Murderbot has established a relationship with a nice human and provides security for her as well as keeping an eye on things in general. Securitybots have a poor reputation in general, as humans fear they will rampage and kill everyone.

When Murderbot finds a dead body, she needs to investigate the situation, and is the only one on the station who has the skills and thought processes to do so. Just identifying the body proves to be a greater challenge than one might expect.

She also has to put up with people fearing her for no reason and interacting with her in manners that aren't really appropriate. She is getting better at blending in and interacting with the humans, though.

I look forward to seeing how Murderbot develops, but I miss the good old days when she was on the run, connecting with Ship AI units for transportation and sharing her library of videos with them. The very idea of a bot finding a quiet spot with electricity available, watching her favorite shows to pass those long hours in space...

I love all things Murderbot, and this latest novella was no exception.  It was a such a fun cozy mystery, if you can have a cozy mystery set on a space station, and if you can have the hero of a cozy mystery be a being who goes by the name Murderbot, has severe anxiety and depression and most other being on the planet are afraid of it.  But it works, and it was amazing. 

A human is murdered on Preservation Station, and Murderbot finds the body.  It must work with the local authorities (who do not trust it) to help discover the culprit.  Initially, it agrees only because it believes the murder is related to a threat to Dr. Mensah.  As it digs deeper into the mystery, it uncovers a more complex plot, must work with humans that make it nervous, and must find time to watch it's shows.

4,5 stars

Murderbot is back! In between watching Sanctuary Moon and their protection detail, they now have to solve a murder!

Set on Preservation Station we get a real murder mystery with Murderbot. I found it interesting to see how everything is set up on Preservation Station and how their friends all were so positive she should be with them when the station isn't really as accepting of Murderbot as they thought they were going to be. It creates some interesting dynamics.

I was under the impression this was going to be a full novel but it is a novella again. After my initial dissapointment I devoured it. The plot leans itself well for a novella length and it works fine the way it is. And I think I also understand why it has gone back to novella's. Network Effect was really there to wrap up some pieces in a bigger plot. But Murderbot started with novella's and I think Murderbot's story is best told through snappy shorter stories than one long one.

Anyway Fugutive Telemetry has everything that I loved about Murderbot. Snappy Murderbot who gets frustrated with humans, yet they also bond with those closest to her (I went aaaaw at all the check-ins with them during the story). Murderbot will always give us that unique view on us as a human species, and isn't that what we like about them? But they also learn better to navigate the world of humans. When they should speak their mind or hold their tongue. And murderbot is also a bit petty. If they can get under your skin they will. Which is amusing and a bit exasperating at times haha.

Series Info/Source: This is the 6th book in the Murderbot Diaries, this takes us back to a novella format. I got this novella from NetGalley to review.

Story (4/5): Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station and is forced to work with the human Preservation security team to solve the mystery. I really enjoyed this but was left feeling a bit confused about how this tied into the last book in the series. At the end of book 5 Murderbot was going to join ART on a mission but now Murderbot is back on Preservation? Confused. However, it was a fun little story and I enjoyed it even if I did struggle to see where this falls in the overall timeline of things.

Characters (4/5): Murderbot remains a very fun character and I have really enjoyed watching it learn to live more and more with humans and interact with them.

Setting (4/5): It was very nice to spend some time on Preservation since that is kind of Murderbot’s official home. We hear a lot about it in other stories but very rarely get glimpses of it, I enjoyed the time on Preservation. This whole world is very well developed and I love exploring it.

Writing Style (4/5): This was well written and easy to read very in keeping with previous Murderbot novels. Wells does an excellent job with the Murderbot character and weaves good mysteries too.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a quick read that I really enjoyed. Aside from the fact that I was a bit confused about where this story falls in Murderbot’s timeline, I enjoyed this. Murderbot is continuing to figure out what it wants and how to interact with people (and bots). The story is entertaining, humorous, and heartfelt.

* Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGally for an advance copy for review purposes *

Our favorite SecUnit is back in another novella, chronologically placed in between "Exit Strategy" and "Network Effect". After rescueing Dr Mensah, Murderbot is at Preservation Station, trying to find its place in a society that is not that comfortable with a SecUnit around. When a dead person is discovered in the mall area of the station, Murderbot joins the security team to help with the investigation, since Preservation Station is quite peaceful and nobody has had much experience with murders. Of course most of Murderbot's experience is limited to watching crime serials.

