Book Review: "Artificial Condition" by Martha Wells

 

Cover of "Artificial Condition" by Martha Wells  

4/5 stars  

*Spoiler alert!*

 

I’m very happy that I jumped on the “Murderbot Diaries” wagon, because the second installment of the series, Artificial Condition, sees Murderbot go on a journey of self-discovery. Who doesn’t love a robot-finding-themselves story?


GIF: "I have to find myself"

“The inside of my head had been my own for 33,000+ hours and I was used to it now. I wanted to keep me the way I was.” 

After leaving Dr. Mensa, Murderbot wishes to investigate the circumstances of the incident that changed his existence forever. He finds an astronomy research transport to take him to the system where the massacre took place that led him to hack his governor module and become a free bot.

 

Just imagine a snooty professor-type, and you have ART, piloting bot and data processing extraordinaire. Let’s just say that Murderbot names him so and that it doesn’t stand for “astronomy research transport.” (If you’ve read the book, you know.) 

“Yes, the giant transport bot is going to help the construct SecUnit pretend to be human. This will go well.”

ART is curious about Murderbot, and what it’s like to be free. He’s a bit impatient that Murderbot isn’t answering his questions and is frustrated that Murderbot doesn’t thank him for his advice on how to be a better human. (Murderbot’s cover is that he’s merely an augmented human, not a rogue SecUnit.)


GIF: "I'm glad we had this talk"

“I was stalling. I would have to interact with humans as an augmented human... I had imagined it as taking place from a distance, or in the spaces of a crowded transit ring. Interacting meant talking, and eye contact. I could already feel my performance capacity dropping.” 

Yet, despite the mutual frustration between ART and Murderbot, they become unlikely friends, with ART keeping a watchful eye on Murderbot’s back. They become a good team, especially when Murderbot finds himself taking on new clients, part of his plan to get clearance to visit the corporate mining installation.  

“I liked protecting people and things. I liked figuring out smart ways to protect people and things. I liked being right.” 

Except, as per his usual, Murderbot finds himself caring about the humans he’s protecting, because he’s a good person, despite his protests to the contrary. The scientist clients he takes on, who need to get stolen data back, are more than a pretext to sneak around the alleged massacre site. Despite his rampant social anxiety and existential crisis, Murderbot wants to help.  

“I felt a wave of non-caring about to come over me, and I knew I couldn't let it. If I was going to follow my plan, such as it was, I needed to care. If I let myself not care, then there was no telling where I'd end up.” 

While I adore this series for its candid exploration of being human, the nature of fear and anxiety, it was an intriguing and poignant choice on Wells’ part to bring agency to a sex bot, a slave for a cruel human being. I wonder if this bot character will pop up again in the series. (And ART for that matter. I adored ART.)


GIF: "I need more!"
 

When his adventures at the mining installation end, we find a more purposeful Murderbot, who has a plan. A plan to track down the people responsible for the massacre and his patchy memories of the incident.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the second entry in the series, even if I thought it was a bit clunky at first. Perhaps I am alone in this, but I feel like there’s still a bit of world-building that needs to happen, but I’m sure that’ll get fixed soon enough. After all, these adventures are novella-length, and I acknowledge that there’s only so much one can cram into one. And character growth takes time.


GIF: "What a universe. I'll never understand it"
 

In any case, I’m along for the ride.

 

Happy reading!

 

--BookOwl 

 

 

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