The Murderbot Diaries

This is one of the best science fiction series that I have ever read. It centres around a protagonist who is fascinating and utterly unique, and it is this character, the murderbot in the title, that makes the books so worth reading.

The Murderbot is an AI, what the people in this world of the future call a construct, as in, he’s made of both human and robot parts. He’s a sentient being, able to think and feel, and feel deeply. He has thoughts, ideas, and opinions, he has a sense of himself an individual, and he’s driven by the all too human urge to know himself, to define who he is and how he fits into his world.

As a security unit, built by a corporation and hired out for the purpose of protecting different groups of humans, he is controlled through a governor module, and used as a tool. He’s programmed to obey the group of humans that he’s been assigned to, like every other security unit out there, or so the company thinks.

What they don’t know is that he’s hacked his governor module, and is in effect, a free agent. He goes through the motions and does his job, while using his new-found mental freedom to watch hours and hours of entertainment media, read books, listen to music, and generally amuse and entertain himself inside his own head while standing perfectly still with a blank look on his face that he usually keeps hidden behind his helmet.

This sec unit calls himself Murderbot, for reasons you will find out when you read the books. But despite the name he’s chosen for himself, he’s not violent or fond of killing anyone. Mostly, he just wants to be left alone to watch his favourite shows.

When the story begins, this sec unit is assigned to protect a group of explorers from a non-corporate entity called Preservation. They’re engaged in surveying a new planet. This is the kind of assignment that he’s been on many times before and he expects it be routine and boring.

He’s used to being ignored by the humans that he’s assigned to protect until something goes wrong and they need him, but this group of humans from the Preservation alliance is different. They’re interested in him, they ask him questions, they want to know his opinion and they think it’s wrong for a corporation to own and control a sentient being like him. He’s taken aback by this attitude and he has no idea what to make of this group of people who are determined to befriend him and treat him as an equal.

The story is told in the first person, in the voice of Murderbot, and that is what makes this series of books so delightful. He’s a fascinating character with a rich inner life. He’s funny and clever, he can be sarcastic, he’s friendly in his own gruff way, he’s an introvert who likes his own company, he’s uncomfortable around humans he doesn’t know, but he’s fiercely loyal to the ones he comes to care about.

Through the series, he befriends or is befriended by a variety of humans and one particular AI who is, to my mind, the best character in the entire series, next to Murderbot. The depiction of these relationships is wonderful and occasionally poignant, because we see them all grow and develop through the eyes of the main character. He has no experience of friendship and he often has no idea how to react to kindness and to the idea that someone actually cares what happens to him.

This is a series of adventure stories with plenty of action and mystery that keeps you hooked and keeps you reading. The world building is excellent, and Martha Wells accomplishes this without a lot of exposition. You’re plunged into this world of the far future from page one, and thanks to the brilliance of the narrative, you quickly figure out how this world works.

There are seven books in the Murderbot series, the first four of which tell a single, interconnected story, though Book one can be read as a standalone. Books five, six and seven are standalone novels, which feature characters from the earlier books. The first four books and book six are novellas at around 150 pages each. Books five and seven are full length novels, but the longest of them is only around 360 pages.

So, they are all quick reads, but the shortness of the books does not in any way impact the quality of the story or of the writing. Given the scale and the scope of the stories, it is remarkable how much detail Martha Wells has packed into not too many words.

This series of books features one the best, most nuanced depictions of artificial intelligence that I have yet come across, and it is such a rewarding read.