I love Murderbot's adventures, and this one is no exception. The character is so well developed that it is hard not to relate to it, even though it is not human. Its sarcastic commentary on the events of the book made me chuckle and seeing it warm up to people is moving, but my favorite moments are when it shows off its skills, both in action scenes and with hacking. Add in a satisfying murder mystery, and I'm thrilled.

I still prefer longer stories, like "Network Effect" (plus ART!), but this was very enjoyable. I'm eager to see what shenanigans Murderbot gets up to after the events of "Network Effect", but I will continue to welcome smaller standalone stories in that universe.

2021 is looking to be a pretty special year. No, I don’t mean the vaccine, although that’s pretty amazing. No, I mean Murderbot is back in a solid novella. While I’m contractually bound to not repeat the approximately 80 highlights I made while reading, I can assure you that it is filled with ‘Bot’s trademark sarcastic thoughts on humans, slow thought processes, and complicated facial expressions.

“Oh good, maybe the security level would go from barely adequate to mostly adequate. I didn’t make an expression because I knew Indah would be more annoyed by me not reacting than by me reacting.”

In Fugitive Telemetry, ‘Bot is on Preservation Station and has recently discovered a dead–cough, deceased–human. This is odd, because they appear murdered on a station with a threat assessment of 7% “(to make it drop lower than that we’d have to be on an uninhabited planet.)” ‘Bot jumps right into the investigation, spurred on by concern that GrayCris might be involved. In this case, it’s somewhat constrained from using full capabilities due to general unfriendliness of the human Station Security team and its honor system. It has some new humans to work with, although a few of our familiar friends make an appearance. In timeline terms, it seems likely to have taken place before Network Effect, mostly because that book has such big events happening.

I received notice of my ARC approval after a marathon day vaccinating people (10 stations, 673 people, thank you all very much for getting shots), and while fulfilled, was quite exhausted. I waged a brief debate with myself: do I read? Do I save it as a reward after I write my two other reviews and finish my two other less-interesting books? Or do I go for it?

I think you know what I did.

While I read, my day fell away, page by page, replaced by sarcastic observations and extremely dry wit. ‘Bot, how I’ve missed you.

“I hadn’t had as much relevant experience in that time. But what I did have were thousands of hours of category mystery media, so I had a lot of theoretical knowledge that was possibly anywhere from 60 to 70 percent inaccurate shit.”

The only real question was how long until I re-read all the novellas?

Endless thanks to Netgalley and Tor/Forge Books for an ebook ARC. All thoughts are mine (although if you like, we can have a philosophical debate on that one) and all quotes are subject to change.

I received this ARC from Netgalley!

Murderbot investigating a murder is a prime recipe for fun!

Murderbot continues to be its sweary/cranky self in the newest Murderbot diary as they investigate a crime on the Perservation Station.

I have to say I was spoiled by the last book which was a full sized novel and this is back to the smaller book format. That doesn't mean this wasn't amazing, but just love when there's more time to flesh out all the characters and I'm all for Murderbot getting a longer story.

The newest installment of the Muderbot series is everything that you expect. Sarcasm, cynicism, computer hacking, murder and unexpected ending. This is a series that never disappoints and I always look forward to reading the next book.

I have been vibrating with excitement since I heard about yet another Murderbot novella coming out, and Fugitive Telemetry delivered exactly what I wanted from it.

Content warnings include: murder, death, violence, injury, slavery, human trafficking, discrimination, character gets shot.

Fugitive Telemetry is the 6th Murderbot story, though chronolocially it plays before book #5, Network Effect, and after book #4, Exit Strategy. As such, it takes place on Preservation Station, and lots of old faces appear. It can probably be more easily read as a standalone as most of the other novellas, but I think fans of the series will enjoy it most.

Plotwise, the story has its own arc, and doesn’t directly connect to any of the other books aside from reoccurring characters and some vague references.

Despite that lack of connection to other stories plot-wise, the book hit all the spots that I want a Murderbot story to hit: there’s Murderbot’s usual sarcasm, its exasperation and frustration with as well as somewhat reluctant yet tender care for humans; there’s an exciting plot centered around an issue that once again Murderbot is uniquely suited to solving; there’s Murderbot’s interactions with both humans and other bots, nuanced based on who or what they are talking to, and layered through the different levels on communications available in this setting – the direct audible dialogue, feed interaction, and bot-to-bot pings and databursts.
And of course, it hits you with a good dose of feelings, both from nostalgia and just the situations Murderbot finds itself in.

