Book Review: "Network Effect" by Martha Wells

 

5/5 stars  

*Spoiler alert!* 

Network Effect is my new favorite of the “Murderbot Diaries” series so far. (Not only because it’s novel length, which means more Murderbot.) Our favorite Murderbot grows quite a bit as a character and their group of human “not friends” expands greatly.  

Murderbot has been helping Dr. Mensah and the non-corporate political entity Preservation with security and still doesn’t like socializing with the rest of Dr. Mensah’s family, which includes multiple marital partners and Amena, their teenage daughter. And Dr. Mensah’s marital partners are uneasy and a bit jealous that Dr. Mensah has confided in Murderbot, rather than them.  

“Data suggests family dramas bear a less than 10 percent resemblance to actual human families, which is unsurprising and also a relief, considering all the murders. In the dramas, not Mensah’s family.” 

Despite their general feelings about humans, they are starting to get used to being in the Preservation System and don’t exactly hate it, although they find the humans that are part of it a bit naïve about how the corporate political entities work. 

Because GrayCris isn’t done with Dr. Mensah and has made several attempts on Dr. Mensah’s life, which has traumatized Murderbot, despite it definitely not wanting to talk about their feelings. One instant really has them shook up, when Dr. Mensah came close to being assassinated by a GrayCris agent.

 

Our beloved Murderbot has crippling anxiety and depression—which they have attributed to sentience; ouch—and Dr. Mensah is someone they really care about.  

“I could say it was an accident, I'd meant to take him prisoner and he had tried to get away--Dr. Mensah would never believe that. My accidents were spectacular and usually involved me losing a big chunk of my organic tissue or something; she knew I could stop a human without hurting them, without even leaving a bruise, that was my stupid job. She would never trust me again. She would never stand close enough to touch (but without touching, because touching is gross) and just trust me. Or maybe she would, but it wouldn't be the same. Fuck, fuck everything, fuck this, fuck me especially.” 

Now, Murderbot finds themself on another survey mission, and is tasked with keeping Amena safe during her internship with them. Murderbot is thrilled.

 

“Amena is on the survey because her education requires an internship in almost getting killed, I guess.” 

After a few close calls involving the Preservation crew having to run for their lives, first from their marine survey unit, and then back in space to their mothership, Murderbot is done with everyone, and thinks nothing else could go wrong.  

“I am tired of the whole concept of humans right now.” 

Until everything goes wrong, of course. Before Murderbot and the Preservation survey team can escape the system with their mobile lab in tow, a transport ship kidnaps them and a few of their humans.

 

Guess what? The transport is ART, although when they board against their will, they discover something is very wrong. There are weird people with gray skin asking at gunpoint for a “weapon.” We all know ART is very vocal, so the bot pilot’s very clear absence from the ship’s system is terrifying and awful. And Murderbot cracks a little, because ART is their friend, despite their resistance to the term “friend.” However, there’s hope.  

(Because c’mon, you can’t get rid of ART.) 

“Now she was talking to me like I was a hysterical human. Worse, I was acting like a hysterical human.” 

So, now Murderbot must figure out how to help their friend—there's hidden code they find that points to ART still in the system—which leads to a confrontation with another corporate entity and even an alien intelligence. They feel immediately out of their depth, but they have humans to protect, so they must try.

 

How will Murderbot get out of this one? Read to find out. It’s action-packed, yet philosophical at the same time. Again, I highly recommend this series.    

“I don’t want to not see you again.” 

Me too, Murderbot, me too.  

Happy reading! 

--BookOwl