In "Network Effect," the fifth installment in 'The Murderbot Diaries' series by Martha Wells, readers are taken on an action-packed journey with Murderbot as it navigates relationships, emotions, and mysterious alien artifacts. The plot involves Murderbot going on an expedition with Mensah's daughter, facing a kidnapping orchestrated by ART, and encountering altered humans. The book is filled with twists, turns, humor, and deep character development, exploring themes of friendship, loyalty, and the complexities of AI-human interactions. The writing style is described as sarcastic, emotional, and thought-provoking, with a blend of hard sci-fi elements and relatable character dynamics.
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Content warnings include themes related to PTSD, violence, and some graphic descriptions of injury.
From The Publisher:
A 2021 Nebula Award Winner!
A 2021 Hugo Award Finalist!
A 2021 Locus Award Finalist!
The first full-length novel in Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series.
An Amazon's Best of the Year So Far Pick
Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Book Riot | Polygon
"I caught myself rereading my favorite parts... and I can't recommend it enough." - New York Times
You know that feeling when you're at work, and you've had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you'll read this century.
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I'm usually alone in my head, and that's where 90 plus percent of my problems are.
When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
Drastic action it is, then.
Ratings (78)
Incredible (34) | |
Loved It (32) | |
Liked It (6) | |
It Was OK (5) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (106):
Read It (83) | |
Currently Reading (1) | |
Want To Read (20) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (1) |
8 comment(s)
The murderbot series is my favorite sci-fi so far and I was so excited when I found out this book was going to be longer! More murderbot yaay! Of course I loved it. I think it's a good way to start with sci-fi and overall a wonderful series!
I kept hearing Peaches & Herb's
Reunited playing in my head (minus all the love bits, obviously, 'cuz feelings. ick.) when Murderbot and ART found their way back to each other (in a manner totally ART-like)
Que bien le ha sentado a la larga doblar la duración. Más historia, más personajes y mucha más acción.
Además, es un intermedio perfecto para tener entre arcos.
En resumen, deja con ganas de más Matabot, y eso siempre es bueno.
4.5 upgraded to 5 for GR
This was the first Non-Novella in the series, When I first downloaded the Graphic audio and saw that it was 8 hours long! I was worried I downloaded a multi-book audio.
Overall I do really enjoy how quick of a usually read this series is but I honestly got so caught up in this story I didn't mind.
ART is one of my very favorite character and I cannot wait to see how hopefully Three is introduced and continues through the storyline!
Side note I was able to rebind All Systems Red after finding it at a thrift store and now want to do the entire series! I cannot wait!
This 5th book in the “Murderbot” series continues the adventures of an AI that is surprisingly more human than it wants to be.
"Network Effect" is a science fiction novel written by American author Martha Wells. It was published in 2020 and is a book in the Murderbot Diaries series. The story follows a rogue security android, known as "Murderbot," as it navigates the complexities of human interaction while trying to protect a group of scientists on a remote planet from a dangerous alien race. The novel explores themes of artificial intelligence, self-awareness, and the consequences of technology. The novel was well-received and won the 2021 Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards.
Entertainment when you have nothing else to read, or you are inbetween books.
Each
Murderbot Diaries book has progressed my enjoyment of the characters and plot steadily, and with all I've read up to this point,
Network Effect takes the cake. We gained so much insight into Murderbot, the universe around it, and its relationship with ART and the humans it interacts with, and the ending sets us as the audience up for what could become a (hopefully) very long ride with this character.
I was genuinely scared for Murderbot's life in this book, which, until this point, I'd been secure in thinking it'd live through anything. Wells masterfully resolved all the questions I had about the events of this book by the end, and the eerie twist surrounding targetContact was a great addition! I can't wait to read
Fugitive Telemetry, and I can't wait to see Murderbot through many more adventures!
Actual rating: 3.5
You know what would be a fun drinking game? Take a shot every time you come across a parenthetical. (Don't do that, though, because you'd be dead of alcohol poisoning before the end of Chapter 1. (Even if you only took a shot at every parenthetical-within-a-parenthetical, you still wouldn't last long.)) This is definitely consistent with the character's voice as established in the earlier novellas, but it seemed excessive in this book—especially in the opening chapters, where it was a little distracting and annoying.
Overall, this was another fun installation in the Murderbot series. My positive notes are that 1) it was nice to see Murderbot's character growth since All Systems Red, and 3 was a particularly nice character foil to emphasize that, 2) the killware character was very innovative and interesting, 3) I very much enjoyed that this built off of the earlier books and brought back one of my favorite characters, and 4) I appreciated that, once again, Wells tackled a completely different plotline that felt different—at times, *very* different—from what we've seen earlier in the series, complete with finally getting to explore some alien stuff (which has kind of been teased from the very beginning).
My "constructive criticism" notes are that 1) this took way too long to get going: the first "action" sequence was confusing and pointless and the sequence on Preservation was too drawn-out (sorry, I don't really care about Preservation's weird cult-like, Burning Man-inspired socialist paradise and all the weird polygamy and gender commentary), 2) some of it was a little bit dry/boring/dense, 3) I had a really hard time following the plot at some points, which wasn't helped by the fact that there are, like, a million series-specific acronyms and systems and equipment names to remember, and a lot of them are just variations on each other (targetSystem and contactSystem and targetContact etc. etc.), 4) I'm still super confused by the time jumps/flashbacks/flashforwards, 5) why in the world are two different characters named "Amena" and "Arada," they're way too easy to get mixed up, and 6) at times, this just felt really, really long.
In short: I loved the novellas, and I think this full-length novel illustrates the difficulties an author can have in transitioning from novellas to novels in a single series. Wells manages to churn these out at a truly impressive speed, and I commend her for attempting a longer, more complex, more ambitious plotline—but moving forward I hope she continues this series with shorter novellas.
I just AM COMPLETELY OBSESSED with these books.
What can you read after
Network Effect?
About the Author:
MARTHA WELLS has written many fantasy novels, including The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, the Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads and ending with The Harbors of the Sun), and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer, as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, and nonfiction. Her New York Times and USA Today-bestselling Murderbot Diaries series has won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards.
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