Network Effect

The first novel-length Murderbot book, and it didn’t disappoint. My love for Murderbot grows with every instalment of The Murderbot Diaries, and seeing it have to deal with adolescent humans is delicious. As I am also a big fan of someone else who shows up in this book, Network Effect is real a treat.

Wells is absolutely brilliant at making a relatable character, and her continuing explorations of bodily autonomy, sense of self, personhood, and caring for others are stellar. She also writes kick-ass sci-fi.

Murderbot has never done anything wrong, ever, and I love them.

This series gets more addicting with each installment. The first four books were almost too short, and reading this one felt like I was finally really getting to dig in to the world of Murderbot. Consider me thoroughly hooked!

Hugo Best Novel 2021, and I can kind of see why. The Murderbot stories do not normally speak to me, but this one was actually gripping and had a bunch of interesting turns. The people still feel somehow wrong, but the scifi story here works.

Enjoyable, but I got bogged down in the middle for a good while: I suspect I prefer this kind of story at novella length.