Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship's Reviews > System Collapse

Sad to say, I think the Murderbot series is losing steam.

This is a fun little book, focusing on some follow-up events right after the end of Network Effect. Murderbot is of course a strong narrator whose voice is always a pleasure to read, and there are moments of laugh-out-loud humor. Murderbot’s perspective on humans is always fun too, casting an entertaining outsider light on human behavior (particularly in groups) that winds up feeling more real than we see in most novels. The science-fictional setting also feels well-grounded, and I appreciate the critique of corporate-run society, exploring the inhumanity of the resulting behavior while pegging responsibility firmly on the system rather than individual cackling villains.

However. . . .

I read these books for the characters. Books 1-4 gave Murderbot a highly emotional growth arc, in which it learns to connect with people and find its place as an independent being for the first time. The humans in those novellas also had to grow and adapt, finding themselves way over their head upon being thrust into violent situations and learning that their most dangerous piece of equipment in fact had feelings (loath as Murderbot is to admit this) and a personality. Book 5 perhaps had less character growth, but it was still present, and being the first full-length novel in the series gave it room to shine with a more complex plot and additional point-of-view characters.

Then we had a sidequel adventure in Book 6, which was fun but unremarkable, and now this book, which is dominated by largely meaningless action and in which the characters have pretty much stalled out. It’s another adventure on the planet from Network Effect, but at this point in the series it’s hard to feel anything is at stake. (view spoiler)[Murderbot and the people it cares about never take permanent damage, nor do Murderbot’s missions ever fail. Other bots and constructs might die, but the only one with a major role in this book is one of ART’s drones, which can be destroyed without damage to ART itself. (hide spoiler)] Also, Murderbot’s current posse is made up of humans well-prepared for their situation, and there’s no meaningful interpersonal drama or relationship development.

In fact, the most interesting developments that could be happening here—Murderbot’s having to mentor the newly rescued SecUnit Three, or some sort of exploration of its relationship with ART following the events of the last book—don’t, as the posse is cut off from communications for most of the novel. Even the one genuinely new plot event (view spoiler)[what’s going to happen with the corporate supervisor who escapes with the posse? (hide spoiler)] winds up unexplored.

I suspect the biggest problem is that Murderbot has just reached the limit of the development appropriate to its character (and perhaps the other characters have too). Sure, there’s an attempt at exploring trauma, but it’s so half-hearted it seems hardly worth the mention: (view spoiler)[before the novel began, Murderbot had a flashback and shut down. It remains worried about being compromised, but in fact nothing further happens on that front, the end. (hide spoiler)] Honestly, other than the narrative requiring some new personal challenge I wasn’t sure why Murderbot would be having this problem at all, given how much it’s been through without consequence and the fact that the events in question don’t really stand out in comparison.

At any rate, I’m sure I will keep reading these books, as they are fun and smart and funny. But where earlier volumes were emotionally moving, this was just mild entertainment, and I’ll be going into the next with lowered expectations. Much as we all love Murderbot, perhaps this character has reached the end of its story and ought to be allowed to ride off into the sunset… er, galaxy.