"Exit Strategy: The Murderbot Diaries (4)" by Martha Wells
https://www.amazon.com/Exit-Strategy-Murderbot-Martha-Wells/dp/1250191858/
Book number four 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 two
books in the series and the seventh book in the series arrived today.
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 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 has
researched GrayCris Corporation's behavior in banned alien artifacts and
the murders of several research scientists. And now GrayCis has
kidnapped Murderbot's best friend, Dr. Mensah, and is holding her for
ransom.
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. "Disinformation, which is the same as lying but for some reason has a different name, is the top tactic in corporate negotiation/warfare."
2. "It would have been hilarious if I wasn’t about to die. It was still
a little hilarious."
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.
https://www.amazon.com/Murderbot-Diaries-Artificial-Condition-Protocol/dp/1250784271/
The author has a website at:
https://www.marthawells.com/
There is a wiki for Murderbot including various episodes of "The Rise
and Fall of Sanctuary Moon":
https://murderbot.fandom.com/wiki/Murderbot_Wiki
and
https://murderbot.fandom.com/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Sanctuary_Moon
There is a much better review by James Nicoll at:
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/dancing-on-a-high-wire
My rating: 6 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (19,465 reviews)
Lynn
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