I especially liked the way bots appeared in this installment of the series compared to the other books.

Another new thing was the murder mystery element. On its own, that maybe wasn’t the most original crime solving story I’ve ever read, but it didn’t need to be. It was solid in the mystery and murder departments, and most of its charm comes from Murderbot itself anyways. I could read about it staring at a wall and would still be entertained.

Overall this was a charming novella that doesn’t add too much new concepts to the series’ lore, but still satisfied me as a fan. It was enjoyable to read, both funny and with a serious core, and I really hope this won’t be the last we get to see of Murderbot’s adventures.

After stepping away from Preservation Station in Network Effect, we're back during Fugitive Telemetry. It was a little jarring, because it didn't feel like it fit the timeline, like maybe FT should have come before NE. But either way I enjoyed it after those first few disconcerting "when am I" moments.

As always, Murderbot is wonderfully sarcastic. Here we see it working with people who aren't (or aren't yet) it's people. It's a struggle sometimes. As was Murderbot trying and do it's job while ham-stringed by not being able to hack the computer systems. It was forced to interact with outside individuals more. All of it was a lot of fun.

The writing is readable and editing clean, as it has been with all the books so far. I can't wait for more.

Murderbot returns, in novella form, to solve a murder mystery!

Like many, I am obsessed with Murderbot. It has everything. There's the wit, the reluctant heroism, the begrudging attachments, there's space opera stuff going on in the background. Anyone who has read volumes 1-5 knows these aspects well, so let me address how this novella differs from the past volumes.

There is no ART and no Sanctuary Moon, both staples of the last few volumes. However, I think this is a good move for the long term benefit of the arc, since Murderbot is forced to interact with humans, and there is pretty clearly some foreshadowing about Murderbot's future.

We also have a reprieve from GrayCris drama. Murderbot is clearly watching to see if GrayCris could have been involved in this murder throughout the book, but focus of this book is on the murder itself and not the ongoing arc with GrayCris. This volume is a breather, perfectly placed after a full-length novel, and is putting the pieces in place for the next phase of Murderbot's journey.

After reading Fugitive Telemetry, I'm extremely excited to see where Murderbot goes next! I'd recommend this to Murderbot fans who have already read volumes 1-5. (But if you're reading this and you haven't, go read them!)

A fresh, delightful adventure in Martha Wells’s unusual series about a cyborg with squishy human parts - and loyalties - but real hardware and software abilities. This is a tightly-plotted murder mystery which manages to also pull a few contemporary threads around human trafficking, and ends in a hopeful place for Murderbot which I hope positions them for further investigations.

Before we get into my review, I have to say a quick, and so heartfelt, thank you to NetGalley and the publishers at Tor for allowing me an Advance Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review. Murderbot is one of my favorite characters and The Murderbot Diaries is an absolute favorite series of all time. I cannot tell you how excited I was to receive an ARC in exchange for an honest review. In the sixth book of the series, we see Murderbot dive into some more uncomfortable situations on Preservation Station when they are contracted to help solve a murder. The series continues on April 27th and is available for pre-order now.

After the way book five ended, I was glad to see Murderbot still with some of my favorite of their humans And I cannot explain to you how absolutely excited I was when I realized that this was going to be a combination of the usual Murderbot and a murder mystery. We also got some new humans to engage with and how they interacted with Murderbot really gave the reader an insight into how weird Dr. Mensah’s behavior toward them actually is. Being this far into the series, we all love Murderbot so it’s hard to remember that they aren’t loved by everyone. We had a lot of the usual sass and badassery which was fun to see, but we also got to see what happens when Murderbot realizes that they made a mistake and how that impacts their moves going forward. It was so fast paced and quick which it might not seem like since it took me three days to read, but I’ve been very busy so I’ve only been able to read one or two chapters at a time during that period. If I had been able to set aside the time, I would have easily finished this in one sitting.

I think the problem I have with the series as a whole is that the novellas are so short. I generally love longer form content so that’s just a personal preference. I think for this series the whole is definitely more than the sum of its parts.

I would recommend this series for anyone who watched Star Wars and preferred the sassy AI/Droids over the human characters (K2SO FTW) or for anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi in any age range. This is such a fast paced and fun read.

