended up being pretty interesting and involves a kind of murder mystery and some action which is always fun.
One thing I really struggled with with this novella was the world building. You're kind of thrown into the world and don't get a ton of information about what it's like. It takes place on another planet and there's this Corporation that controls these Units and acts as a kind of "Big Brother" almost, but you don't get much more than that. There's also a type of tier system relating to the beings. You have humans, augmented humans (humans who have computer bits in them that can alter certain functions) and then the Units who are half human and half robot. I'm still a bit confused about some of the distinctions, but I think we might learn more as the series goes on.
The strength of this was definitely the characters, but particularly Murderbot. I love Murderbot and he must be protected at all costs. He's incredibly precious and very relatable in so many ways. He really doesn't like humans and really just wants to be left alone and find his own way without being told what to do. But despite everything, the humans Murderbot ends up assigned to in this story end up being his favorite humans. I really liked 2 of the side characters a fair bit, but I also felt like they were the two we spent the most time getting to know. I wish we got to spend more time with all of them getting to know them properly, but at it's core, this story is about Murderbot and his life and his experiences, so on some level it makes sense.
Overall, I had a really fun time with this first installment, and I'm looking forward to continuing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Murder and Injury/Injury detail
sequelmage's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This isn’t my usual type of book. I usually read long detailed books. But this was a lot of fun. I think this series will be a nice interlude between books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Murder
faesissa's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Very fast read, I enjoy the world- building Wells has created in this first piece.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is an intriguing sci-fi novella following a Security Unit named Murderbot as he's trying to do his job, avoid humans, and watch his shows.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this as many reviewers talk only about Murderbot's hobby and less about what's happening in the series, but I'm glad I picked it up for one main reason: world building.(or better said - massive potential for a epic sci-fi world!)
Martha Wells does such a great job creating as solid as it can be setting in a novella. We have the normal elements for a sci-fi: exploration, research, danger of the unknown; AND a solid fundation for an advanced society! The information is very well placed and doesn't feel spoon-fed to the reader; we get consistent and relevant information and some trivia for fun that feels organic(I really enjoy the spin on relationships in this world, although in real life I'm not a fan of that!)
I loved the concept of the Company and it's role. Maybe this is a strange admission for those of you who read this novella, but I simply loved the "political,ethical and business" part of it! :))) We all know a Company in real life that's just as important and just as flawed! ^^
In terms of plot: I think is a good start but nothing ground-breaking; this is a sci-fi mistery (or this is my impression) so I won't give any spoilers. I will mention that the ending was awesome! After reading through the action and Murderbot's interactions with the humans, I feared the author will chose a predictable ending, but no!
The atmosphere was great, the writing as well, but the characterization needed more work.This is a first book in a series, so I have faith it wil get better with time.(Yes, I will continue in the series!)
Despite the shortcomings, I really enjoyed what the author tried to explore with Murderbot's antisocial behaviour and downright fears, and his interactions with the rest of the cast(the best scenes were with Dr, Mensah and Dr. Gurathin - hope to see them in future installments!)
I gave it 4 stars mainly on the other elements besides characters(plus enjoyment), due to the fact that is really hard to create a connection in a novella with the reader for each perspective(for some of you,Murderbot will be awesome, for others, insuferrable....I think less people will take my stance and like him ok, but that is not something the author could have controlled)
As this is sci-fi, it's important to mention that realistic expectations and logic is a part of this story.(But don't think this is a dystopia and everyone tries to argue their side or whatever...it's more of: this can and will happen, it's logical to act/think this way, it's plausible to come to this conclusion type of thing)
So, if you're interested in reading from the perspective of an antisocial bot, or you want to start reading more sci-fi, this novella is perfect for you!I highly recommend this for everyone interested! Chances are that you will like it if the synopsis draws you in. :)
Enjoy
I wasn't sure what to expect from this as many reviewers talk only about Murderbot's hobby and less about what's happening in the series, but I'm glad I picked it up for one main reason: world building.(or better said - massive potential for a epic sci-fi world!)
Martha Wells does such a great job creating as solid as it can be setting in a novella. We have the normal elements for a sci-fi: exploration, research, danger of the unknown; AND a solid fundation for an advanced society! The information is very well placed and doesn't feel spoon-fed to the reader; we get consistent and relevant information and some trivia for fun that feels organic(I really enjoy the spin on relationships in this world, although in real life I'm not a fan of that!)
I loved the concept of the Company and it's role. Maybe this is a strange admission for those of you who read this novella, but I simply loved the "political,ethical and business" part of it! :))) We all know a Company in real life that's just as important and just as flawed! ^^
In terms of plot: I think is a good start but nothing ground-breaking; this is a sci-fi mistery (or this is my impression) so I won't give any spoilers. I will mention that the ending was awesome! After reading through the action and Murderbot's interactions with the humans, I feared the author will chose a predictable ending, but no!
The atmosphere was great, the writing as well, but the characterization needed more work.This is a first book in a series, so I have faith it wil get better with time.(Yes, I will continue in the series!)
Despite the shortcomings, I really enjoyed what the author tried to explore with Murderbot's antisocial behaviour and downright fears, and his interactions with the rest of the cast(the best scenes were with Dr, Mensah and Dr. Gurathin - hope to see them in future installments!)
I gave it 4 stars mainly on the other elements besides characters(plus enjoyment), due to the fact that is really hard to create a connection in a novella with the reader for each perspective(for some of you,Murderbot will be awesome, for others, insuferrable....I think less people will take my stance and like him ok, but that is not something the author could have controlled)
As this is sci-fi, it's important to mention that realistic expectations and logic is a part of this story.(But don't think this is a dystopia and everyone tries to argue their side or whatever...it's more of: this can and will happen, it's logical to act/think this way, it's plausible to come to this conclusion type of thing)
So, if you're interested in reading from the perspective of an antisocial bot, or you want to start reading more sci-fi, this novella is perfect for you!I highly recommend this for everyone interested! Chances are that you will like it if the synopsis draws you in. :)
Enjoy
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death