Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (2025) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #2.5) Did I read this online when it first came out? Yes I did. But I read it again once I downloaded the copy Tania gifted me to my ereader. Because even if there is no appearance of Murderbot, it’s still a Murderbot story. […]
System Collapse, Audiobook (2023) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R Free (Murderbot Diaries #7) I still felt radically off my game and I was hoping for reassurance rather than statistics that confirmed that I was correct in thinking that everything sucked right now. (According to Martyn, ART is of course capable of doing its own […]
Fugitive Telemetry, Audiobook (2021) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R Free (The Murderbot Diaries #6) I guess if you were really determined, you could find a way to get yourself killed by exposing the power connectors under the panels and shielding and, I don’t know, licking them or something, “What controlled circumstances?” I said, “Isolated […]
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2015) Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #1) Truthfully, I feel a little bad. I know this series is a favorite of so many people, but as interesting as it was, I just didn’t love it the way everyone else does. Possibly it’s because SF is often hard for me […]
Fugitive Telemetry, Audiobook (2021) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R Free (The Murderbot Diaries #6) Characters: Dr. Mensah, Pin-Lee, Lutran, Dr. Ratthi, Gurathin, Senior Officer Indah, Tech Tural, Officer Doran, Officer Aylen, PA Supervisor Gamila, Officer Farid, Officer Tifany, Tellus, Balin, JollyBaby, Soire, Mish, Matif, Fenn, Miro Publisher: Recorded Books Rating: 9.5/10
Network Effect, Audiobook (2020) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R Free (The Murderbot Diaries #5) Characters: Dr. Arada, Overse, Dr. Thiago, Dr. Mensah, Dr. Ratthi, Dr. Bharadwaj, Amena, Pin-Lee, Farai, Tano, Copilot Mihail, Specialist Rajpreet, Pilot Roa, Adjat, Remy, Hanifa, Kanti, Perihelion/ART, Eletra, Ras, Officer Tifany, Senior Officer Indah, Supervisor Leonide, Martyn, Karime, Turi, Seth, […]
Exit Strategy, Audiobook (2018) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #4) Ship’s drones gathered to watch me, confused as to why I was going out the wrong door and beeping sadly about it. (Humans never think to tell their bots things like, say, don’t respond to random individuals wandering the outside […]
Rogue Protocol, Audiobook (2018) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #3) Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really thought its humans were its friends, because that’s how they treated it. I signaled Miki I would be […]
Artificial Condition, Audiobook (2018) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #2) (Constructs sometimes fall under the same category as bots, sometimes under the same category as deadly weapons. (FYI, that is not a good category to be in.)) How the hell was I supposed to know there were transports sentient enough […]
All Systems Red, Audiobook (2017) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #1) The hostile that had just exploded up out of the ground had a really big mouth, so I felt I needed a really big gun. So we didn’t lose our ramp when the hostile came up under it, big […]
System Collapse (2023) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7) (According to Martyn, ART is of course capable of doing its own accounting, but it always ends up with extra numbers that no one can trace. So now Turi does it and has to keep a hardcopy ledger because otherwise ART would alter their data. No […]
Fugitive Telemetry (2021) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) The bag had lights but turning them on would just be stupid plus I didn’t really want to see what was happening. Farid came into the room, spotted me, and came over to say, “Uh, we’re making tea. Do you—” I paused my feed and told […]
Network Effect (2020) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #5) Thiago: “You trust it that much?” Mensah: “With my life, literally. I know what it will do to protect her, and you, and the rest of the team. Of course, it has its faults. In fact, it’s probably listening to us right now. Are you listening, […]
Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4) Ship’s drones gathered to watch me, confused as to why I was going out the wrong door and beeping sadly about it. I “liked” these clothes. Maybe I actually liked them enough to remove the quotation marks around “liked.” I was having an emotion, and I […]
Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #3) (There needs to be an error code that means “I received your request but decided to ignore you.”) Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really thought its humans were its friends, […]
Artificial Condition (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #2) Constructs sometimes fall under the same category as bots, sometimes under the same category as deadly weapons. (FYI, that is not a good category to be in. I could feel ART metaphorically clutch its function. I closed the story by reflex, like that would make it […]
