Donald Maass Literary Agency

RT Book Reviews: Much like the anxiety-ridden but good-hearted Murderbot itself, this series is a delight, carefully balancing snark and other humor without ever concealing (or even really trying to conceal) the real and serious character work and emotional intensity that’s at work here.

Wells doesn’t downplay the trauma and existential questions [that] underpin parts of the story, but also keeps it swift-moving and delightful, partly by respecting those aspects of the story instead of trying to gloss over them.

As before, Murderbot makes for a wonderful protagonist and narrative voice, one of the most compelling reluctant heroes science fiction has seen in a while.

Locus: The need for understanding between humans and Others remains the crux of this first volume in a new arc in Bishop’s world of the Others.

There are definite similarities with the previous volumes, such as the focus on bemused Others learning from a human female needing protection from bad men, but new characters and the small-town setting offer intriguing differences. Vicki DeVine got the run-down lakeside resort called The Tumble as part of her divorce settlement, and though she knows the land itself is controlled by the Others, she doesn’t come face-to-face with the fact until she catches her only lodger, Aggie Crowe, microwaving a human eyeball. Aggie’s one of the shapeshifting Others, a crow, who stumbled across a human body.

Misunderstandings continually crop up, often with amusing results, but also with an edge of fear, since some of the Others have great power, no tolerance for human stupidity, and no compunction about killing. 

The tone edges towards horror at points, though it’s frequently defused as things go amusingly over-the-top. The bad guys are loathsome, some of the locals are delightful, and new types of Others help keep things fun.