Rogue Robots | Should you Read the Murderbot books? +System Collapse, Martha Wells | Overbooked [CC]

The Murderbot Diaries have been delighting readers since 2017 but are they still going strong? I read everything including the latest book and I have THOUGHTS.
Storygraph: app.thestorygr...
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Some of the books mentioned or shown may have been sent to me for free for review. All opinions are my own.
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[@CindyBallreich]

I really enjoyed your review! I'm always up for any kind of Murderbot discussion. My feeling is that the series is built on Murderbot's journey of self-discovery and its discovery of the importance of relationships. Murderbot would like to think of itself as a completely autonomous entity, but it realizes that it needs the relationships MORE than it needs Sanctuary Moon.

[@sharihoutman]

Love this series! I'm very impatiently waiting for the next installment...

[@andreasauder2855]

I thought the narrator, Kevin R Free, did an awesome job, adding the dry sarcasm to his character. I had a harder time picking that up just reading the actual book.But then i tend to latch onto a story however I experienced it first.

[@sheilaosborne8647]

You missed the very short story Compulsory 😊 I re-found this series late in 2023, and it's so well written everything else is disappointing. I know we have to wait a while for the next book, but I already can't wait.

[@alienlovesong]

Terrific review.
I absolutely love Murderbot.
I agree that the stories kind of run together but I think that might be the point since Murderbot is an unreliable narrator and he’s so overwhelmed by emotions.
There’s another short story called “Compulsory” that takes place sometime shortly after Murderbot hacks its governor module that’s worth reading as well.
How did you like System Collapse now that it’s been officially released?

[@jonathan.palfrey]

I’ve read most of the Murderbot series nine times each by now (I tend to reread books a lot), so to me each story is distinct by now and I can remember pretty well which one is which and what each story is about. Most of them are pretty good. I like the second and third novellas a bit less, and I also like the latest novel (System Collapse) a bit less than the others (but I’ve read it only once so far).

[@Rotwood]

Thank you for the lovely review of one of my favorite series. And yes, I've read Witch King and I loved that too, but for different reasons than Murderbot. The Audiobook didn't work for me well at all, so I read it physically. But as I got through some of the denser world-building elements, I found a lot that I enjoyed - particularly the characters, the queer-normative diverse cultures, and the bigger discussions of how different people respond to imperialist force. It worked for me - especially as I skimmed through a second time and made connections to earlier puzzle pieces in the story. It probably won't work for everyone though. It doesn't have the snappy feel of a murderbot adventure, but it does have certain moments that really shine.

[@jonathan.palfrey]

I’ve read Witch King a couple of times so far, and I like it somewhat less than the Murderbot series. It’s OK, but for me it’s not a favourite. Although it’s fantasy and not sf, the hero is, funnily enough, a bit like Murderbot in some ways, although certainly not in all ways. I gather that a sequel to it is planned, which explains why the ending seems a bit hanging-in-the-air.
It’s well written, but it’s set in a world even more violent and insecure than Murderbot’s, which doesn’t suit me well. The chapters set in the present are interleaved with flashback chapters set in the past, which I find quite confusing even on second reading, especially as some of the same (long-lived) characters appear in both past and present chapters. I’m tempted to try reading all the past chapters followed by all the present chapters, next time; it would be a bit awkward to do but might make more sense.