Rogue Protocol

The Murderbot is a bit lugubrious, and it doesn't really like people very much. The Murderbot is lonely but doesn't know it. The Murderbot is also is very dangerous, and it has found a mission.

Another good entry in the Murderbot series. Thank you Martha Wells.

In this episode of Murderbot: the delightful foil, Miki, who is a friendly and social bot. Also, perhaps my favorite of the adventurous romps against an entire evil factory. In the second book, I spent some time worrying about whether each book was truly going to be episodic and isolated from the characters of the last. In this book, the glory of the structure became clear. Wells has written these each like a TV episode with a standalone arc and set of characters, but an arching metaplot. (With a reading speed of 100 pages/hour, I also finished these off in only trivially more time than a standard television episode.) This feels like an adorable callout to Murderbot's favorite hobby. As much as Murderbot learns about its world by watching soap opera, we learn about this world (and by extension our own society and the interaction between people and corporations) through Murderbot.

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.

A very exciting installment. I'm empathising more and more with this particular SecUnit. It keeps finding reality annoying because it gets in the way of watching TV. I'm feeling the same way, but instead of TV I want to sneak off to read these books.

I continue to get a kick out of SecUnit's madcap adventures. A very entertaining series.

We didn't get to watch much Sanctuary Moon in this. More action, trouble and feelings (of friendship) for the Murderbot.

Still enjoying the series, but a little less so. This one was more action than introspection, more shooting than listening. Still the same overall themes: the quest to fight injustice; joining forces with a team of humans who just so happen to be intelligent and professional and moral and decent; having an adventure with more than its fair share of improbable successes and narrow escapes. There was a promising storyline regarding machine consciousness and bot-human relationships, but it never really went anywhere satisfying.

Even so, Wells still draws me in. There's still good wry humor, insight, tenderness, and a story worth following. I've already started reading the next one.

Well, here's yet another great instalment in the “Murderbot Diaries” series. It starts exactly where the previous novella left off and this leads us to yet another exciting adventure.While it's, again, more of the same in a good way, this time we get to know even more about Murderbot's ethics and morality because he has to deal with a human-form or pet robot.Miki, the “pet”, in both its simple-minded innocence which borders naïveté (and sometimes crosses that fine line) drives Murderbot up the proverbial wall and, sometimes, almost derails him. “I signaled Miki I would be withdrawing for one minute. I needed to have an emotion in private.”Nevertheless, even in this case, Murderbot acts as we would expect him to...In the end, what still keeps this series engaging for me is what Murderbot expresses at some point:“Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)”Onwards, to the next novella! Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Well I seem to be on a Murderbot Diaries binge but what can I say, these books have found a way into my heart and I don't wanna let go yet. So I started off this third installment as soon as I was done with Artificial Condition and I'm so happy I did.

I definitely found this book more interesting because there was an important plot, even though the tropes felt a bit similar to the previous novellas. I also enjoyed the way the author tied back the story in this one to the mystery of what happened in book one, and I'm very curious to know what more revelations are in store in the next one. I also found this to be more action packed and high stakes, making me quite worried about the consequences. The author managed to make this thrilling and mysterious while also not letting go of the sarcastic nature of Murderbot, and I thought that was seamless execution. There are also quite a few moments which tug at your heartstrings and I had tears in my eyes towards the end, and what more could I have wanted.

Murderbot has only grown on me over the course of these books and I'm enjoying its sarcasm which it basically uses to hide its underlying anxiety. It's almost become hard to remember now that it is actually a construct, and not human because it has started having more feelings, is forming connections with humans and is utterly incapable of acting selfish. We are also introduced to another pet bot called Miki this time and it was the most adorable ever. Miki loves the scientists to whom it belongs to and they love it in return, and their relationship was such a lovely thing to watch - I found it very sweet but it was also kinda sad to see Murderbot realize that it had never been treated like a friend before. Miki and Murderbot's interactions are very revealing in the sense that they starkly show us the difference between them, and I think that contributes a lot to how Murderbot is changing even more. We don't get to know any of the humans in detail except Abene, and she was a smart and kind scientist who just wanted to get to the truth and keep her people safe. I love that the author gives us a great group of humans in every novella who treat Murderbot kindly and change its perspective about humans.

In the end, this was as fun as the previous novellas but I thought it was a touch more emotional, which is all for the better. I'm delighted to be binge reading this series and I know I'm gonna start Exit Strategy right away because I don't wanna wait. And if you wanna have some sci-fi fun with supposedly killer bots who turn out to be not so murderous after all, what are you waiting for... just go ahead and pick up this series and get ready for a joyride.

Aaaaaaaaaaaah murderbot! Feelings!

Our third adventure with Murderbot takes a little while to get going, but the action/tension really ratchets up in the back half of the novella. Once again, Murderbot finds itself protecting a group of unwitting humans while also unmasking a deeper conspiracy in an unforgiving environment. This seems to be the magic formula for each of these stories, but it works quite well. Since Murderbot seems to make a clean break at the end of each book, we don't get to revisit the great side characters we've met in previous books, but luckily that sounds like it will not be the case in the fourth and final novella.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

This was not my favorite of the series, but I still love Murderbot. I love his attitude. The audiobooks are great.

Very quick read, entertaining, and I can't wait for the next one.

Did not expect this reread to make me think so much about PTSD, but here we are.

The first two novellas in this series primarily explore how past trauma can make you feel agitated and claustrophobic when someone treats you kindly, in contrast to past violence and objectification. Murderbot's hypervigilance based on its past leads to both dissociation via comfort media and skepticism of everyone it comes across.