I am always up for some Murderbot because this series has brought me so many smiles during the pandemic. So, when I saw the announcement that we were gonna get another novella this summer, I was ecstatic.. and even more happy when I got the opportunity to read this arc.

What's better than more Murderbot? Murderbot playing detective..!!! This story takes place between Exit Strategy and Network Effect, where Murderbot is still trying to figure out it's place on Preservation Station and what it wants to do with it's life. And in the course of it's stay, it is given the opportunity to help out in solving a murder mystery. The first thing that comes across as soon as we start the book, is the signature humor of our protanist - how it really would prefer not to interact with any humans, wish it could be binging it's serial instead of helping out Station Security, and more than hoping that the murder did not have anything to it and Dr. Mensah's shenanighans from the previous novella. It was really so cool to see Murderbot interact with humans who did not entirely trust it and were apprehensive about the help it offered, but Murderbot was still very patient in trying to alleviate their fears and stick to their directions (even if it couldn't stop being sarcastic about them in it's head). And it's even more satisfying when we get to see all the humans slowly realize that Murderbot was safe and good and could be relied upon. The mystery itself was written very well, and I truly could not guess who the culprit was. I also like how the author emphasises that Preservation Station is a truly progressive place where everyone has rights, basic needs are available for free to everyone and refugees escaping corporate slavery can find a home and safety - even if Murderbot can't see the point of it all.

In the end, this was entertaining and fun and I loved being in Murderbot's head again. This series has truly become a comfort for me and I hope we continue to get many more books in it. And if you are someone who hasn't picked up this series yet, I implore you to do so because this socially anxious, depressed and serial binge watcher Murderbot will surely steal your heart. And do try the audiobooks because they are super cool.

Loved this installation of the Murderbot universe. Sec Unit goes full detective mode, solving a mysterious murder on Preservation without the usual unfettered access to every security system available to find and hack. Delightful gumshoe work from my favorite Sec Unit.

When a body is found on peaceful Preservation Station, Security turns to Murderbot—mostly with suspicion, but after that it’s for help. My favorite slacker robot signs on as a contract investigator in a fun Sci-Fi whodunit. This includes plenty of the humor, asides, and daring acts the rogue SecUnit won readers over with in previous novellas.

All I want in life is more Murderbot forever. Please have Martha Wells sign a contract for at least ten more installments.

Murderbot is back, bringing me one step closer to my dream of a glorious, never-ending stream of Murderbot books a lá the Magic Treehouse. Except with fewer time traveling tree houses, and more grouchy but loveable robots. Keeping with the kids book metaphors, Fugitive Telemetry was Murderbot: Revenge of Reluctant Robotic Nancy Drew as this installment finds our favorite governor module-hacking, media-watching bot on contract with Preservation Station security solving a murder mystery.

This genre blend works fantastically for Wells, who proves herself as adept as dropping narrative breadcrumbs as she does pulling out the stops for a lively spaceship fight scene. Murderbot and Station Security hassling each other over Who Can Protect Mensah Better was a particular highlight, as were the interactions Murderbot had with other bots. It was cool to see a broader range of sentient constructs at work; they not only emphasized Murderbot's singularity but also deepened my sympathy with its complicated identity struggles. My one minor complaint across these novellas its that Murderbot rehashes a lot of character development from adventure to adventure, but this book was an opportunity to really see how it has been changed by its experiences, especially having read this right off of a full series re-read. As ever, Murderbot charms with its beguiling contradiction of inhuman humanity, and I hope to keep reading about its adventures far into the future.

A new Murderbot novella is something I always look forward to, because I am completely invested in the journey of this cybernetically-enhanced construct and its interaction with the humans that have accepted it into their extended family.

Fugitive Telemetry is slightly different from its predecessors in that it’s not so much an adventure against evil intergalactic corporations as it’s a murder mystery in which our SecUnit takes on the role of detective, and does so relying mostly on its deductive capacities rather than the impressive technical skills it has shown so far. As far as temporal placing goes, this novella follows after book 4, Exit Strategy, and comes before the longer work Network Effect: Murderbot is very actively on the lookout for GrayCris operatives that might still be threatening Dr. Mensah’s life, so that when the body of a murdered man is found on Preservation Station, the first hypothesis for our SecUnit is that there might be a connection with the previous attempts on its legal guardian.

