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A review by simonlorden
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
2023.10.02.
Be careful. Find your crew.
I love ART so much and I love Tapan and I love Murderbot and aaaaaaah
--
2nd read on 2019.01.01.:
I still have so many feelings about all these bots and their feelings. ART and Murderbot pretending to be human are great. the gender-diverse and polyamorous rep is great. almost all the humans we met so far in this book are polyamorous?? amazing.
--
original review:
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This felt way too short and I need the next one immediately.
If you read my review of the first book, you already know that the best part of these diaries is the protagonist: Murderbot. A human/bot construct with free will who has anxiety around humans and just wants to be left alone to watch media in peace, but at the same time it also keeps getting attached to humans who are nice to it.
I liked protecting people and things. I liked figuring out smart ways to protect people and things. I liked being right.
I loved this book because while it had three humans for Murderbot to protect, it also had several bots that were shown to have emotions and form bonds with each other. And I'm not only talking about ART, the one Murderbot befriends, but also several sidecharacter bots (including a spoiler-y part) who went beyond their orders and programming.
As Murderbot has no interest in sex or romance, there is no main romantic relationship in any of these books, and as Murderbot isn't human, it can't really count as nonbinary representation despite having no gender - however, the same isn't true for side characters. The first book had several polyamorous relationships mentioned, and suggested that polyamory was quite common and normalised in this society. This is also true in this book, where a group marriage with kids is casually brought up at one pont, but what I really liked was that there was a nonbinary character with a gender identity that seemed to be specific to the character's community. (The pronouns used were te/ter, which is not a pronoun set I've ever seen, but I'm always happy to see new pronouns I'm unfamiliar with.)
Again, this book had plenty of relatable anxiety moments from Murderbot; two bots working together and trying to pass as human; bots having emotions and protecting people out of their own will; normalised polyamory and nonbinary genders, and plenty of other great stuff. One of my favourite moments was when Murderbot got overwhelmed/stressed out and its bot friend played the soundtrack of its favourite serial to help, but the book is really full of moments like that.
I don't think I can ever get enough of Murderbot's adventures.
Be careful. Find your crew.
I love ART so much and I love Tapan and I love Murderbot and aaaaaaah
--
2nd read on 2019.01.01.:
I still have so many feelings about all these bots and their feelings. ART and Murderbot pretending to be human are great. the gender-diverse and polyamorous rep is great. almost all the humans we met so far in this book are polyamorous?? amazing.
--
original review:
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This felt way too short and I need the next one immediately.
If you read my review of the first book, you already know that the best part of these diaries is the protagonist: Murderbot. A human/bot construct with free will who has anxiety around humans and just wants to be left alone to watch media in peace, but at the same time it also keeps getting attached to humans who are nice to it.
I liked protecting people and things. I liked figuring out smart ways to protect people and things. I liked being right.
I loved this book because while it had three humans for Murderbot to protect, it also had several bots that were shown to have emotions and form bonds with each other. And I'm not only talking about ART, the one Murderbot befriends, but also several sidecharacter bots (including a spoiler-y part) who went beyond their orders and programming.
As Murderbot has no interest in sex or romance, there is no main romantic relationship in any of these books, and as Murderbot isn't human, it can't really count as nonbinary representation despite having no gender - however, the same isn't true for side characters. The first book had several polyamorous relationships mentioned, and suggested that polyamory was quite common and normalised in this society. This is also true in this book, where a group marriage with kids is casually brought up at one pont, but what I really liked was that there was a nonbinary character with a gender identity that seemed to be specific to the character's community. (The pronouns used were te/ter, which is not a pronoun set I've ever seen, but I'm always happy to see new pronouns I'm unfamiliar with.)
Again, this book had plenty of relatable anxiety moments from Murderbot; two bots working together and trying to pass as human; bots having emotions and protecting people out of their own will; normalised polyamory and nonbinary genders, and plenty of other great stuff. One of my favourite moments was when Murderbot got overwhelmed/stressed out and its bot friend played the soundtrack of its favourite serial to help, but the book is really full of moments like that.
I don't think I can ever get enough of Murderbot's adventures.