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hawksrye's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Slavery, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Outing
Minor: Physical abuse and Grief
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
adventurous
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 was a short but entertaining read. It's the first novella in a series and I thought it did a good job setting up the world without getting too bogged down by the details. Murderbot is a great character and I enjoyed the deadpan sense of humour. I'm not going to rush to read the next one but I'll get around to it at some point.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, Gore, and Violence
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, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Gun violence
Moderate: Murder, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Gore
laurajones's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Violence, Medical content, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Slavery
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: Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Slavery, and Body horror
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.steviel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Loved this book. A great well-thought-out world, but our narrator is apathetic and funny. Interesting characters, interesting world, and a great plot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Medical content, Blood, Gun violence, and Excrement
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, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, Murder, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Slavery
octopus_farmer's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I prefer Ancillary Justice in every way but it was a nice break. It felt like an episode of a show or a miniseries in pacing and scenes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Gore
arcinzole's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gore
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-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
5.0
This review is written after a re-read. The plan is to go through all the series as a refresher for the most recent book, Fugitive Telemetry.
I still love it. This is definitely one of my comfort read series. Yes, it is short and fast paced so it flies by very quickly but it is so compelling and relatable.
Originally when I read the Murderbot Diaries it was around the time I read the Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie (both have some political intrigue plots as well if that's your jam) and this is where I think my enjoyment for overwhelmed/awkward/antisocial AI characters really bloomed. There's also some found family vibes which I adore.
I still love it. This is definitely one of my comfort read series. Yes, it is short and fast paced so it flies by very quickly but it is so compelling and relatable.
Originally when I read the Murderbot Diaries it was around the time I read the Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie (both have some political intrigue plots as well if that's your jam) and this is where I think my enjoyment for overwhelmed/awkward/antisocial AI characters really bloomed. There's also some found family vibes which I adore.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence