Exit Strategy

This tied up the storyline quite well, but suffered a bit in the momentum department as it tried to make sure all the bits and pieces were in order.

Overall, this series is amazing, and I'm on board for future Murderbotting. I'd say my ranking of the existing volumes from best to still-great-but-not-best is 2, 1, 3, 4.

Realistic, gradual and sustained character growth is rare in novels. And yet, Murderbot has clearly grown in this fourth installation, which it reunites with many of the characters from the debut novel. Murderbot starts having and believing in its emotions and starts believing that relationships with people matter. Most of this novella is emotional work and it feels deeply satisfying after the first three books.

Another fantastic instalment in this series of tales about the security unit that keeps helping people despite a burning desire to sit quietly watching TV.

This was the best story in the series so far. It brought closure to a lot of the plot threads while allowing for some really good character development.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Wells is just coasting now. The first Murderbot: that was phenomenal. Second, very good, with discovery and growth and a promising new character. Third, kind of formula; now the fourth is pure formula: cartoonishly evil bad guys, a rescue mission, shoot-em-up, many miracles thanks to Murderbot's l33t hacker skilz (plus the fact that everyone seems to run a 1980s-style internet without the least idea of security), teasing love interest with Dr. Too-Good-to-be-True Mensah. At the end we've been along for a ride but not gotten anywhere. I think I'll skip the fifth one.

The audiobooks for this series are really well done. Loved listening to them.

This one got the original crew of smart humans + Murderbot together again. Murderbot does one stupid thing after another to save said humans and is self-aware enough to call itself stupid.

The ending was nice (thank goodness Murderbot didn't do the thing from book 1 again).

Also, this is my favourite crew because they work really well together, are genuinely good people, and don't mind Murderbot being sarcastic or rude to them.

The best novella in this series, by far.

If you cobble together the first, parts of the middle two and this third one you have a pretty great story with a compelling cast of characters.

It felt like the author had a good idea for the first one, wanted to do more but wasn't sure where to go yet. So we got the second installment, which was good, but didn't really do a ton for the story. The third one regained some focus and this one completed the story in a great way.

I'll definitely check out the novel in the series at some point.

“I had options, and I didn't have to decide right away. Which was good, because I still didn't know what I wanted. But maybe I had a place to be while I figured it out.”So, four novellas and I've devoured them. One short story and one novel (so far) to go. I haven't had this much fun with a book series since... Hitchhiker's Guide, I guess.Whereas the latter is (almost) purely humorous, though, “The Murderbot Diaries” deliver on several levels:- They most certainly are funny. Usually not the over-the-top thigh-slapper kind of funny but there's always a bit of melancholy around the corner. Or the humour is laced with mild regret.- While I have no clue who “NPR” is, I agree with him that “We are all a little bit Murderbot.”. At least we would like to be. Or maybe even strive to. Because Murderbot, in its ethics and morals, actually surpasses quite a few of us. (Unfortunately, if this applies to you, you won't notice...)(Or because it can just download from entertainment feeds without worrying and binge-watch stuff that sounds truly cool. ;-) )- Last but not least, Murderbot appeals to my inner nerd: A SecUnit! Super-human strength, reflexes, built-in weapons, travelling space (while binge-watching!), searching for meaning, for what it wants to do - who could resist?- It's exciting and you know what's going to happen when Murderbot simplay states “I shut my risk assessment module down.”Despite all the challenges it faces (battles, almost wiping itself out, etc.), the truly difficult situations are (seemingly) handled with ease: “I had a complex emotional reaction.”The novelty has worn off by now, of course, but the thrill of something new, exciting and wonderful has been replaced by recognition, trust in a positive outcome and a feeling like coming home.I wouldn't go as far as Ann Leckie (“I love Murderbot!”; although, re-reading the previous paragraph... ;) ) but Martha Wells and her Murderbot actually changed my mind about the entire Science Fiction genre (was: Staring elsewhere and hoping it goes away on its own; is: “Hm... Maybe there's more like this?”) and - as whoever knows me will attest to - changing my mind borders on the Herculean efforts... ;-)So, Murderbot, bring it on, I'm waiting for you!(Oh, and don't you Rothfuss me!) Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Murderbot has human friends

Great finish to the series of Murderbot novellas.

