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 "Murderbot." But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don't want to know what the "A" stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.

Reviewed by inlibrisveritas on

4 of 5 stars

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Book 2 for the #readathon

Murderbot is the best and I adore ART just as much. It's unreal how relatable these two are. All the sarcasm, eye-rolling, and social anxieties are just soo...me. Not to mention the fact that like Murderbot I forget to react to people when they are talking to me or I don't have the same emotional response that they do, which makes them upset and it's a whole thing...*shrugs* 10 years ago I would be worried as to why I relate so much to an AI instead of 98% of the other characters I read about,
these days it's kind of a relief.
Martha Wells does such a good job of pacing out the mystery of Murderbot's 'awakening' and their slow understanding of what it means to be an individual in a universe where it's dangerous for an AI to come anywhere close. We get the added bonus of an unusual friendship with a bot nicknamed (by Murderbot) ART that just works on so many levels.

I really can't wait to dive into the third installment.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 25 April, 2020: Finished reading
  • 25 April, 2020: Reviewed