{"id":26674,"date":"2026-05-05T20:19:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=26674"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:09:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T23:09:38","slug":"platform-decay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26674","title":{"rendered":"Platform Decay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Platform Decay<\/em><\/a> (2026) Martha Wells<\/a> (The Murderbot Diaries #8)<\/p>\n

\"Platform<\/a>Why yes, I did read this in its entirety on the day it came out.<\/p>\n

The story opens with Murderbot and Three infiltrating a Torus where Barish-Estranza (from Network Effect<\/em> and System Collapse<\/em>) has a large presence. <\/p>\n

This is a rescue mission, but you’re a good way in before you know who Murderbot is attempting to rescue, and even further along until you learn why.<\/p>\n

Although there aren’t a lot of them, I quite enjoyed the interactions between Murderbot and Three.<\/p>\n

You can just talk<\/em>, I told Three. I pinged the shuttle to let it know we were in place, then tapped the cargo bot\u2019s internal feed and slipped past its wall. Before the bot finished querying me as to what the hell we were doing on its back, I removed its memory of the proximity alert and told it everything was fine, just keep following its schedule. We aren\u2019t pretending to be a SecUnit<\/em>, I added to Three, we\u2019re pretending not to be a SecUnit<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even better, Murderbot had to deal with small people.<\/p>\n

Sofi talked at me for thirty-two minutes about seven completely different individual subjects, then fell asleep again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Normally, most of the people Murderbot has to deal with are in positions of authority where they have to act responsibly and think before they act and they speak. Here Murderbot gets to rescue someone who has zero fucks to give, and it was delightful.<\/p>\n

“Give me a gun, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d (person) and I both said at the same time. I had a drone circling and I could see that neither of us had taken our eyes off the human guard or changed expressions. He was starting to sweat.<\/p>\n

Sofi, tired and sleepy, leaned against Naja. \u201cNanna, you\u2019re not allowed to shoot anybody anymore, second mom told you, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n

Naja patted her absently. \u201cSecond mom isn\u2019t here right now.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are, of course, all the horrors of the Corporation and the various corporations who run the Corporation Rim. And they’re just as awful as you’ve come to expect.<\/p>\n

As expected, I enjoyed the hell out of this, even if I did zip through it quickly.<\/p>\n

That just means I have to get the audio book so I can catch things I missed. (Oh good, Kevin R. Free is the narrator!)<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Murderbot, Three, Farai, Naja, Sofi, Supervisor Leonide, Tula, Janity, Supervisor Tillweather<\/p>\n

Cover art by Jaime Jones<\/p>\n

Publisher: Tor<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Platform Decay (2026) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #8) Why yes, I did read this in its entirety on the day it came out. The story opens with Murderbot and Three infiltrating a Torus where Barish-Estranza (from Network Effect and System Collapse) has a large presence. This is a rescue mission, but you’re a good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,189,292,207,608,148,25],"tags":[219,218,212],"class_list":["post-26674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-ace","category-ebook","category-mental-health-rep","category-neurodiversity","category-queer","category-science-fiction","tag-martha-wells","tag-murderbot","tag-ptsd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6We","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14206,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14206","url_meta":{"origin":26674,"position":0},"title":"Exit Strategy","author":"Michelle","date":"April 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT! (Possibly I was overthinking this. I do that; it\u2019s 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Exit Strategy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Exit-Strategy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Exit-Strategy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Exit-Strategy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Exit-Strategy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22136,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22136","url_meta":{"origin":26674,"position":1},"title":"Compulsory","author":"Michelle","date":"August 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Compulsory (2023) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT SHORT STORY Thank you Tania! <3 Publisher: Subterranean Press","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Compulsory","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Compulsory.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Compulsory.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Compulsory.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19425,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19425","url_meta":{"origin":26674,"position":2},"title":"Fugitive Telemetry","author":"Michelle","date":"December 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2019t have to think about what I was, a construct made of cloned human tissue, augments, anxiety, depression,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fugitive Telemetry","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Fugitive-Telemetry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20043,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20043","url_meta":{"origin":26674,"position":3},"title":"Exit Strategy","author":"Michelle","date":"June 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) I love Murderbot, but I also love the other tech. Ship\u2019s drones gathered to watch me, confused as to why I was going out the wrong door and beeping sadly about it. Ship\u2019s feed and system codes were trashed, but bot pilot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Exit Strategy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Exit-Strategy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18379,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18379","url_meta":{"origin":26674,"position":4},"title":"Network Effect","author":"Michelle","date":"October 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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: \u201cYou trust it that much?\u201d Mensah: \u201cWith my life, literally. I know what it will do to protect her, and you, and the rest of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Network-Effect-A-Murderbot-Novel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Network-Effect-A-Murderbot-Novel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Network-Effect-A-Murderbot-Novel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Network-Effect-A-Murderbot-Novel.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Network-Effect-A-Murderbot-Novel.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Network-Effect-A-Murderbot-Novel.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14052,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14052","url_meta":{"origin":26674,"position":5},"title":"Rogue Protocol","author":"Michelle","date":"March 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rogue Protocol","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Rogue-Protocol.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26674"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26679,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26674\/revisions\/26679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}