All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #1) I said, “It’s part of my job, not to listen to the System feeds when they . . . make mistakes.” That’s why you need constructs, SecUnits with organic components. But she should know that. Before she accepted delivery of me, she had logged about […]
System Collapse (2023) Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT! This story picks up immediately following the events of Network Effect–ART and Murderbot are trying to keep their humans safe from the Barish-Estranza corporation while forging a planetary charter and waiting for reinforcement from ART’s university. It’s going as it always does for Murderbot. So the next […]
Fugitive Telemetry (2021) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) The bag had lights but turning them on would just be stupid plus I didn’t really want to see what was happening. Targets Two and Four had been giving very convincing descriptions of their cargo route. Clearly they had taken some effort to get their stories straight. […]
Network Effect (2020) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) There is a protocol for meeting humans who are not clients but who are associated with clients, and that protocol will apply here. Before I can speak, Ratthi waves and says, “Hello, hello. Perihelion says you’ve disabled your governor module. I’m Ratthi, and this is Amena. Please […]
Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) In the shows, I saw humans comfort each other all the time at moments like this. I had never wanted that and I still didn’t. (Touching while rendering assistance, shielding humans from explosions, etc., is different.) But I was the only one here, so I braced myself […]
Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) The core cutter had powered up and accessed my feed to deliver a canned warning and a handy set of directions. Why yes, I did want to disengage the safety protocols, thanks for asking. In another twenty seconds, they were all my new drone friends. I had […]
Artificial Condition (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Calm down, ART said, not helpfully. I closed the story by reflex, like that would make it not exist. After three seconds of shock, I made myself open it again. My human parts were experiencing a cold prickling that wasn’t comfortable. This place was creepy. I reminded […]
All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) I was depressed this morning. I’d tried watching some new serials last night and even they couldn’t distract me; reality was too intrusive. Gurathin turned to me. “So you don’t have a governor module, but we could punish you by looking at you.” I looked at […]
The Hound of Justice (2019) Claire O’Dell (The Janet Watson Chronicles) When I read it, I was drawn into A Study in Honor despite the fact it was really not the kind of book I enjoy. The same is true this time. Janet Watson is settling into her position at Georgetown–although she isn’t yet cleared […]
Network Effect, Audio Edition (2020) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free MURDERBOT! “What is that thing?” Target Leader demanded. “What are you? You’re a bot?” Thiago said, “It’s a security unit. A bot/ human construct.” T arget Leader didn’t seem to believe him. “Why does it look like a person?” I said, “I ask […]
Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free MURDERBOT! Publisher: Recorded Books Rating: 9.5/10
Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free MURDERBOT Publisher: Recorded Books Rating: 9.5/10
Artificial Condition (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free MURDERBOT! ART! Publisher: Recorded Books Rating: 9.5/10
All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free MURDERBOT Publisher: Recorded Books Rating: 9.5/10
Fugitive Telemetry (2021) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Murderbot solves a murder! The full station threat assessment for murder was sitting at a baseline 7 percent. (To make it drop lower than that we’d have to be on an uninhabited planet.) Why don’t you come to the hotel when you’re done and we’ll do something […]
Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) I love Murderbot, but I also love the other tech. Ship’s drones gathered to watch me, confused as to why I was going out the wrong door and beeping sadly about it. Ship’s feed and system codes were trashed, but bot pilot was already reasserting control. SecSystem […]
Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Being a SecUnit sucked. I couldn’t wait to get back to my wild rogue rampage of hitching rides on bot-piloted transports and watching my serials. Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really […]
Artificial Condition (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Murderbot! Constructs sometimes fall under the same category as bots, sometimes under the same category as deadly weapons. (FYI, that is not a good category to be in.)) So they made us smarter. The anxiety and depression were side effects. I didn’t have any parts related to […]
