Book Review: Network Effect by Martha Wells

Book 5 of the Murderbot Diaries, but chronologically comes after book 6, Fugitive Telemetry

Pros: lots of character development, fight scenes, exciting twists

Cons:

Network Effect starts with the survey mission mentioned in Fugitive Telemetry. The survey team returns to Preservation space and is immediately attacked by a transport. Murderbot is horrified to learn it’s ART/Perihelion. It needs to learn what happened to its friend while keeping Mensah’s daughter alive.

The story is novel (rather than novella) length, and it needs the space. It’s a fast paced story with a lot of exciting twists. There are some nice flashback scenes on Preservation planet that help develop Murderbot more as a complex entity. This novel also brings up trauma more and how individuals (human, bot, and construct) deal with it. There are some great fight scenes and banter among the characters. Murderbot’s narrative is sarcastic at all the right times.

There’s so much going on and such fun conversations that this is probably my favourite book in the series.

=> The next book to read is System Collapse.

Book Review: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Book 6 of the Murderbot Diaries, but chronologically comes between books 4 and 5

Pros: several plot twists,

Cons: not much action

Fugitive Telemetry takes place on Preservation Station where Murderbot is acting as Mensah’s security. A murder has just been uncovered, and Mensah suggests station security and Murderbot work together to solve it.

This is basically a murder mystery novella, so there isn’t as much action as the other books in the series have had. The characters are mostly new, though Gurathin and Ratthi show up for a bit. The mystery is good, with some interesting twists.

It’s entertaining, but not my favourite.

=> The next book Chronologically is Network Effect.