I am always excited about a new Murderbot novella or novel (though we only have one of those in the series so far, book 5, and what an excellent book that was!) because Murderbot is my favorite misanthropic paranoid SecUnit with a prickly personality and a heart of gold. It is hilarious to hear it tell itself how he doesn't like people and how they annoy it, and how they make its life difficult... while doing everything in its power to protect those same people.

It's also very telling that he cares deeply for those who it considers his friends (like the members of the expedition who first discovered that it is a person, not just a piece of equipment), but he also can't help but get invested in the wellbeing of complete strangers. This is abundantly clear in this story especially, when it discovers that there is human trafficking of sorts going on through the station and that a batch of refugees had gone missing. You would think that it would just shrug and leave the case to Station Security, since it doesn't have anything to do with protecting his employer, but you would be wrong. SecUnit can't help himself - though it would never admit it even to itself, it cares about what happens to people, especially if it sees something that goes against its moral compass.

I also like how it starts to grudgingly admire the society on on this station, even though it keeps calling it too naïve and unrealistic. Despite that, I'm pretty sure that SecUnit would do everything in its power to protect the station, if needed.

It's also rather sad to see that SecUnit automatically assumes the worst in people he isn't familiar with, especially when it comes to their attitude to it. And it is notoriously bad at reading people's emotions, thus misinterpreting their reactions half the time. Seriously, I think most of the station has a grudging respect for it now, even if it doesn't realize that. Certainly, by the end of this book, most members of Station Security treat it with respect and even a certain comradery.

This is definitely a must read, especially if you love Murderbot like I do and enjoy following its sarcastic inner monologue. I would suggest that you read this book before you pick up book 5, even though this is listed as book 6. The reason for this is that chronologically speaking, the events in this book happen a couple months after the end of book 4, while Murderbot was still settling into the life on the station, so its attitude towards certain people is different than in book 5. If you are unaware of that, reading this book after book 5 might be rather confusing, as in "I thought they were already grudging allies, so why is it reacting like this person is an enemy" confusing.

Besides, I think some of the events from this book are mentioned in passing in book 5 (like the episode with the corporate assassins).

Anyway, go pick up this story and spend a pleasant evening with everybody's favorite sarcastic, drama-binging SecUnit.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an awesome read and I gave it five stars. Overall would highly recommend this one to people who love sci fiction.

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells is brand new, sixth in this series, so my comments contain minimal spoilers. It’s a murder mystery from the first page, and Murderbot, along with Preservation Station Security, is the detective. It’s delightful, and opens up the worldbuilding for potential new stories about Murderbot’s career options. As usual, I was sorry when it was over. I highly recommend this series.

I love Murderbot. Its various adjacencies to humanity evolve in interesting ways from novella to novella, and its wry voice is a delight to read. This novella is no different, as living on Preservation presents Murderbot with an entirely different set of challenges. This was a fun mystery with a good twist.

Summary
When a dead body turns up Restoration station, Murderbot gets involved, for fear it may be a threat to its primary charge.
Review
This series is shaping up to be an uneven one – good novellas providing gradually less and less appeal, then a strong novel, now another good novella. Unfortunately, it feels too much like an episode to be satisfying, and I fear that more of the same will suffer the same decline as the first set of novellas.
Wells continues to have the same strong voice, the same keen sense of balance – what to leave in, what to leave out – and Murderbot is fun to spend time with. But the story overall feels cropped. As part of a novel with a longer, more complex arc, it would have worked well. As a standalone, I found it offered too little.
I’m concerned about the future of this series. Voice-wise, it could go quite a long ways, as Murderbot continues to grow and find itself. Chopped up into these little segments, though, I don’t find it appealing. Maybe there’s a market for a long series of novellas, but I’m finding it prevents me from getting very involved, and prevents Murderbot from making much progress in its development, which makes this into a series of little action thrillers without much character. That’s a shame, since Murderbot is such a great character to work with, and Wells is good at character (action too, but better at character). It’s taking a bunch of great baking materials and making a bunch of microwave mug cakes instead of a real cake. It’s similar, but not as good, and I hope Tor wakes up and buys novels instead.
You could make an argument that this isn’t too much shorter than many of the novels published in the 60s and early 70s. But those were intended as full novels, and read that way – just quickly. This feels like it’s intended as a quick fix, not a fully developed novel. So, not the same thing.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Murderbot is back on form with a mystery set on their home turf of Preservation Station! This one totally hooked me from the onset, and I was intrigued to see how it all played out and the reveal and subsequent fight was brilliant.

