System Collapse

, #7

Hardcover, 256 pages

English language

Published Nov. 14, 2023 by Tordotcom.

ISBN:
978-1-250-82697-8
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4 stars (19 reviews)

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.

5 editions

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

Slight degradation

4 stars

Not quite as good as Network Effect, perhaps because ART is less involved this time. The first couple of chapters also confused me a bit -- I felt like I'd been dropped into the middle of a book and had missed the build-up -- but once I got past that it was a ton of fun.

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

New adventures!

5 stars

Just finished the newest book in the murderbot series and it was awesome. Picking up where the last book left off it explores relationships with "lost" human colonies, and working to translate the cultural and social consequences of being reconnected to the corporate rim world's and the corporations and capitalism space feudal logics that entails. Really like this one alot, recommend it for anyone already in the series but hasn't picked it up yet.

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

💗 Murderbot 💗

5 stars

I continue to love the Murderbot series. By this point, the action parts have lost impact because there's too much precedent for how they're going to turn out, so I think it's wise of Wells to play that part down a bit in this book, in favour of a story more about persuasion and trust building. And the ongoing saga of Murderbot learning about both its limits and capabilities continues to be one of the most relatable arcs in SF/F.

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

Another Great Murderbot Story

4 stars

Content warning Maybe a little bit of a spoiler ahead but probably not much. Nothing to ruin the plot anyways,

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

S.E.C. unit continues to grow into what it means to be both human and free

4 stars

This one picked up right where the last one left off. I always enjoy Martha Wells, this one is no different.

I defs needed that deadpanned Murderbot wittiness in a detailed world build... It's what keeps me reading this series!

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

System Collapse

4 stars

I deeply enjoyed System Collapse--it was a nice followup book to the events of the previous one and I don't think could stand alone. Murderbot has certainly been through a lot, but the last book was particularly intense and it makes sense that there's lasting effects from it. It felt like a smaller and more internally-focused book with less snark and more trama, but I am here for that.

To me at least, Murderbot and its series feels like the embodiment of vulnerability avoidance: handwaving, the first few books seemed like Murderbot coping with learning it cared and people caring about it; Network Effect was about """relationships"" (with ART and 2 and 3); this book in particular explored the vulnerability of trauma and being partially human (or at the very least having some fleshy parts). I think it helps to better situate Murderbot as a construct--not a bot, not human, …

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

A great followup to "Network Effect".

4 stars

An enjoyable episode in the Murderbot Diaries, this one continues from where "Network Effect" left off, with a colony left on a world contaminated with alien material that can infect both humans and AI and constructs. In the book, Murderbot and its friends continue to talk to the colonists, hoping to convince them that life with the corporation that is coming to claim their planet is not good (think bonded slavery). Then they learn that there was another colony established and now their job just got twice as tough (or harder).

As if this wasn't enough, Murderbot is suffering from a personal "redacted" problem that is affecting his efficiency. It is only later in this story that the nature of the "redacted" problem becomes clear, and it is something that can also affect humans, which makes Murderbot feel more human (ugh).

The first half of the book is more about …

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

Another fun novel in the Murderbot Diaries universe

4 stars

Overall, this was a fun book, albeit a bit shorter than it's predecessor. It's still a fun ride with the usual cast of characters we've come to enjoy. A relatively simple plot with plenty of action and high-stakes moments and a recognizable setting with hints of more complexity in Murderbot's psyche. I recommend it for folks that are already reading the Muderbot Diaries at it continues its story.

For a full spoiler-free review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2023/12/book-review-system-collapse-by-martha.html

reviewed System Collapse by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

Another Great Entry

5 stars

I'm a sucker for Murderbot, so liking this wasn't not going to happen. I've read all the previous books and enjoyed all of them. While I liked Network Effect, Murderbot really seems to work best as a novella.

I wouldn't suggest starting with this one, as it picks up immediately after Network Effect, but the first book, All Systems Red is good too.

I will say that I read this in 94 hours, which is the fastest per capita I've read any book this year. In a year where reading has been hard for whatever reason, this book was a welcome reprieve from that.

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