But in Rogue Protocol, Murderbot finds that these same feelings can get kicked up in the presence of someone else's lack of trauma. Murderbot encounters a bot which considers the humans on its team her friend. Murderbot struggles to wrap its head around this, to fully accept there is no coercion or seedy underbelly lurking. Its kneejerk reaction is to suspect merely a different type of trauma response than its own — oh I see, so you fawn where I flee. However, unlike the sex bot in Artificial Condition, Miki acts of her own volition...kind of, at least. In the way that a child might. An extremely strong and devoted child. But, as Miki says, “I don't have pain sensors, but then, I don't have pain.”

Wells explores trauma and stubborn desires for connection and purpose amidst said trauma in funny but also stirring ways. In each book, Murderbot, despite its best efforts, grows protective over and emotionally attached to others it did not intend to involve itself with, let alone care about. It is, like many of us, a hurt soul nevertheless drawn to protect others from harm. Beneath its surface-level resistance and apathy, it feels awkward and undeserving. Its most tense combats (a competitive category) are with itself.

2019 review:I don't think the plot and pacing are done as well in Rogue Protocol as the first two books. It took a while for anything to really start to happen, and as a result the ending felt a bit rushed to me. I was really interested in Murderbot's reactions to Miki's relationship with Abene and humans in general. I think one of the strengths of this series is its ability to explore themes like authority and consent in a unique context, without spoonfeeding the reader, or sidetracking the story to get preachy. But here it felt too fleeting to deepen or complicate things. And it's not as though there was too much excitement and chaos happening in real time to get touchy-feely; compared to the second and especially first book, this was more description than action.Murderbot is still Murderbot, and I love Murderbot. And, as in [b:Artificial Condition|36223860|Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)|Martha Wells|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1505590203l/36223860._SY75_.jpg|56357518], another bot-y character was introduced that I became deeply attached to. This just fell a little flat for me. I'm hoping for more with [b:Exit Strategy|35519109|Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)|Martha Wells|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518642623l/35519109._SY75_.jpg|56934601].

This one was actually stronger, I think because of the Alien-like setting (eerie abandoned space station) and the other robot.

Fun Fun Fun.

Little pet robot
loyal, but not a fighter
happy just to help.

Yep, I still love Murderbot.

Executive Summary: This is the weakest of the series so far, but still pretty enjoyable. It finished much stronger than it started.

Audiobook: Kevin R. Free once again does a good job with the narration. He adds that extra something that makes the audio a great option for this series.

Full Review
After how much I enjoyed the last novella in this series, I immediately went out and got the final two. I found this one started a bit slow. I didn't like the supporting cast in it nearly as much as in the first two stories.

I did eventually warm up to them by the end of the book. Mickie especially definitely grew on me. I loved the way he started to rub off on Murderbot. The fun dialog and good writing carried the slower parts until I started to care more about the new supporting characters

Overall this was a fun entry but didn't add as much to the series as the last two. There were some minor series developments, but much of this story could have been cut without losing too much in my opinion.

As usual from the MurderBot series: excellent, fresh and entertaining.

I felt like the story dug deeper into MurderBot's character, anxiety and it's attempt to understand it's feelings.

Definitely feels like this third book is pulling together an overarching story that will be concluded in book four - which I can't wait to read!

“Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?”

Murderbot continues to be its sassy, sarcastic self in another highly entertaining dark comedy novella. In addition, this chapter starts to show the development of some plot threads that were sown back in All Systems Red. A must read if you enjoyed the others in the series.

Didn't enjoy this as much as the first two. Less laugh out loud moments and more action description... Less personality perhaps.

Metaphorosis Reviews
3.5 stars

Summary:

A self-directed armed cyborg, finding its own way in the universe, decides to check out an abandoned terraforming station. Only the station isn't quite as abandoned as everyone thought.

Review:

Having picked up the first in the series (All Systems Red) for free, I picked up this third on NetGalley as well. With some discomfort, I read the two in succession, despite not having the intervening book, and had no difficulty following along.

Where the first book got by with a thinly sketched plot, this third book stumbles. There's no convincing logic for the whole setup of the book – a visit to the terraforming station. It works, but the poor foundation was a niggling irritant throughout my reading, exacerbated by an ending that screams ‘This was a discrete episode!' (in a longer series).

That latter really is my complaint about the book and the series. There are four books planned to date, and there's no getting away from the fact that this feels like a slightly large novel cut into four novellas. A subplot that might have worked well in a novel here feels artificial and forced. The lead-in feels authorial, and the ending is abrupt and jarring. While I can see the potential for a larger arc across the series, it feels like it should have been the plot of a single book. Unlike the first book, this book isn't satisfying on its own.

On the plus side, the voice and character work nearly as well this time as before. There are unfortunately even more parentheticals (way too many) than before, but generally the piece moves along well.

If this piece had been the latter part of a novel, I'd have liked it better. As is, it left me dissatisfied.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This entire series is just the evolution of Murderbot from pretending to care to pretending not to care when, in fact, it cares very much. I think someone needs to give it a kitten and a nice little shack in the woods and come visit once a week to talk about shows.

I love this series so much. If you liked books one and two, I'm sure you'll enjoy this also.

Book two focused on Murderbot's friendship with ART, and this story focuses on a friendship between a different kind of robot and a human, which Murderbot has a lot of complicated feelings about. The new characters are engaging. It's amazing how well-developed they are, in such a short book.

Once again, Kevin R. Free's audiobook performance is top-notch. I am still so delighted that one of my favorite narrators does one of my favorite series!

Mild spoiler: I've been hoping that Murderbot would eventually see Dr. Mensah again, and it seems that will happen in the last book. I can't wait!

3.5
oh my god mickey :(
the first two books felt significantly different from each other, this one felt like we've settled into a formula. the action was super fun though