Martha Wells is still at it! As difficult as it must be to sustain interest and create fun, compelling stories in a series this long, Wells has somehow managed to do it: 'Fugitive Telemetry' is a lot of fun! If you're picking up FT, you likely have read some combination of the previous novellas and/or the full-length novel 'Network Effect,' so you know what you're getting yourself into. Murderbot is still Murderbot, in all its begrudging introspection, anxiety, and exasperation. Exciting hijinks are still had. However, some fans (like me) may suffer very mild initial shock and disappointment when they discover that this novella, while #6 in the series, actually takes place between the events of the short story 'Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory' (#4.5) and 'Network Effect' (#5). So if you have been waiting for a continuation of that story thread, you'll just have to wait some more. Also, the story structure for FT is that of a murder mystery, which may delight some fans and turn off others; at least it adds a bit of variety. Overall, it's probably not the strongest or most compelling entry in the series in terms of storyline, character development, or action, but it is solid fun nonetheless.

4.5 stars, recommended!

I want more! This one is longer than the first few books in the series, which I would actually consider novellas, but its still not enough!

I put off reading this as long as I could, until I needed a pick-me-up, because MB ALWAYS makes me smile, and this did.

I read this out of publication order, but in order of how things happen in the MB world, so I re-read books 1-4, then read this one and am now re-reading the full book (re-reading the part I already read. I put it down when I heard this was coming out so I could read it in chronological order. I'm weird like that.).

This was just as amazing as the first four books and I ordered the hard cover for myself, because these are "Keepers" for me. I also got a family member into this series and they took books five and six with them on vacation to read by the pool (I'm envious, vacation? What's that?)

Anywho, this series is just so great and I HIGHLY recommend them if you like sci-fi/fantasy in space, robots, AI, human-robot constructs that are sentient and high in the snark. There is some violence in these books, MB IS a SecUnit tasked to protect humans after all, but it's not overly described and there is no sexual content, other than MB declaring distaste for that sort of thing and how as a SecUnit it has no reproductive parts.

I'm not discussing the book at all, as I don't want to unintentionally spoil anything. All I will say is start with the first book and you will need the rest in short order. They are highly addicting and absolutely amazing and I am so glad that I read these books and can't wait for the next ones!

5, I have a strong feeling, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

I really liked this addition to the Murderbot series. This one featured a mystery which gave it a little different feel than the other ones. I also love Murderbot and the snarky inner dialogue that is featured. The only thing that was a little confusing was how this book fits into the timeline of the rest of the series. ART is my favorite character and having them missing from the story was a bit of a bummer but I'm sure that will be fixed in the next books.

I was on the edge of my seat awaiting publication of this last book in the series. And it was totally worth the wait! The Murderbot series grabbed hold of me with the first book and never let go. It was interesting to see how Murderbot has changed/evolved since the beginning of the series, becoming a bit more comfortable in its skin, so to speak, but still retaining its poignant, searing self-consciousness that makes it so endearing and relatable.

I can't wait to read whatever Martha Wells has next up her sleeve! Just bring it on as soon as possible, please!

Murderbot is always an incredible read, and this time is no different. Going back to the short story format after the previous novel was an adjustment, but ultimately I will eat up anything Martha Wells puts Murderbot into.

This series keeps getting better and better! Normally I don't read novellas, but after giving the first one a try, I became addicted to Murderbot and crave as much time with it as possible. This snarky, long-suffering and hilariously resigned android is utterly relatable and all the deadpan comments have me chuckling to myself every other page.

I really enjoyed the story in which Murderbot becoming embroiled in a murder investigation on Preservation and has to join forces against its will with the human security team. This does nobody any favors as the humans distrust it and are obviously much less proficient than it, but unfortunately they call the shots. I love how relatable Murderbot is, I feel a lot like it does when dealing with incompetents in the workplace! So I particularly relish how Murderbot amusingly tears apart the performance from the security team at great length in its internal monologues.

Still, the fact that it sticks it out on Preservation Station despite being put in numerous social situations (to its constant despair) shows how much character development Murderbot has had since the first novella and it's fun and heartwarming to see how it copes with these changes.

This has to be my favorite entry in the series and I can't wait for more!

