Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel (Murderbot Diaries, #5)

by Martha Wells

Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot series exploded onto the scene in 2017, and the world has not been the same, since.

Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel, Network Effect.

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.

--

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.

• ISBN13: 9781250229861
• Publish Date: 8 June 2020 (first published 5 May 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Metaphorosis Reviews]

4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
A security cyborg with a complex past accompanies the daughter of its prior owner on a survey trip that turns out to be much more complicated - and dangerous - than expected.

Review
I've been arguing that Murderbot is not well served by format of the previous extended series of novellas, and that its story would be better told in novel form. To my mind, Network Effect vindicates that assertion. By the end of the previous novella, I felt the Murderbot narrative was beginning to stagnate, and that Murderbot itself had stopped developing emotionally. Network Effect addresses both those complaints.

In this book, Murderbot meets up again with its friend ART, the ship-bot that has featured in a couple of previous installments. Here, though, their relationship is at the center of the story, with Murderbot - reluctantly, of course - facing some truths about itself. In this context, Murderbot's habitual ironic, deadpan commentary takes on new life. Where in the last book, it began to be tiring, same-old, same-old, here it's again as endearing and fun as in the first book.

While the book is strong, characterwise, the plot is ... fine; not entirely convincing, but plot has never really been the center of this series. Where I felt the book needed more attention was on basic editing. The tense, in particular, in the latter half, is all over the place. That's complicated by the decision not to distinguish Murderbot's interior dialogue (present tense) in any way from the story action (past tense), since italics are used for network feed messages (also present tense). It's confusing at times, and I suspect the source of the errors in the prose as well.

All told, I'm happy to see a Murderbot novel, and even happier that the shift does pull the narrative back out of the doldrums into which it had sailed. This is a fun book. Don't give up at Exit Strategy. Here's hoping the next novel sees Murderbot continuing to develop.

[remo]

La quinta entrega de murderbot (excluyendo las dos historias cortas) es la primera novela larga de la serie, y se nota que hay partes en las que la acción decae, cosa que no ocurría en las novelas cortas.
La historia cierra un arco completo que fueron abriendo las cuatro previas, y termina, no creo que sea un spoiler, dejando listos a los personajes para el inicio de una larga saga.
He disfrutado un montón, porque estoy completamente metido en la historia. Tal vez esta quinta no sea la de más nivel de las cinco, pero no me ha importado demasiado. La he disfrutado mucho. Y disfrutaré las que vengan, espero. Muy recomendable pero hay que leerse las anteriores para disfrutar de verdad ésta.

Nataliya, una lectora de esta casa a quien no tengo el gusto de conocer, hace la crítica que a mí me hubiera gustado hacer (ojo, posibles spoilers allá).

[kimbacaffeinate]

This is the fifth audio in the Murderbot series, but the previous four were all novellas and approx. 4 hours. All are brilliant, often hilarious and each endeared me to Murderbot our protagonist. My only complaint was that I wanted a full-length story. And here we are….

In case you’ve been off-planet and haven’t listen to the previous books, I recommend you listen in order as Murderbot develops and makes friends, (kind of) throughout the series.

Murderbot is a rogue SecUnit who disabled a part of his unit that took away his free will. He struggles with keeping his “emotions” in check and befriends ART, the artificial intelligence in a transport craft, and a human; Dr. Mensah.

The story is a mix of humor, mystery and suspense as it ponders life questions about AI, the powers that be, human vs machine and more.

In Network Effect, Murderbot and some of its humans (the ones he feels responsible to protect) are kidnapped by weird humanoids. We soon learn ART did the kidnapping. He needs help to save HIS humans and needs Murderbot’s help. The tale that unfolds completely pulled me in.

Wells mixed humor and sociology into the mix as Murderbot, the humans and ART work together to save ART’s humans. The back-and-forth banter, mistrust, and forgiveness between ART and Murderbot was exceptional. It was like watching an old married couple work through their problems.

The perspective is direct from Murderbot and Wells is a master at delivering a believable AI, who struggles with the complexity of humans, right and wrong and relationships.

