The latest installation in my beloved Murderbot series – I was looking forward to this one for MONTHS and got it right after it came out. It’s everything I wanted in a Murderbot book: full of sarcasm, action, and Murderbot being mad that it has gushy emotions. This book picks up a few days after Network Effect and deals with the fallout from the events in that story, along with some new, semi-related complications that come up (because of course they do). Honestly, there were fewer combats than I’d expect from a Murderbot book, and the ending felt a bit rushed (I was expecting at least one more fight), but it was still a satisfying read. And now comes the long wait for book #8…

February 2025 reread:  

While I always enjoy a MurderBot story, I have to admit that this one isn’t my favourite. After a fun opening fight scene, the book suffers from an extensive saggy middle before picking up again in the last quarter. I understand that this is mostly a “reaction” book, in which MurderBot has to deal with some trauma it picked up during the events of Network Effect, and suffering from the SecUnit form of PTSD. Despite that, I thought the long sections of MurderBot being introspective and scared of having another breakdown were not the most fun to read. I’d like to get back to the fun scenes of “MurderBot uses wits, hacking, and heavy firepower to take down the opposition and protect is humans, while snarking continually to the audience,” which is admittedly what we get at the end. I hope that the next MurderBot book (whenever it comes out) returns to that base formula that I love so much.