System Collapse by Martha Wells

March 4, 2024

Murderbot, the rogue SecUnit, is back for another adventure, only this time, something traumatic has happened to it, causing it to experience false memories and flashbacks. Worse, its breakdown happened in front of the crew, ART, and another SecUnit, so everyone knows something is wrong. Both its mechanical and organic parts are affected, and it makes Murderbot question whether it can do its job. For the first time, it is afraid to go into unknown situations, that it will freeze and be unable to protect its humans. And Murderbot has more humans than ever to look after, and is starting to care about many of them.

Love the Murderbot series! It's been a while since the last book, so it takes the reader a few chapters to get back into the story (stick with it, it's worth it). Wells revisits many of our favorites characters, including ART, the Asshole Research Transport and Murderbot's best friend. We get to see Murderbot's human side here, which just makes me love it even more. I'm so sad that I have to wait another year for the next book. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys science fiction and fantasy.

Terraforming a new planet

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

January 15, 2022

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

A group of space explorers on a long-range project sleep between stops at the worlds on their itinerary, sometimes for a decade or longer. Each time they wake up with different features, having transformed themselves in sleep. At the same time, things are constantly changing back on Earth - sometimes the astronauts wake to find that their home countries no longer exist, or that support for space exploration has morphed into a type of cult - only to find that things have changed again the next time they wake. Their goal is to study, explore, and send their findings back to Earth.

This is a stand-alone novella outside of Chambers' Wayfarers series (which I love). While I didn't love it as much as the books in the series, as always, there is great world-building, diverse characters, and wonderful writing. There are no battles or wars, no nefarious plots, not much of a plot at all, just great characters going about their day to day tasks.

A galaxy far, far away

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

January 1, 2022

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

When a dead body is found at Preservation Station (the safest place in the galaxy - for the crime rate to be any lower, they'd have to be on an uninhabited planet), why does the security staff immediately assume that Murderbot killed the dead person? If Murderbot HAD killed the dead person, he is certainly smart enough not to dump the body in a public place in plain sight. Dealing with people is the worst part of Murderbot's job - they are SUCH a pain in the ass. When security tapes show that Murderbot was no where in the vicinity, they must work with Murderbot to figure out how the murder was committed and who is responsible.

This is #6 in the Murderbot Diaries series, and I just love it.  I love the main character's narration, sarcasm, and sense of humor, also its devotion to Dr. Mensa, the head of preservation station and the first human to realize that Murderbot was a thinking being, and treat it like a person and not a thing (Murderbot is the SecUnit's name for itself). 

What Murderbot the SecUnit may look like

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

November 22, 2019

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

The second book in the Wayfarer trilogy begins 28 minutes after the first book (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet) ended.  Lovelace, the original AI from the Wayfarer, is in a new body, which she refers to as a kit, traveling in the company of Pepper, Jenks' friend, to her home on the moon of Coriol.  It's a hard adjustment, going from a virtual existence to the limitations of a physical being.

Overall, this is a great follow up to the first book.  My only disappointment is that, while the story features some of the characters from the first book, we don't meet up again with the crew from the Wayfarer.  We do get Pepper’s backstory and how she ended up as a tech pro on Coriol, and Chambers does a great job of imagining what it would be like for Lovelace (now called Sidra) waking up in an alien body.  One of the things I didn’t like:  the predator animal on Pepper’s original planet is a gene-tweaked dog – I would have preferred some other animal, like a beaver/bear hybrid.  Looking forward to the third book, Record of a Spaceborn Few.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

September 19, 2019

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Rosemary Harper needs a fresh start, so she scams her way into a job as a clerk on a tunneling ship, the Wayfarer.  The crew turns out to be a collection of oddballs (the aliens are strange, but so are the humans) who depend on each other for – well, everything.  Rosemary learns that real family aren’t necessarily the people that you’re related to.

And one of the crewmembers appears to be in love with the ship’s AI, Lovey.

An absolutely great read!  Terrific world building, complete with an assortment of alien races, characters that you fall in love with and wish they were your friends, minute attention to detail that makes the story come alive.  Yes, there is a little inter-species sex but it’s tasteful and not graphic at all. You may cry a bit after the ship is attacked in Toremi territory (the small angry planet of the title).

Great fanart of the Wayfarer crew by SebasP

From the left:  Ohan, Ashby, Sissix, Rosemary, Dr. Chef, Kizzy, Jenks, Corbin

This is science fiction for people who don’t read or enjoy science fiction, not for the hardcore sci fi reader, and it's the first book in the Wayfarer trilogy.  I would put it in the same category as The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell; All Systems Red by Martha Wells; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline; The Martian by Andy Weir; and Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.  I can't wait to read the next book.