Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“It’s about being treated as a thing, isn’t it. You’re a thing, and there is no safety.”

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory (The Murderbot Diaries #4.5) by Martha Wells

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Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory is the last new-to-me Murderbot other than the most recent novel last year’s System Collapse (I’m planning on getting to it before the year is out, but we’ll see how I do). I knew very little going in, just that it was Mensah’s POV, occurred immediately after the events of Exit Strategy, that it was initially given free to people who pre-ordered Network Effect (its now free online), and that it was a short story.   Knowing that, I still don’t […]

“I hate having emotions about real humans instead of fake ones, it just leads to stupid moments like this.”

Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells

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I have many grudges against the New York Times, dating back many years (even while acknowledging the amazing work its staffers can do), but I think the Times review of Exit Strategy almost perfectly describes who and what Murderbot is, “”a beautiful blend of exhausted cynicism and deep, helpless love”, because while Murderbot hates having feelings and would likely try to argue that it can’t love, it is the only explanation for the choices it makes throughout this book.   In Rogue Protocol Murderbot goes […]

“Nobody grabs SecUnits. I hadn’t realized this was a perk until now.”

Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells

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When I read this book in January of 2019 it was my least favorite of the original four (spoiler, it still is), mostly because I didn’t connect with the non-Murderbot characters. To a degree that is still true, I feel less connected to them than I did to Mensah’s team in the first or the programmers in the second. But, on a second visit I think that’s probably by design, as Wells is clearly juxtaposing Don Amene and Miki against those other relationships. There is […]

“I liked protecting people and things. I liked figuring out smart ways to protect people and things. I liked being right.”

Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells

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My Murderbot re-read continues with the introduction of my favorite character, ART (which, side note, it has taken me over five years to notice that ART is in the title Artificial Condition). Book two picks up quickly after the events of All Systems Red, with Murderbot having left Mensah and her team to figure out what it wants with its freedom, now that it is off inventory from the company, but not wanting to be a “pet robot”. Quickly, Murderbot realizes it wants to get […]

“It took a tremendous effort for me not to rip his arm off, and I’d like that noted for the record, please.”

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

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Back in November of 2018 I joined the cult of Murderbot. After I had read and loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Emmalita and narfna had told me that Murderbot needed to be next up in my reading of contemplative, character driven space opera. I was immediately in love. I’ve kept up with the furthering adventures of Murderbot in the intervening years and had decided earlier this year that I wanted to do a full series re-read before I […]

Freedom, unlimited downloads, and new episodes of Drama Sun Islands

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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CBR16 BINGO: Cult, because Murderbot fans are a little cult of our own Exit Strategy, entry #4 in the Murderbot Diaries, picks up pretty much where Rogue Protocol left off, with a bunch of humans trying to kill Murderbot. It seems like humans either want to kill our SecUnit hero or make friends with it, and it’s difficult to say which option horrifies it more. Although I was less enamored of the third entry in the series than I was of the first two, I was […]



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