Wrong Train, Right Time (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2018-11-17 11:37 pm
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2018-11-17 11:37 pm
Rogue Protocol & Exit Strategy (Murderbot Diaries #3 & #4) by Martha Wells
Talking about the Murderbot Diaries is difficult because they are so consistent in being excellent. Did you like "All Systems Red"? Then you'll like the rest of the novellas. Everything good about those stories continues in the rest, with the added bonus of watching Murderbot grow and change as a person. Half the fun of these novellas is how much of Murderbot’s anxiety and struggle to come to terms with his own personhood is #mood.
"Rogue Protocol" (Murderbot Diaries #3) - If "Artificial Condition" is Murderbot seeing security work recontextualized by its own freedom, then "Rogue Protocol" is Murderbot confronting two mechanical mirrors of who it could be. The combat bots are the extreme distillation of what Murderbot was made to do, being programmed weapons. And the flip side is Miki, a bot as well, naive and sheltered, but truly loved and cherished. Neither the combat bots nor Miki are a good fit for Murderbot and what it wants, though both illuminate possibilities.
"Exit Strategy" (Murderbot Diaries #4) - In light of "Rogue Protocol", the fact that "Exit Strategy" ends with heroic hacking is pitch perfect. Hacking is a skill unrelated to what Murderbot was created to do and be. It's the skill that Murderbot used to give itself autonomy and the skill it has developed to keep it throughout the series. It's fitting that hacking--not security work, not combat--is what Murderbot uses to save the day, and it's fitting that Murderbot still saves the day by recklessly throwing itself into danger as an independent agent. The combat bots and Miki both illuminated possibilities, but in the end, Murderbot is forging its own path. As it should.
I was really excited to hear that Wells is working on a novel continuing Murderbot Diaries, and look forward to reading it.
"Rogue Protocol" (Murderbot Diaries #3) - If "Artificial Condition" is Murderbot seeing security work recontextualized by its own freedom, then "Rogue Protocol" is Murderbot confronting two mechanical mirrors of who it could be. The combat bots are the extreme distillation of what Murderbot was made to do, being programmed weapons. And the flip side is Miki, a bot as well, naive and sheltered, but truly loved and cherished. Neither the combat bots nor Miki are a good fit for Murderbot and what it wants, though both illuminate possibilities.
"Exit Strategy" (Murderbot Diaries #4) - In light of "Rogue Protocol", the fact that "Exit Strategy" ends with heroic hacking is pitch perfect. Hacking is a skill unrelated to what Murderbot was created to do and be. It's the skill that Murderbot used to give itself autonomy and the skill it has developed to keep it throughout the series. It's fitting that hacking--not security work, not combat--is what Murderbot uses to save the day, and it's fitting that Murderbot still saves the day by recklessly throwing itself into danger as an independent agent. The combat bots and Miki both illuminated possibilities, but in the end, Murderbot is forging its own path. As it should.
I was really excited to hear that Wells is working on a novel continuing Murderbot Diaries, and look forward to reading it.