Oh I love Murderbot. I have been binging the books and cannot wait to stay in this world! I need this snark in my life.
This one might be my least favorite out of the series. It concentrates on murderbot solving a mystery, which is not necessarily my cup of tea. Nevertheless it is still as well written and as much fun as the other books in the series.
My only caveat with this series is that I am unable to keep track of all the characters that murderbot interacts with. I wish these characters were build out more and had a more prominent place in the series.
But what am I saying ... I could just listen to murderbots thoughts all day long without any side characters.
I cannot wait for the series to continue!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

10/10, a prefect murder mystery romp for a perfect Muderbot! This novella features all the snark you love from pervious Muderbot books (now featuring new humans to sass), plus a healthy dose of who-done-it with a spicy twist. & can I just say I'll take any and all avenues of workplace exploration Murderbot wants to venture down in future books, but I've very very extra down for some more hardboiled detective shenanigans.

Many thanks to NetGalley for access to this ARC!

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Chronologically, Fugitive Telemetry falls between the end of Exit Strategy (#4) and the start of Network Effect (#5) so it is important to read at least the first four novellas before reading this one.

Y'all! Thank god for new Murderbot in this crazy time! I read this book back in April and it was the book I needed in my life at that time. I was stressed out getting myself and my students ready for state testing as we sprinted towards the end of the school year. And it was absolutely wonderful being back in Murderbot's head.

I can't begin to explain how delightful it was to watch Murderbot gain some new skills and go full Miss Marple to solve a murder on Preservation Station. And gasp! They need to talk to humans in order to do so! This novella wasn't as action-packed as some of the other novellas but it kept me on the edge of my seat. I kept trying to figure out the who-done-it and there are some delightful curveballs that Martha Wells threw in.

The story is a murder mystery but it is also the story of Murderbot working to make a space for themselves on the station to be closer to Dr. Mensa and the rest of the humans that adopted them, for better or worse. It was so much fun watching Murderbot navigate the investigation and we got to see some familiar faces besides Dr. Mensa. I can't wait to see what kind of shenanigans Murderbot gets into next!

Side note: I reread this via audiobook recently and I can't recommend listening to the audio of the series enough. Kevin R. Free does a fantastic job with the narration. I had already read the story but I found myself getting lost in how he told the story. I was listening while mowing the yard and can't count the number of times I found myself standing still because I was so caught up in the audiobook.

ARC provided by the Publisher via Netgalley

This novella is another fantastic addition to the Murderbot Diaries. I enjoyed it just a bit more than Network Effect, and I might be in the minority here but think the novella length is perfect for these stories. This story backtracks a bit to Murderbot's time on Preservation when they get involved in a murder investigation. It does not have quite as much violent action as some of the previous stories, but it has plenty of the snarky attitude and humor that makes the series so much fun to read.

I loved All Systems Red. Murderbot is such a unique and fun character. It had been a while, so I had to reacquaint myself with the world, and there is a lot of jargon. I found it a bit confusing. It took me a while to get into the groove with the first book, too, and I feel like it would be better to just read the series all at once so I could stay immersed in the world.
I guess I'm not really a big fan of hard sci fi, but for those who are, the Murderbot Series is great fun.

"Fugitive Telemetry" is a humorous murder mystery story that happens to be about a prickly A.I. who refuses to admit that it cares about humans. Murderbot, the rogue Security Unit, is starting its new life on Preservation Station after rescuing Dr. Mensah from GrayCris. However, that is easily said than done. Dr. Mensah is experiencing P.T.S.D., certain members of her team still don’t trust Murderbot—for example, it can’t use its name because it might scare everyone off—and, oh right, there was a murder of human and Station Security is trying to figure out what happened. Murderbot is worried that GrayCris might have something to do with it and decides it’s going to investigate the scene so it can go back to adapting to its new life. Whether or not it wants to admit it, Murderbot wants to continue protecting Dr. Mensah and her team. It would never admit it, but it feels both welcomed and needed by them.

Fugitive Telemetry is the latest installment of the Murderbot Diaries series. In this entry, Murderbot has a potty mouth, which is hilarious, and is still reluctantly doing the right thing - trying to keep the humans alive. Although this story does not have as much action as the previous titles in the series, Murderbot's interactions with the other characters (humans, bots, etc.) are great. This book is a kind of sci-fi cozy mystery with a highly intelligent killing machine as the protagonist. Recommended for readers who like their sci-fi with a dose of humor.