LA Times: The first in a four-part series called “The Murderbot Diaries,” Martha Wells’ novella follows a self-aware robot, who calls itself (you guessed it) Murderbot. The artificial being, which hacked itself to achieve autonomy, is tasked with protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet from an unknown threat.
This book wastes no time in getting to the action. It’s a testament to Wells’ talent that this book’s plot and its characters feel as well fleshed out as any full-length novel. It’s hard not to immediately sympathize with a misanthropic robot, can’t we all understand the desire to just binge-watch TV instead of dealing with people? Wells imbued Murderbot with extraordinary humanity, and while this is a fun read, don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s not a profound one.