Murderbot–a self-liberated Security robot–is trying to flee Human space. But, he has a way to go. Murderbot manages to find a place aboard a transport ship but suspects this could be a mistake when the human passengers bring a lot of armament with them. Rogue Protocol continues the story of an Artificial Intelligence who critiques humans and human activity on practically every page. Another corporate plot powers the novella (153 pages) as Murderbot meets Miki, a robot who presents hope and danger. Then all Hell breaks loose! If you’re in the mood for something Very Different, you might want to try Martha Wells’s Murderbot series. GRADE: B+
You can read my review of All Systems Red here and my review of Artificial Condition here. For a detailed interview with Martha Wells, just click here.
I liked the first one a lot but had to return the second one because I had too many other books from the library at the time. I like that they are short.
Jeff, I’ve read each of the Murderbot novellas–ALL SYSTEMS RED, ARTIFICIAL CONDITION, and ROGUE PROTOCOL–in one sitting. I read in the latest issue of LOCUS that Martha Wells has just signed a contract to write two more books in this series.
Must be long sittings, though I forget you can read several books a day. I’m not a fan of Wells after trying her other series and finding it confusing and poorly plotted, though in fairness I came into the middle of that series.
Rick, I think Martha Wells has struck Gold with these Murderbot stories. I wasn’t a fan of her STAR WARS novel, RAZOR’S EDGE. But these TOR novellas hit just the right pitch of mayhem and humor.
It was one of the Raksura novels I tried.
Rick, I know what you mean about the Raksura stories. They’re not my favorites of Martha Wells’s work. In the LOCUS interview, Wells says she had trouble getting them published because there are no humans in those stories.
Weather update: another day in the 90s. We’re setting records. the smoke is so bad that yesterday visibility was under a mile. They’re warning us to stay inside if we can. The air quality is a notch above “unhealthy” to “dangerous”. Wildfire collateral damage. Arrgh.
Rick, people in Western NY think they’re suffering with high humidity and 90-degree temps. But we don’t have any wildfires and “dangerous” air to contend with! Hope you get some rain soon!
You know it’s bad when “unhealthy” isn’t bad enough. We’ve been having cooler but very rainy weather since the weekend, but we’re back to 90 starting today.
Jeff, we’re hot and humid today, too. No Ozone warning yet.
I checked, the level above Unhealthy is Very Unhealthy, not dangerous. But still. Yuck. Rain is in the forecast for…mid September.
Rick, the rain keeps missing us. We’re below Average on Rainfall this summer. We’ve just been hot, dry, and humid. Double Yuck!
Normal rainfall here the first half of August is just over two inches. We’re over SIX and a half so far. And that’s just the official measuring station in Central Park. Parts of New Jersey are much, much worse, getting six to eight inches of rain in a few HOURS.
Jeff, you’re getting all the rain that’s missing us!
George –
I
too read all three Murderbot novellas – the first one about 6 months ago, the last two in the last three weeks. I really liked them all. A lot. Very worthwhile reading and I want more.
Scott, I read in LOCUS that Martha Wells signed a contract to produce more Murderbot novels. And she just won a HUGO for Best Novella for ALL SYSTEMS RED!