A review by cjwitch
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

adventurous emotional funny sad 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

4.75

Dammit! How dare this fun relatable little book about bots and constructs make me cry! 

As ever, Murderbot continues to be the most relatable character I’ve ever come across. 

In Rogue Protocol, Murderbot faces its first encounter with humans and bots who genuinely care about each other and that gives it all sorts of emotions that it’s unsure how to process. 

Miki, the bot friend of the local humans, is so pure and wonderful. Murderbot seeing Miki’s trust (which comes from having never been abused by humans) had me wanting to sob. Poor Murderbot needs some therapy and a LONG vacation. 

I will say that this book was a bit slower than the previous two. I didn’t see that as a negative, because it built the tension in the abandoned station, but someone who prefers the faster pacing of the first two books might want the heads up on the pacing change. At about the 60%, everything speeds up again for the conclusion.