Reviews: Rogue Protocol & Exit Strategy

This review will contain spoilers.

Rogue Protocol 

These respective novels of the Murderbot Diaries are good entries in the series. I found Rogue Protocol weaker than the first two books—perhaps because I enjoyed the character of ART in Artificial Condition and the writing had more gaps that disrupted the flow than the previous breakneck pace. All that aside, this is another solid entry depicting Murderbot’s emotional journey and work to come to grips with the confusing feelings due to its biological elements as a constructed entity rather than a bot.

Style: 2

Substance: 2

Exit Strategy 

Exit Strategy was perhaps one of, if not the, strongest novella of the series thus far. Murderbot’s return to protect its friend, Dr, Mensah and the journey of accepting that it has complicated feelings, along with desires for independence was satisfying. The pacing was strong, the acerbic wit of Murderbot landed well. And—biggest spoilers—the battle sequences between Murderbot and the other SecUnits and the CombatUnit were outstandingly written. Perhaps greatest was the “into the fire” virtual fight to save the ship after the physical fight that depicted a new kind of action—a battle through the virtual domain of the ship’s systems and the collective feed by Murderbot in rapid time. This sequence for me was outstanding in conception and was perhaps the of the most distinctive and creative moments of the whole series so far.

Style: 4

Substance: 5

Review: Artificial Condition

With the second installment of Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries, I found myself enjoying the novel more than the original. The interplay of existential and exploratory dialogue between the titular Murderbot and a transport bot managing a hauler she hitches a ride on, and their eventual friendship was interesting and satisfying. The dialogue was also more engaging than I found that of the similar sci-f novel We Are Legion: We Are Bob. 

The story still just skims over the question of what it truly means to be human, hinting at the hope that we will have greater answers in future installments. So while not earth shattering in its themes or descriptions, Artificial Condition is another thrilling read. 

Style: 4 of 5.

Substance: 2 of 5

Review: All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries)

All Systems Red by Martha Wells is a tight novella, action packed, and almost a modern response to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. The titular character, self dubbed “Murderbot,” is almost human in its own teenage-like ennui and devotion to watching entertainment like a futuristic Netflix binger. Yet its augmentation, weaponry, and instinctive programming also make her not quite such. 

The tense survival situation and brief mystery are satisfying, as Murderbot supports and protects the exploration team “renting” it and other equipment from an interstellar corporation. While there are some gaps from catastrophic shutdowns, the story of this unreliable narrator remains captivating and these choices further the story and strong characterization.

I’d certainly recommend All Systems Red as a short, modern sci-fi novella focusing on the question of what truly makes us human. I have not yet watched the streaming adaptation of this particular series. I found Well’s prose to provide good explanations and 

Style: 4

Substance: 3.5

Review: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Mild spoilers for the book...

This novel wasn't the most impactful, artful, or memorable book I've ever encountered. But it was charming enough that I burned through it in about two days and didn't want to put it down. 

This novel explored several common sci-fi themes through the narrative vehicle of a man (Bob) who finds his consciousness preserved in a digitized form after being cryogenically frozen. Bob is from our modern day, and finds himself a digital "replicant" in a distant and hugely altered future Earth. Bob's ultimate purpose is to be uploaded to a "Von Neumann probe," a theoretical space exploration platform with the capability to self-replicate.

Perhaps the most interesting theme of the book, which I hope is developed further in the rest of the series (yes, this is my first read-through) is the relationships and divergence of aspects of the original human Bob's personality in the many copies that are created as the probes spread. The plot threads also great more difficult to follow as the number of these multiplied, even with each adopting their own distinct name. 

Multiple interesting plot-threads emerge, including the original Bob replicant exploring and taking an active role in aiding a primitive non-human species (touching on themes related to “The Prime Directive” that are perhaps better treated in other works). Another group of Bobs seeks to save the remnants of humanity from a dying world, while others continue to fight the remaining probes of other human factions. It begins to get a bit complicated to keep track of who is who, especially since they’re actually all Bob…

Other all, I enjoyed the book. I wouldn’t categorize it as art in the same sense of other influential sci-fi novels, but it provides a really interesting scenario to explore the various sci-fi tropes that occur.

I think my major reservations with this work come down to the authorial tone throughout. There’s almost a certain requirement to have watched some original Star Trek and other cultural topics that both can't be assumed, and the sneakiness and often unfunny jokes undermine any gravitas in the language. On that point, the reason I was able to essentially "binge read" this novel was that the vocabulary generally stuck to about a high school reading level. My other critique is that at times the narrative, particularly in the space battles or techno-babble, indeed skated over some description that made it more difficult to follow. It’s fine if Bob is an unreliable narrator, but he’s also a computer computing orbital intercepts in combat. More technical readouts aren’t wholly inappropriate.

Overall, as the extended internal monologue of the experience of a computerized being, it also lacked more evocative or descriptive language throughout the novel that an omniscient narrator would have afforded. On the flip side, generally it was apparently that a distinct personality flavor or strain developed in each Bob copy, with slightly different voice—this was not always consistent though, which also placed impetus on the reader to be sure to track the chapter headers indicating the date and which ”Bob” was speaking.

Style: 2

Substance: 3.5

Overall, a fun, quick read. Not one that will force you to think a lot, but that touches on many classic tropes in an interesting way. It’d probably be a pretty good reoccurring television series. 

Analysis: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Potential spoiler warning for a fifty plus year-old novella...

Recently I finished my first read-through of the classic sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick. It is best known for being the inspiration for the Blade Runner films. In a funny coincidence, a good friend recommended the book about six months ago to me, and that same week I ran The Big Hoodoo in Trail of Cthulhu as a one-shot, which features Phil Dick and other famous sci-fi authors in the adventure (unfortunately I enjoyed that adventure less than this book). There will be mild spoilers for the novel.

A few thoughts struck me about the book:

• Dick’s prose is beautiful, particularly in the description of transcendence and the emotional landscapes he paints, such as chapter two’s description of the empathy box collective experience.
• The mood dialer devices are an analogue for the measures we take to drown out our emotions. 
• The fear of the silence from Isidore. We are surrounded by a cacophony of voices and an unending onslaught of events. Even in our private moments we seek to escape the silence by escaping through a screen, or an endless Spotify track.
• A focus on the emotional and empathetic responses of humans, and perhaps the core argument that apathy and inability to empathize is a symptom of psychological problems. Perhaps even more, acts of violence are, like in our normal social relationship, considered highly taboo. Yet our media, stories, and games often have a significant focus on violence in one form or another.

The novel remains important due to its core question: What does it truly mean to be human? In the age of AI, even with its still limited large language model applications, these questions are still relevant. Dick’s work remains resonant across the years, as it grapples with the same void of meaning that we feel in the modern world. The blurring between the real and the false in our society and discourse. The search for empathy, and the desire to connect to other living beings—the hollow promises of technology that we can attain such a level of meaning. And the truth that perhaps the essence of being human is both the abject void of loneliness juxtaposed by the brief ecstasies of complete connection with others across that void.