All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT! We’ve been listening to Network Effect and so I needed to start rereading the Murderbot Diaries. After I secured the habitat, I went back to what was called the security ready room, which was where weapons, ammo, perimeter alarms, drones, and all the other supplies […]
Fugitive Telemetry (2021) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) The Preservation Alliance is a peaceful planetary area–which is why most people don’t know what to make of Murderbot. (T)he humans on the Station wouldn’t have to think about what I was, a construct made of cloned human tissue, augments, anxiety, depression, and unfocused rage, a killing […]
Network Effect (2020) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT Murderbot has gone off on a research expedition with several of Dr Mensah’s family members. Thiago: “You trust it that much?” Mensah: “With my life, literally. I know what it will do to protect her, and you, and the rest of the team. Of course, it […]
Rogue Protocol, Audio Edition (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free (Murderbot) Murderbot, Book 3 ART’s official designation was deep space research vessel. At various points in our relationship, ART had threatened to kill me, watched my favorite shows with me, given me a body configuration change, provided excellent tactical support, talked me into […]
Artificial Condition, Audio Edition (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free More Murderbot. I didn’t care what humans were doing to each other as long as I didn’t have to a) stop it or b) clean up after it. Constructs sometimes fall under the same category as bots, sometimes under the same category as […]
All Systems Red, Audio Edition (2017) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free Murderbot. Audio version. I COULD HAVE BECOME a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or […]
Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT! (Possibly I was overthinking this. I do that; it’s the anxiety that comes with being a part-organic murderbot. The upside was paranoid attention to detail. The downside was also paranoid attention to detail.) After escaping mostly unscathed from the discovery that GrayCris had not been terraforming […]
Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT! Murderbot is still trying to figure out what happened with GrayCis corporation their teams tried to kill the group Murderbot was working for. So off Murderbot goes to look for evidence. Purely for selfish reasons, of course. If Dr. Mensah had proof of that, the investigation […]
Artificial Condition (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Murderbot wants to go back to RaviHyral Mining Facility Q Station to see if it can figure out what caused it to go rogue and kill a bunch of humans. My memory of the incident was partially purged.” SecUnit memory purges are always partial, due to the […]
All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Let me remind y’all: I generally don’t like science fiction. I just don’t. But everyone who has similar tastes to me has recommended this book so highly–and recommended it as a comfort read–I decided to see what I thought. After all, it’s a novella, not a […]
A Study in Honor (2018) Claire O’Dell (The Janet Watson Chronicles) Here’s the deal. I don’t like SF. I don’t like dystopias. But I love mysteries, and I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, although I really dislike Sherlock Holmes stories that were NOT written by ACD. So this was not going to be an easy […]
A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories (2014) edited by Kevin J. Anderson & Kieth J. Olexa I picked this collection up solely for the Patricia Briggs story, but once I saw some of the other authors, read through the stories that interested me (but skipped the ones that didn’t grab me after a […]
Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994) Jane Lindskold This is an unusual book, part fantasy, part science fiction. I generally dislike SF, but the fantasy elements are a bit heavier, and the story is mostly about Sarah–much of the technology takes place in the background until the end of the story. Budget cutbacks have […]
The Fierce Reads Anthology: A Tor.Com Original (2012) stories by Jennifer Bosworth, Marissa Meyer, Anna Banks, Emmy Laybourne, Leigh Bardugo This is an anthology of five YA stories by five YA authors with books out right now. Which means it’s free. The first story is Anna Banks’ “Legacy Lost.” Grom of Syrena and Nalia of […]
A Glass of Shadow (2011) Liz Williams Liz Williams writes stories that fall into a variety of genres at once: science fiction, fantasy, mystery. I read–and fell in love with–her Detective Inspector Chen series, and so buy her anthologies, hoping that means she’ll then be able to write more Chen stories. This volume is an […]
Basilisk (2011) Rob Thurman I know it’s strange for me, but I’ve had Basilisk sitting around unread since last August. Strange, because I love Rob Thurman’s writing, and have loved every book of her’s I’ve read. But as much as I enjoyed Chimera, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about a sequel, […]