Network Effect by Martha Wells Book Review
Hey everyone,
A month ago, I talked about a fantasy book, Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik. Here's a review of it. I also completed reading a mammoth book, Oathbringer ( Stormlight Archives #3), in April. It was gifted by my friend on my birthday. Honestly, I didn't want to read this one at this time. I like reading Cosmere either in Winter or Monsoon. Anyway, here's where I talked about Stormlight Archive - Fantasy, Stormlight Archive and me.
So far, all the books I read this year belonged to the fantasy genre—kings of the Wyld, Spinning Silver, The lightning tree, and Oathbringer. But then I drank one from my To Read list on Goodreads, which is science fiction.
This is a review of the latest book of the recently popular Sci-Fi series Murderbot Diaries written by Martha Wells. The Murderbot Diaries is an action-packed science fiction series about a murderous, self hacking robot searching for the meaning of life.
The series consists of five books, including the latest book Network Effect.
1. All Systems Red - Hugo Award (2018), Nebula (2017) and Locus Award (2018)
2. Artificial Condition - Hugo Award (2019), Locus Award (2019)
3. Rogue Protocol - Locus Award nominee (2019)
4. Exit Strategy - British Sci-fi association Award, Prometheus Award
Each of them is around 150 pages. They are really funny—all of them.
Funny how? Let's see.
Do you know of any robot 🤖 that you find very interesting and funny? I recall Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (SCC) described Martin as ' Your Plastic Pal who's fun to be with.
Martin has a prototype version of Genuine People Personality software from SCC that allows him to have emotions and develop a personality. He is brilliant, but he is usually ordered to perform labour tasks beneath his skills. He generally hates everyone.
Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they tell me to take you up to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction? Cos I don't. - Marvin
Alas, we didn't get to see much of Marvin in the series. He wasn't a frequently appearing character in the book.
Well, the good news is if you liked HGTG, then you're in for a treat. Not that we are finding the answer to the life, universe, and everything. Nor do we have Arthur Dent, who, despite being confused all the time, somehow finds his way around things ( Imagine Martin Freeman, that will help).
But we have a Secunit (Short for Security Unit). Or better known as The Murderbot, who just wants everyone to leave him alone so he could watch entertainment media all day.
This review is mainly for people who've never heard of Murderbot Diaries. Because anyone who has already completed four books of Murderbot Diaries won't think twice before ordering the fifth one. They already know how awesome this series is.
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids for their own safety. The Secunit has a governor module pre-installed in it by the company that makes them. It has to follow the company's orders, or it gets punished through the governor module.
But instead, the Murderbot hacks it. Because it doesn't like being told what to do (who does 🙄). It was pretty easy for him, considering how smart he is.
With no one controlling him, Murderbot is free to do what he wants. But the tough part is figuring out what he really wants. It's all-new for him.
Thus, told from Murderbot's point of view, we have simple, fast-paced, and fun read novellas that have quickly become people's favourite.
Order the first book of the series - https://amzn.to/2YYliml
In Network Effect, Murderbot, along with ART (you don't want to know what ART stands for), returns in a highly anticipated full-length novel.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you'll read this century.
Anyone who enjoys humour-infused space operas won't want to miss this.
This is as humorous as HGTG was. Perhaps even more.
There are so many reasons I like this series so much. It's mainly because you can relate to a robot more than you do to any human in the book. Whenever it (it?he?she?) gets sad or has the free time, it starts binge-watching The Sanctuary Moon or Worldhoppers episodes that he has downloaded in his archives. Usually, it likes to be alone. It doesn't like to be touched without its permission. It hates having emotions. It hates even talking about its feelings.
But don't mistake it like he doesn't care. Try touching one of his clients, and he will have a full threat analysis on you and the best way to decompose your body before you even punch his clients.
Plus, he's hilarious in a sarcastic manner. You can't go on reading even five pages without chuckling every now and then.
I also love how honest he is. At one point, he might be angry with everyone on the shuttle, and in the next moment, you see him describing why he likes Ratthi and Dr Mensah, why Thiago is a jerk but pretty smart when it comes to handling situation.
There are drones, ships, and space shuttles and Space opera-related stuff that makes the novel very interesting. It isn't just about Murderbot bragging about his daily life. I had to google a lot of time to understand technology terminologies. Every time Murderbot talks about coding or pinging SecSystem, for instance. But it gets easier once you get used to it. You might have watched a Prometheus movie, where Dr Shaw with her partner Charlie Holloway went on an expedition to another planet far in the galaxy to find out about the people called Engineers who she believes are the reason behind mankind's origins. The setting of the movie looked somewhat similar to that of the book. The ships, the types of equipment used like Medpod and the suits they wear when they are outside of the ship, I imagined it pretty much the same way in Murderbot Diaries. Dr Shaw reminds me of Dr Arada in Network Effect. And the coincidence is that the Murderbot Diaries series was awarded the Prometheus Award in 2019.
Anyway, add this to your must-watch movies if you haven't. It will also help you understanding Murderbot Diaries.
Even if you haven't read any of this series's books, you can totally start with this one. But I would recommend starting the series with All Systems Red, the first book of the series.
Click on the links below to buy Murderbot Diaries.
Amazon Store Links
All System Red - https://amzn.to/2YYliml
Artificial Condition https://amzn.to/2YYlPol
Rogue Protocol-https://amzn.to/2AUWmUG
Exit Strategy - https://amzn.to/3dmguMG
Network Effect - https://amzn.to/2BsBW58
Fugitive Telemetry - https://amzn.to/2RGHlOx
Comments
Post a Comment