Witch King by Martha Wells

Title: Witch King

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tordotcom 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 415

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.

I finally picked this one up and unfortunately, it was a disappointment. I adore Wells’s Muderbot series and was hoping for more intriguing characters and adventures. This one is very lackluster in comparison. Kai was okay, but I didn’t really get his appeal throughout the book. There’s a lot of telling us that he’s very charming and charismatic, but we just don’t see it. He’s a morose, moping witch king throughout most of this book. The side characters are much more interesting, but we see precious little of some of them. The characters I could deal with. What ended up tanking this one for me was the complicated world building. Wells dumps the read straight in without much explanation. Okay, I can deal with that. But then proceeds to never really explain anything. The most clear explanations we get are when the child Kai rescues asks a direct question. Otherwise, we’re really left in the dark. I had trouble even visualizing a lot of what was going on throughout the chapters. I never really felt like I was immersed in this world. I felt like I was thrown in without a life raft. Not my cup of tea.

Next up on the TBR pile:

System Collapse by Martha Wells

Title: System Collapse (Murderbot Diaries #7)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2023

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 245

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.

This definitely should have just been the second half of Network Effect in that it picks up right after that book ends. We finally get to see the end to the story about the alien contamination on the planet. I was intrigued by the back-and-forth between Murderbot’s team and the Barish-Estranza team. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t have the snark and fun side commentary that I really enjoy about the Murderbot stories. I just wasn’t as connected to the story as I wanted to be.

Murderbot Diaries:

Next up on the TBR pile:

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Title: Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot Diaries #6)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 172

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

Apparently I did read this one when it came out, but completely forgot the plot. While it is #6 in the series, chronologically the story belongs between Exit Strategy and Network Effect. We are right back on Preservation Station solving a seemingly impossible murder. Of course Murderbot is stuck in the middle making sure the humans don’t die. This felt like a strange little side adventure and didn’t include much snark from Muderbot. The snark is why I read this series. Oh well.

Murderbot Diaries:

Next up on the TBR pile:

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Title: Network Effect (Murderbot Diaries #5)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2020

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 346

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century.
I’m usually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are.
When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
Drastic action it is, then.

Oh Murderbot! I can’t believed I’ve finished all the books that have been published. I just want to sink further into this world and see Murderbot’s evolution and search for an identity. This first, full-length novel dives back into the story and reintroduces many beloved characters. We get to see Murderbot move forward in its relationships with humans and non-humans alike. Plus we get a great long-form action sequence in the last third of the book. As usual, my favorite part of the book was the little asides from Murderbot. The parenthetical statements are the best and occasionally made me laugh out loud. Such fun!

Murderbot Diaries:

Next up on the TBR pile:

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Title: Exit Strategy (Murderbot Diaries #4)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2018

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 176

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.
But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?
And what will become of it when it’s caught?

Oh what a ride! I wish that I had planned my week better so I could have read this in one sitting. Unfortunately I had to break it up into two reading sessions. We get the return of some previous characters and learn more about what GrayCris has been doing. Murderbot’s narration has continued to entertain me on every page. I love the little asides and commentary on human life. My favorite part was definitely the reboot process. Fascinating to watch Murderbot understand who they are. I must read the next one (a full length novel!) soon.

Murderbot Diaries:

#1 All Systems Red
#2 Artificial Condition
#3 Rogue Protocol
#4 Exit Strategy
#5 Network Effect
#6 Fugitive Telemetry

Next up on the TBR pile:

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Title: Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries #3)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2018

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 150

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

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

Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Oh Yes! This series just keeps getting better and better. I sped through this volume enjoying every quip from Murderbot and every action sequence. There’s not a deep plot to this one, but we do get more information on the larger conspiracy afoot. Plus we get to see Murderbot interact with another group of humans and bots in an attempt to figure out their identity. So good! I’ll be quickly picking up the next novella.

Murderbot Diaries:

#1 All Systems Red
#2 Artificial Condition
#3 Rogue Protocol
#4 Exit Strategy
#5 Network Effect
#6 Fugitive Telemetry

Next up on the TBR pile:

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Title: Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2018

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 149

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.
Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.
What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

I’m again loving the Muderbot’s narration of space adventures. We get a bit more of the overreaching storyline, but mainly focus on an encounter with a collective and a devious company agent. I can’t wait to see what happens next. I hope we get more ART in future books and more of Murderbot attempting to pass for human. Very entertaining!

Murderbot Diaries:

#1 All Systems Red
#2 Artificial Condition
#3 Rogue Protocol
#4 Exit Strategy
#5 Network Effect
#6 Fugitive Telemetry

Next up on the TBR pile:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Title: All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2017

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 155

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

I picked this up as a free download from Tor.com and absolutely loved it so much! We get a concise novella following a “murderbot” as it navigates it’s latest work assignment that goes wrong. I loved getting into the mind of the SecUnit but especially loved it’s voice. Such fun to listen to it’s stream of consciousness and journey. I sped through this adventure story in just a few hours and can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Murderbot Diaries:

#1 All Systems Red
#2 Artificial Condition
#3 Rogue Protocol
#4 Exit Strategy
#5 Network Effect
#6 Fugitive Telemetry

Next up on the TBR pile: