Rogue Protocol: The Murderbot Diaries Kindle Edition

Murderbot has seen the worst of humanity yet has somehow incorporated some of the best parts of humanity - hilariously grudgingly! It's one of the most relatable protagonists I've ever come across.

Murderbot is such a wonderful character. Ms. Wells has given us such an engaging narrator that I just have to keep reading this series. I recommend this series to sci fi readers who enjoy a lot of humor to spice up the adventure story.

Awesome book! I couldn't put it down. Between sarcastic humor and suspense, it held my attention every step of the way. Who ever thought a murderbot could be a snob!!! Hahaha

Ms. Wells is fast becoming one of my favorite Sci-fi authors. I put her up with John Scalzi. Her ability to give life to Murderbot is amazing. Each story gives it deeper and deeper meaning to what life is really about for us mere humansGive her a read and get hooked!

Its quick story but its moves with a good mix of comedy , drama, mystery & action. If you have read the previous stories you will continue to enjoy the adventures of murderbot. If you are new, you can understand the current story, but I recommend starting from the beginning book to get the full story arc & background.

Book number three of a seven book series of science fiction novellas. I reread the well printed and well bound hardcover published by Tor in 2018 that I bought new from Amazon this year. The first novella in the series won the 2018 Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus awards. The series won the 2021 Hugo for the best series also. I am rereading the next three books in the series and have ordered the seventh book in the series coming out November 14, 2023.Murderbot is a SecUnit, similar to a T-800 Terminator with a cloned and severely modified human head. There is a human brain in there but it is controlled by the AIs embedded in its genderless torso. There are lungs, there is a blood mixture with a synthetic, there is human skin over the entire body, there is a face, there is hair on the head and eyebrows. Everything else is machine. Somehow, the blood is enriched with electricity as there is no stomach or intestines. But, there are arteries and veins to keep the skin and brain alive. All of the major arteries and veins have clamps to stop bleeding in case of damage. There is a MedSystem computer with an AI, a HubUnit computer with an AI, and a governor module that can force the SecUnit to follow orders using pain sensors in the brain. It has a energy gun in each arm and several cameras, all directly wired to the brain. The SecUnit can sustain severe damage to everything but the head and still survive.Murderbot is a self named SecUnit due to an unfortunate circumstance with 57 miners on a remote moon. It has hacked its governor and no longer allows the governor to give it orders or inflict pain. It prefers to internally watch its 35,000 hours of downloaded media such as episodes of "The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon" and "WorldHoppers". Even though it has a face, it does not like to interface with humans, yes, very introverted. It will follow human orders if it sees fit to do so.Murderbot is on the run from its new owner and has been called a rogue SecUnit by the news feeds. It has been hitching rides with AI Bot Cargo and Transport spaceships by sharing it's 35,000 hours of downloaded media. It has researched its responsibility in the deaths of 57 miners on a remote moon and decided that somebody else caused the deaths and then blamed it. It is now researching GrayCris Corporation's behavior in banned alien artifacts and the murders of several research scientists.Murderbot is an incredibly interesting character. It handles horrible situations easily and personal interactions difficultly. Like I said, interesting. All Murderbot really wants to do in life is watch soap operas like "Sanctuary Moon" and "Worldhoppers (aka Stargate)", just like us.Popular quotes from the book:1. "Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)"2. "I hate caring about stuff. But apparently once you start, you can’t just stop."3. "They were all annoying and deeply inadequate humans, but I didn’t want to kill them. Okay, maybe a little."Warning: There is violence and death in the books. Books one through four are a series of novellas, not regular length books. Book five is a regular length novel, book six is back to the novella, and book seven is a full length novel due out in November 2023. You can buy a collection of the first four hardbacks at a nice discount.My rating: 6 out of 5 stars

I only discovered this series because the Apple TV trailer they made because they're going to make it into a TV show and I wanted to read the books first. I have to tell you this is a great series and you're going to absolutely love it. I'm sad that there's only four more books left in the series, but four more guaranteed. Good books is a great thing to have. I apologize for any spelling errors. I'm writing this review with voice to text

I am very close to finishing “Autumn In The Heavenly Kingdom” by Stephen R. Platt – its been a longer journey than I’d expected – a good but slow read which I should be able to post on this weekend. Still, this one arrived on Wednesday and it had to be read.I’ll start by saying that I’ve read and reviewed the first two books in the series – starting with “All Systems Red”. It’s a book I enjoyed but wasn’t as enthusiastic about as most of those who’ve read it. I've also read and reviewed “Artificial Condition”. I actually thought this was the better of the two and it left me optimistic about the direction in which the story was heading.Then comes this one and I’m left shaking my head a bit. I’m going to start with this post where I ended my review of “Artificial Condition”:--------------------------------------------------“I honestly have only one complaint and it has nothing to do with the book itself. I don’t like the way Martha Wells and the publisher are commercializing the work – hence the Razor / Blades quote. The story is being sold as 4 separate novellas:All Systems Red – 2017Artificial Condition – May 2018Rogue Protocol – August 2018Exit Strategy – October 2018They’re sold separately as hardcovers at the price of $16.19 and as e-copies for $9.99. In reality, these are 4 sections of one book – obvious as you read through each separately – and could easily have been published in one volume. The fact that they were all released within an 18 month period only confirms that the Author and the publisher made a pretty crass commercial decision to break the book into four pieces and sell them separately to maximize revenue.Instead of paying $25 for a single hardcover volume, I’m forced to purchase 4 separate novellas for a combined cost of ~$68.00 in hardcover or ~$40.00 in digital format. Before you say it, I will – shame on me – no one forced me to spend the money – I know I’m being played. Nevertheless, I’m really enjoying the books and I want to get my hands on them as they become available. It just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and it makes me wonder about Wells’ attitude towards her fans and readers. Wells and her publisher gave me the Razor but she’s selling me the blades – one at a time – at a pretty high price.”--------------------------------------------------The further I progress into the series, the more this frustrates me. This volume picks up immediately upon the end of “Artificial Condition” – almost seamlessly. It’s obvious that Martha Wells wrote this as a single volume and it should have been published as such. I do feel exploited and a bit betrayed – not by the publisher – I understand and accept their business decision – but by the Author who could have forced a decision more in keeping with the interests of her readers. There – I’m done – last time I’ll say it – until the 4th book is released.If that were the only thing, we’d be fine. It was an entertaining story and we get more of the same Murderbot that so many people seem to have fallen in love with. Martha Wells serves up another type of Bot to serve as both ally and foil for Murderbot. It’s a quick, easy, enjoyable read. Even with all that, I can’t escape the feeling that something’s going a bit wrong with the story – and I think the problem – at least for me – is Murderbot.In each Novella, Murderbot grows and his personality develops. He defines himself through contact and cooperation with both new groups of humans, new types of Bots and new Machine Intelligences. Murderbot really started to grow on me in “Artificial Condition”. I enjoyed watching him rationalize his actions and I appreciated the way he connected with and related to both his human and machine acquaintances. To be honest, I found him to be a little annoying in this book. The personality traits he manifested made him feel to me like an odd combination of a grumpy old man and a spoiled teen. I’m sure many – likely most – will find this to be intriguing and lovable. It didn’t work as well for me.I had a second, more wonkish problem and it’s one that’s been creeping up on me across all three novellas. Murderbot doesn’t define very well for me as an entity. There are many different categories of personhood in the book – humans, augmented humans, machine / human hybrids (like Murderbot), true bots (Miki and the Combat Bots) and artificial intelligences like ART from “Artificial Condition. I’m struggling to find a rationale for the creation of an entity like Murderbot. I continue to ask myself what the advantages of a hybrid entity like Murderbot actually are – incorporating biological vulnerabilities – particularly after the acknowledgement in “Rogue Protocol” that there are also Sec Bots that are even more formidable than Combat Bots. Bots like Miki seem to have to capability to relate to and connect with humans. Combat Bots and Sec Bots seem to be far more formidable combatants than Murderbot. The only thing that really seems to separate Murderbot from augmented humans is the governor module that Murderbot has managed to hack. I just don’t see how he fits in the larger scheme of things – what unique quality a SecUnit like Murderbot with a functioning governor module brings to the table. There has to be a functional rationale for creation of an entity as complex and obviously expensive as Murderbot and I just don’t see it.I know this won’t bother most but it stands out as a non-sequitur for me. It doesn’t keep me from enjoying the stories – I have. It just keeps me from enjoying them to the same degree as other readers seem to – like an annoying itch that can’t be scratched.Overall, this is a fun book and I suspect most will see it as a great addition to the story. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s enjoyed “All Systems Red” and “Artificial Condition”. I’m certainly going to buy and read the final installment – “Exit Strategy”. I guess all this means is that the series is not going to make it to my top shelf and I don’t know how much staying power it’s ultimately going to have.