My favorite so far; still alot of technical elements that I'm just coasting over understanding but it was the struggle between avoiding and interacting with people that I enjoyed the most.

Murderbot! I'm terrified the full length novel won't hold up to how much joy this series has brought my reading life.

This fourth and final novella is the least thrilling of the quartet, but it does a nice job bringing Murderbot's character development and story arc to a close. It was satisfying to have the original survey team from the first novella back in the fold and it provided a nice full-circle element to the narrative. With a full length novel coming soon, I'm excited to see how Wells expands upon this world and its central, lovable, relatable, root-for-able protagonist, Murderbot.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

I enjoy these books. I actually have fun reading them, I just wish I remember them more when I'm done. Or maybe it's that I didn't read them back to back. I think I may have skipped one. I am really looking forward to the full length novel coming out.
That said, as a reminder to me: this one is number 4 in the series and Murderbot (should we start calling it Targetbot-as everyone and their brother wants it dead?) could take a vacation but it finds out Dr. Mensah is being held hostage by the evil GrayCris corp. Of course Murderbot does not have to help the humans, it just does. Also, Murderbot goes shopping and does not hate it.

“When you're told what to do every second of your existence, change is terrifying.”

In Exit Strategy, Murderbot realizes that striking out on its own has been misinterpreted as following the orders of a new owner. An owner who now finds herself in trouble as a result.

Murderbot rushes back to the group it fled at the end of book #1, kicking up old and new emotions about being treated kindly, and even, perhaps, as human.

When our kneejerk reaction is to run, but we still care more than we would like, or are able to admit to ourselves, sometimes we find ourselves sprinting back to what we left behind.

Exit Strategy shows us the ways Murderbot has grown and changed over a few short novellas, though it remains difficult for it to accept reciprocity. It is easier for it to accept that it cares about keeping others safe, because it was programmed to provide security, so that can be cast as hardwired, despite its best efforts. It is far more uncomfortable with the idea that that others want to help it, and keep it safe, too. The last line of the book hit me like a ton of bricks.

Excited for my [b:Network Effect|52381770|Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)|Martha Wells|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1640597293l/52381770.SY75.jpg|63614271] hold to come in so I can read some new Murderbot!

2019 review: I wasn't very impressed by [b:Rogue Protocol|35519101|Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)|Martha Wells|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1506001607l/35519101._SY75_.jpg|56934596], so I wasn't sure I would love this, but luckily it feels more like the second book to me. I still think [b:All Systems Red|32758901|All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)|Martha Wells|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631585309l/32758901._SY75_.jpg|53349516] is the strongest of the series. In Exit Strategy, we get some reunions and closure connecting the first book to the last. We get more of Murderbot wrestling with its relationship to humans. Murderbot wants what all of us want: autonomy and basic respect. It wants to be left alone, not only to watch the entertainment feed, but also to make its own choices. I've read and watched stories with protagonists who are great at killing, but experiencing some sort of moral crisis. I've also read and watched stories about human existential anxieties provoked by AI. The Murderbot series is a hilarious combination: artificial intelligence + great at killing + moral crisis (because of humans). It's just funny and good and I like it.

Nice tight end to the series if a bit too simplistic for my liking. Things get closure and I guess that's what the purpose of the this book primarily was. Don't this it would stand very well as a solo book. I quite enjoyed Murderbots journey. Onwards

I dunno felt like it kind of petered out but it wasn't like actively bad or anything.

Stupid soft humans
always walking into traps
he has shows to watch.

I hope we can have many more Murderbot books. I like them better than Jack Reacher books.

Executive Summary: A great finish to a really fun series. I'm not a fan of the new novella trend, but this series has shown that it can work really well.

Audiobook: Kevin R. Free once again does a great job with the narration. I hope they bring him back for the novel, because he's become the voice of Murderbot to me.

