A review by mkmcelroy
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book really blew me away and I’m tempted to say I liked it better than the first in the series. There were two aspects of the book that really put it over the top into 5 stars for me. The first was Murderbot’s growing self awareness. This book Murderbot’s a little more stressed, a bit more on edge. And we get to see much more of how that physically and psychologically manifests in a construct. Murderbot’s growing recognition of how it feels and the ways its “organic material” reacts was fascinating. The other highlight of the book was the introduction of ART as a character. Not only do we get to see a lot more about how AIs work/think/feel in this universe but the dynamic between Murderbot and ART is endlessly amusing. 

For anyone who’s read All Systems Red, i highly recommend this book. And for anyone who hasn’t I recommend you read both :)