A review by wardenred
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

adventurous funny medium-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

4.75

Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas.

Why ever did I take such a long break with this series? It's so fun. Granted, this particular installment feels a bit like a side-quest: on one hand, Murderbot is still trying to get more information to help it figure out the Dr. Mensah situation... on the other hand, it's *still* trying to do that. While it already did that in the previous book. I certainly hope the next novella is going to bring more overarching plot development.

That aside, I greatly enjoyed spending more time in this cyberpunk-ish universe and to delve into all the complications of the relationships between its AI and human denizens. Given that we now live in a world where the word "AI" is no longer anything out of a sci-fi novel, some of these themes are feeling more relevant (in vaguely frightening ways). I appreciated seeing Murderbot get a bigger and bigger sense of independent selfhood, found myself cackling more than one at its deadpan narration, and found it only a little unsettling just how damn much I relate to its experiences with human interactions. Seriously. Some of its thoughts about humans had me withdrawing from the book so I could have an emotion.

Kind of found myself missing ART from the previous book. Milo wasn't anywhere nearly as entertaining and honestly more than a little unsettling, but I suspect I was mean to be unsettled by this bot's whole deal. Also, the action was really fun, but mostly, I was here for the character growth and the interactions, and I got plenty of that. Definitely going to pick up the next book much sooner!
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