Since murder is quite an unusual event on Preservation Station, MurderBot offers its services in the investigation: on one side it wants to be sure that the dead man is in no way connected with GrayCris operatives, on the other it knows it might be a good opportunity to show other humans that it’s not a danger to Preservation and that, on the contrary, it can be an asset. Easier said that done, though, because suspicion and mistrust run rampant among the police force, such as it is, on the station, and Murderbot has been requested not to use the full potential of its cybernetic enhancements, which means that it will not be able to hack various data-gathering systems and it will have to rely on its rational powers alone and whatever information the humans are willing to share.

Watching MurderBot play detective is a fun experience on many levels: on one side, having to work without its usual tools, the SecUnit must fall back on the investigative techniques it learned by watching its beloved media, which is a tongue-in-cheek take on the genre; on the other, the barely veiled wariness of the humans it comes into contact with brings on new levels of snark in MB’s inner musings that are nothing short of delightful. Still, it’s clear that it has learned a lot about how to interact with humans, and even though it seems very keen on winning the undeclared challenge with the station’s police operatives, it also shows an unusual self-control in the face of what it considers some very stupid attitudes and questions. There are however a couple of instances in which that control slips, like the discussion on the reasons the body was dumped in such a public place:

Murderbot: “No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall”
Lead Investigator: “How would you dispose of a body so it wouldn’t be found?”
Murderbot: If I told you, then you might find all the bodies I’ve already disposed of.”

Which begs the question whether its was a provocative joke or not…

As the investigation progresses, the findings lead in a very unexpected direction and once again the SecUnit finds itself entangled with the rescue of some humans, and the deeper ramifications of the circumstances that brought these people into such a dangerous situation: without entering spoiler territory, I would like to point out that, no matter its antisocial declarations, there is a deep core of altruism in MurderBot that brings it to quite heroic actions, even when he ends up being shot at as a reward, as is the case here.

One of the delightful discoveries of this novella is the deepening connection that MB is forging with its adopted family (those it refers to as “Mensah or any of my other humans”), to the point that it’s learned how to rely on them when need arises, or even to ask for outright help: their reaction at that request is one of my favorite moments, indeed, but it also shows how they have come to care for their latest member, and how MurderBot is coming to understand the rewards of interacting with flesh-and-blood people, of lowering one’s barriers and letting the world come closer.

On the other hand, the SecUnit’s scorn for the station’s bots remains unaltered: it’s clear it views them as inferior and even pathetic in their willingness to be useful and friendly, or in adopting charming names for themselves: one such example is that of JollyBaby, whose designation goes against its appearance and capacities - the surprise it will reserve for MurderBot toward the end is one that brought a huge smile on my face, and the hope that MB will be able to temper its snobbish attitude in the near future ;-)

To sum it all up, Fugitive Telemetry is another captivating installment in the “MurderBot Saga”, one that adds some more facets to the main character while offering a quick, entertaining story and a wider view on the background it’s set on. The only thing that’s missing this time are the references to MB’s beloved media: the course of the investigation is such that there is literally no time to indulge one or more episodes of, say, Sanctuary Moon - and even MurderBot at some point wishes to simply “watch media and not exist”, which is a desire we can all sympathize with, particularly at the end of a hard day… A sign that the SecUnit is far more human than it can conceive of!

Can we have another story soon, Ms. Wells, please?

Murderbot is back in novella form for the sixth book, this time helping out security on Preservation Station to solve a murder, which is a rarity there. They also don’t have as many surveillance cameras as stations in the Corporate Rim do, so Murderbot has to talk to humans, which is never a fun job. Is it GrayCris agents, another corporate entity, or just plain, old-fashioned, human murdering human? Murderbot’s on the case.

Though Murderbot can physically “pass” for an augmented human most of the time, we do still have to deal with people who know they’re a SecUnit, and those who figure it out. SecUnits already have a bad rep in the media as killers, and one who’s broken free of its governor module and named itself Murderbot sounds even scarier to most, including those working alongside it. Murderbot is learning how to mix with humans more, even though they really, really would rather watch another episode of Sanctuary Moon.

I think this would be a good series for YA and adults who like SF, but are not big readers. The majority of the books are novellas, so they’re short reads that might not be as intimidating, with lots of sardonic humor and battle scenes mixed in to get their attention.

If you don’t like a snarky, antisocial, not-exactly-human protagonist with a lot of asides to the reader, Murderbot Diaries is not for you. I don’t recommend started with this book either, as the overall arc for the eponymous character wouldn’t make sense, though I do think the mystery would hold up well enough.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.