Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Collated re(-re)-reads of Murderbot novellas

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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All Systems Red Re-re-read, August 2022: as my brother and I watched the Wadi Rum dessert open up in front of us, I reminded him that there was no cell reception or WiFi at the camp we were staying at and that he should have (as I told him, far in advance) downloaded whatever media he wanted to consume for the next few days. Unfortunately, he read through everything in his Kindle far too quickly and so asked me if I had anything else to […]

“As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.”

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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Although I saw all of the rave reviews (‘saw’, not ‘read’), it took me a while to get this lovely novella. Part of the blame is on my library system, as it took several months before All Systems Red, by Martha Wells, was available, but mostly the blame lies with me. Although I have read some fantastic science fiction over the years, I am very cautious when it comes to this genre – perhaps because my older brother was a huge sci-fi nerd? (Certainly he […]

Pre-Murderbot Martha Wells is worth checking out, but it’s not really like any other fantasy I’ve read.

The Serpent Sea (The Books of the Raksura, #2) by Martha Wells

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This is a good series, it’s just not attention grabbing in a month (May) when I had six five-star reads. I’m gonna keep going with the series, though, and definitely on audio! Martha Wells’ writing in this series is just so much more subtle than it is in my previous experience with her work, that featuring the lovely curmudgeon Murderbot. The world the Raksurans live in is also extremely alien, with sometimes completely different cultural mores and practices, not to mention physiological differences. Luckily our […]

My Whackadoo brain found some cool reads

Murderbot Diaries V02 Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Hilo Book 6: All the Pieces Fit by Judd Winick

This is How I Disappear by Mirion Malle

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My mood this week and reading has been all over this week. I found three different genres to get me through it. Not only have I done a crap tone of picture books just for the quick read, I had to find humor, serious, and a mixture of the two. I finished Murderbot Diaries V02 Artificial Condition by Martha Wells. I prefer the first one but did like the ending where Murderbot makes an interesting realization about how they have always just waited and “cleaned […]

Robots and starships: I must be reading science-fiction

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

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Artificial Condition (2018) by Martha Wells is the second novella in her “Murderbot” series. I read the first book, All Systems Red when my science-fiction-loving friend made me–by choosing it for book club. She will be thrilled to learn that I voluntarily read Artificial Condition, and I’m now planning on reading the third. The “murderbot,” or Sec-unit, is a robot with some amount of organic parts. The bot is incredibly smart, powerful, and expensive. Sec-units are usually rented out for various security jobs, and they are controlled with governors that […]

“As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.”

All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

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A friend from my book club is constantly recommending science-fiction novels that I strongly dislike. It’s not that I hate science fiction, but it’s not my go-to genre, and she has honestly picked some very bad books. So when she recommended All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries (2017) by Martha Wells, I began it with more than a little trepidation. All Systems Red is a novella about a “Secunit,” basically a robot with some organic parts that is built and rented out to be used for security. The […]



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