Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Schémas artificiels by Martha Wells

185 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

Another cozy sci-fi novella! I enjoyed this one a lot but it didn’t have the same draw as the first one in the series. I’m so excited to start the next one!
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waterwolves's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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etherealisnt's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I made it back here! 

I guess you can’t tell a story from the point of view of something that you don’t think has a point of view. 

Murderbot is such a fun series to read and I find it very amusing. I'm glad to be back and, once again, excited for the adventures ahead!
This time Murderbot goes back to the mining facility where it went rogue to find out what really happened. Murderbot teams up with ART (aka Asshole Research Transport) and their duo is just perfect! I don't know what it is, but I was a tad sad to see them go their separate ways. I do hope that we get to see ART again in later installments!

 For my entire existence, at least the parts I could remember, I had done nothing but accept the inevitable. I was tired of it. 

Murderbot is undoubtedly more human-like than before, it has a personality and to some extent even a moral compass. I love reading about it's thoughts and opinions, how it becomes a human - always evolving and growing as a person. And still as relatable as ever!
 
Sometimes people do things to you that you can’t do anything about. You just have to survive it and go on. 

It's been a while, since I started this book and truth be told, I don't remember the beginning that much anymore, only bits and pieces. The ending was definitely a quicker and more enjoyable part, but I'm not sure why the beginning was such a struggle, since now it seems like a really great story. Ready for more in the future either way! (Please, ART, I miss you and Murderbot!)

There was a huge difference between knowing something happened and seeing the reality of it. 
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syinhui's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

The systems of constructs are inherently inferior to advanced bots, but you aren’t stupid.
Yeah, well, fuck you, too, I thought, and initiated a shutdown sequence.

I enjoyed this second novella for the most part. Murderbot and ART's interactions are fascinating and honestly super adorable.

Murderbot calls it 'asshole' because, aside from being extremely introverted and painfully awkward, they can be surprisingly petty and ill-tempered too. Thus, the occasional f-bombs and voiced-out sarcasm. Hooray for free will!

I particularly liked the first half, but then again when the humans got involved, it all fell a bit flat for me. The conclusion was a tad underwhelming, though dear Murderbot managed to kick some ass, which was pretty cool of them.

It's a little disappointing that the human characters seem to take a step back, allowing Murderbot's endearing personality to shine even more. I'm not sure if that's intentional, but this could've been a lot better were the human characters not as averagely written and portrayed as stupid (suicidal and irrational) as Murderbot often thinks they are. Still, I'm following. It's short and fun, a sci-fi series easy enough to digest in one sitting.
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madkatrob's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

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bickleyhouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

All Systems Red, the first Murderbot book, was a five-star read for me. This one, the second installment, while enjoyable, wasn't quite as good for me as the first one. It was still good, though, and I definitely plan on continuing the series, as well as checking out some of Martha Wells's other work.

In Artificial Condition, Murderbot, who went AWOL at the end of book one, is trying to figure out how to get to RaviHyral, which is the "scene of the crime" that resulted in Murderbot's governor module being hacked. Allegedly, Murderbot sort of lost its mind and killed a bunch of people in the mine. Murderbot wants to go back there to try to find out what really happened.

It manages to convince a bot to let it on a transport ship, where it plans to watch hundreds of hours of its favorite serial media programs. But the bot that is piloting that ship turns out to be more than expected. At the beginning, Murderbot is threatened by the transport bot, but they wind up watching the shows together. The bot winds up being referred to as ART (Asshole Research Transport), and Murderbot and ART develop quite the relationship as the story progresses.

If you aren't familiar with the series, Murderbot is an extreme introvert and doesn't enjoy contact with other beings, especially humans. It gets quite upset when it makes eye contact with people, and simply doesn't enjoy being around them. It's not a hostility at all. Murderbot simply doesn't like it.

The plot moves on as Murderbot hooks up with a group of people who are also going to RaviHyral. It becomes their "security consultant," which gives it an excuse to be there. And that's as far as I will go in revealing plot.

I still enjoyed Ms. Wells's writing style in this book. It seems to move along pretty quickly and doesn't get boring, and I'm not sure I can quite identify why I didn't enjoy this one as much. I think it may have to do with the story, itself, more than the writing. Once everyone gets to RaviHyral, though, and we get into the real essence of the plot, it's much better. So the second half of the book was as enjoyable as the first book. And, since it is a very short book, just over 150 pages, that doesn't seem that long.

There is plenty of the sarcastic/sardonic humor that I love in this series, with giggles and chuckles on almost every page. There is plenty of action, as well, as the story progresses. And I really love Murderbot's mental struggles, as the story is written in first person, from the perspective of Murderbot, so we get a first-hand glimpse of everything it is feeling. We also get introduced to one of the "Comfort Units" (aka SexBot) in this story. But there is no sexual content at all, as this particular Comfort Unit has a different purpose in the plot. 

I look forward to reading more Murderbot stories.
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lorien13's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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lindsayerin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

3.5

I like this book, but I didn’t have as much action as the first one. I did really like the exploration of how the bot thinks about themselves in terms of being human, artificial intelligence, being an object and a tool versus its own entity.

this second novella reads a bit like a side-story. Plot-wise it was very thin. I’ve got the feeling this series would be better suited to be read as a novel. 
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cozyscones's review against another edition

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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

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