I had an absolute blast listening to Kevin R. Free narrate the story. He has become the voice of Murderbot and key characters. The series lends itself to audio and Wells’ writing style makes the story flow wonderfully. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[HekArtemis]

This book was perfect, imo. Everything I was hoping for and more. The four non-humans were the standouts.

Murderbot. ART. 2.0. Three.

I loved the interactions between Murderbot and Art, between 2.0 and Murderbot, and I really loved having Three's perspective of certain discussions and choices of the humans. We did not get much time with Three but I grew to like it very fast and I hope it is in future books.

The only problem with this book is that it was just released this week which means any future Murderbot books are forever away. That is just not okay.

[Quirky Cat]

Network Effect is our fifth foray into the world of Murderbot – and yet it is the first full-length novel of the series. That being said, new fans could easily jump in at this point if they so choose to. Though I cannot recommend the novellas enough, I do make a point of checking them out.

Since gaining its freedom, Murderbot has allied with a bunch of humans. These humans are doing their best to make a connection with Murderbot. All while getting themselves into situations that require a SecUnit to save the day.

That brings us to Network Effect. It started as an ordinary mission to protect the humans while they surveyed the area, but it became much bigger. Now, there are humans to be saved, relatable (well, mostly) AIs to contend with, and more.

"This would have all been a lot easier if I wasn't so worried about the stupid humans."

I can easily summarize my reaction to Network Effect in one sentence: I want more. I absolutely adored this novel. I did the best I could to savor it, but at the end of the day, I just wanted to read it all. I've already resorted to rereading it and am still craving more. That's how firmly Network Effect has wormed into my head.

This novel was, simply put, fun. It was exciting and hilarious, giving me all that Murderbot goodness I have come to love. It was everything I had hoped for from a full novel and so (so) much more.
One of the highlights of this novel is the sheer amount of fantastic quotes to be found. My digital copy is full of lines I highlighted because I enjoyed them so much. That isn't an exaggeration either – there have to be dozens of quotes I saved. Ranging from intense to hilarious and back again.

"I didn't really feel like negotiating. I have a module on it, somewhere in my archive. It was never much help."

If you've read and enjoyed the previous novellas, you have to dive into Network Effect. You'll love it. If you haven't read the novellas, you can still dive into this novel, as it puts effort into introducing the characters all over again. But you will miss some of the context and weight of what is happening. So go back and read the novellas; you won't regret it (I might be slightly biased here, as the Murderbot Diaries is one of my favorite series).

The development of Murderbot's character was phenomenal, as was the development of all the secondary characters (human and machine). It added layers to an already fascinating story and made me love it all the more. Likewise, the pacing was perfect, as was the comedic timing, if I may say so. Murderbot's way of thinking is highly amusing, so of course, I loved their exasperation to the extreme.

Best of all? Network Effect sets up for future Murderbot adventures, a fact that I couldn't be happier about. Give me all the delightful Murderbot you can, Martha Wells, because there is no such thing as too much, as far as I'm concerned.

Highlights:
Cyberpunk meets Solarpunk
Rogue Android/SecUnit
Sarcastic Characters
Space Adventures
Artificial Intelligence

Thanks to StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Graphic Audio Review:

I'm impressed by how quickly Graphic Audio is getting through The MurderBot Diaries. Admittedly, I still don't love all the choices for the voices, but I am thrilled with yet another version of MurderBot to dive into.

Network Effect marks the fifth adventure in the series – it's also the first full-length novel. That means this is the longest Graphic Audio for MurderBot (so far, who knows what the future will hold for MurderBot?).

There are a lot of characters in Network Effect, and I mean a lot! We have the Preservation Crew, ARTs crew, and even a few characters from the corporation sectors. I will say that Graphic Audio's methods work well here, as the various voices make for a richer experience. There were bits I loved about the voices (3! I've been waiting to hear how its voice would sound) and things I would have changed (I do feel like they made Amena sound a little too young).

All things said and done, one highlight for me is how David Cui Cui emphasizes MurderBot's exasperation, sarcasm, and panic. While I do love the more sardonic version brought to us by Kevin R. Free, this take also feels...right.

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