Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Murderbot is going to find out about its own past. It wants to return to the site of a massacre that he had a part in to find out what actually happened. Is it repeating its own mistakes? 

In order to get to the place in question, it hops aboard a ship that is doing a run without humans. While on board, Murderbot discovers that the ship is sentient and decides to trust it to help make him look less like a SecUnit and more like an augmented human. The ship, ART, also helps him find a job that will get him on planet so it won't be as suspicious for him to show up.

The job is security for a group that wants their data back from a big corp. But said big corp is being shady (as per usual) and it turns out the job may not be routine after all.

This is an interesting series and the worldbuilding is pretty amazing. Some parts dragged just a bit and I'm not sure about the fact that a robot seems to be feeling emotions at various points but still a good series. 

Four stars

This book came out May 8, 2018

Follows All Systems Red

Followed by Rogue Protocol

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

I had heard about this book from many different podcasts and they all raved. It is for a good reason. This is a really interesting story to introduce a new series. 

Self-named Murderbot is a security android supplied by the "Company." His (using this pronoun for ease -- the audible narrator was a male) job is to protect the humans on any mission. But he has secretly learned how to circumvent the required updates from the Company and is more unfettered than anyone knows. This could be a problem but most of his free time is spent downloading old TV shows and watching them. He still does his job but is doing his best to stay under the radar.

Unfortunately, there is something going terribly wrong with his current mission. Even though all explorations are supposed to be approved by the Company, someone has arrived on the planet and killed off all of the researchers in the other facility. Murderbot doesn't necessarily connect with the humans on this trip but he doesn't want to have his memory erased and besides, after that other mission went so horribly wrong, he doesn't want to be disassembled.

I'm not as in love with the series as other people have been but I am enjoying the world building and liked the story.

Four stars

This novella came out May, 2017

Followed by Artificial Condition

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own