2026 short science fiction novel, eighth in the Murderbot series.
Murderbot is visiting a huge space habitat with the goal of rescuing
some of its humans.
Much of this, therefore, is a narrative of travel, by various
means and gradually accruing company (and with occasional firefights).
But also Murderbot now has a mental health module, and a
repaired risk assessment module, and really when one just wants to
relax and watch media these things can get in the way.
One hour and seventeen minutes after that, we were attacked by
raiders, but I had the projectile weapon, energy weapons in my arms,
and a lot of issues to work out, so it was fine.
These humans don't know Murderbot well, so there's also the
consideration of how violent it can be and how the humans will feel
about it once they've seen it do the thing it was built to do.
I picked her up and was going to tell her to put her arms around my
neck and hold on, but she immediately clamped on to me like a
tentacled parasite in a horror show.
There was also—and I think this has always been there in the
series but I was particularly sensitive to it this time—an ongoing
feeling of how wasteful the corporate-state system of violent
competition is, how much casual damage it causes to everybody, even
those who mostly benefit from it.
It's a shame to miss the other regular characters, but I found the
book profoundly satisfying as regards Murderbot itself.