Full Review
If I'm being honest, I feel like the price point for novellas is a lot higher than you get with a typical novel. I've been spoiled by getting doorstopper fantasy novels of over 1000 pages for less than $20. The average audiobook I consume is roughly 15-20 hours. That makes picking up a book that is less than 4 hours for more than a few dollars seem overpriced.

So why do I bring this up? Well I enjoyed this series so much that I went out and bought it anyways because I didn't want to keep waiting for 3rd and 4th installments to be on sale. This series is a lot of fun and it really fit my mood. You get a good blend of humor and action and very light on the science making it my type of Sci-Fi.

This books brings back some familiar supporting characters that had me engaged right from the beginning. It also did a great job in wrapping up some of the major plot points of the series where you could happily end with this installment, but you'll be glad to pick up another one later.

Thankfully the sequel novel has already been announced and I'm really excited for a full serving of Murderbot. I really enjoyed this series and I'll be picking that up on day one.

I read the first installment of the Murderbot a few months back (as an Amazon single), but after reading it, I decided I was going to pony up the £8 for the following 3 books - although probably the most I've spent on a single book, let alone 3 books - absolutely totally worth it. I loved this series.

The series follows Murderbot, a rouge security unit, mostly good at killing but who would rather just watch TV and be left alone. The first book reads easily as a stand alone, and I'd say the second book does too.

The third and fourth pull together all the previous adventures into an overarching story that we see Murderbot learning about itself and struggling with the the concepts of emotions and desires.

In fact, the Murderbot ends with that huge question of: what do you want.

There's so many things I enjoyed about this series: it's a sci-fi that doesn't really require you to understand all the ins and outs of the political systems that exist in the world. I've read a few sci-fi books that really struggle to make the world believable because there's often so much to take in - the Murderbot diaries does this in a way that reads easily and lightly.

The action sequences are really well written and fairly easy to follow - another thing I've struggled with in other books.

Even though we know that the Murderbot is a construct, it exists in a time that emotions can be simulated - and therefore felt - by the Murderbot, which, just like any one of us, they don't relish having to process those emotions, and they'd much rather just shun away and hide away escaping with TV.

Finally the characters are refreshing. As a white man myself, I'm too quick to assume the gender and race of the characters I reading about, Martha Wells does a really good job of keeping me in check, reminding me that Murderbot doesn't have a gender, there's people in the universe that don't identify as one gender, and that not everyone is white. I love this, and I appreciate it in the books I read (in the hope that it shifts my mindset).

Loved it.

Murderbot has FRIENDS! After all that fussing and agitation over bots not having friends, how stupid, bots can't have friends, humans are Dumb and Awful and bots can't be trusted...
Poor Murderbot trying so hard not to have All The Feels and yet is still having All The Feels.

I've greatly enjoyed every volume of this series and I loved this last book in the first set of novellas. Just like the others, it's funny, exciting, and emotionally moving, without ever being maudlin. The reason why Murderbot's favorite show is its favorite actually made me a cry a little, but this book also made me laugh out loud several times. I was very sorry to reach the end, and I eagerly anticipate the Murderbot novel that's planned for 2020.

In addition to the continuing themes of identity and finding a place for oneself, the anti-corporate theme is central here. We see a little bit of Dr. Mensah & her associates' home society, and it's pretty much fully automated luxury gay space communism, which I probably don't need to say is extremely appealing to me.

Kevin R. Free did another amazing job narrating the audiobook, perfectly capturing Murderbot's cynical but innocent personality. I liked the voices he performed for the other characters also.

I wish there were more muderbot books. I really liked this series!

I can't get enough Murderbot!

This was a surprisingly heartfelt and poignant end to the Murderbot saga.

Murderbot would have hated it.

In all seriousness, though: this was a great end to the series of novellas. Things come full circle, and we see the ways in which autonomy and culture have made Murderbot more “human” than it was at the beginning. Which is thought-provoking about how we define humanity, although Wells writes it in such a way that those themes aren't explicitly brought to the forefront. Good reads all around, though.