Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries, #2)

by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition continues The Murderbot Diaries, a science fiction series that tackles questions of the ethics of sentient robotics. It appeals to fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans.

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

It has a dark past-one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself...Read more

Reviewed by Metaphorosis Reviews on

4 of 5 stars

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4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary: An ungoverned, free-willed cyborg and security expert searches out an episode in its past in which it seems to have killed a considerable number of people.

Review: I’m glad to fill in the gap between books 1 and 3, even if out of sequence. This book has more in common with its prequel than its sequel – the character is the focus, and works well. The story is reasonably credible (if a little pat in places). The brevity of the book screams out ‘This should have been a portion of one big book‘, just as the other parts did.

Still, aside from that ongoing complaint, the book is a lot of fun, and a good continuation of an engaging story. I wish Wells’ Raksura stories had been this good. If you haven’t started these yet, I recommend them. However, you may want to wait for the inevitable omnibus volume, so that you don’t have to read the books with these artificial separations.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 24 April, 2019: Finished reading
  • 24 April, 2019: Reviewed