Book Review: Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaraies #5) by Martha Wells


Netwrok Effect by Martha Wells

Network Effect
by Martha Wells
My rating: 3 stars 🌟🌟🌟
Publisher: Tor


Well. I'm going to be an outlier here... I didn't love it. 


It felt slow in the first third, a bit perkier but still pretty lethargic in the second third and finished well in the final third. I think this is a case of getting not living up to the hype of wanting. I really looked forward to this novel-length Murderbot but I didn't feel this longer form lent much breadth. I loved all the new shows revealed because life can't just be rewatches of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. I didn't mind all the extra humans but boy were they chatty (often in ways I failed to really care about). The technical & battle/fight technique infodumps felt... too much like info dumps though I can't see how that could be helped. It just didn't make for a reading experience I love (I like the Neal Stephenson infodumps which are straight-up blatant & plonked right down in the middle of a character intro for a page or three; which I know grates on lots of people). This may mean that I'm not into Murderbot for the tech specs or the battle/fight techniques (though many points for it feeling technically on point). I really liked 3 and I don't even know how to feel about not loving the return of a certain character (too spoilerific to spoil). Perhaps too much of a good thing, is in fact, too much.

I'll definitely read the next installment because Murderbot is still crazy awesome.


Summary: You know that feeling when you're at work, and you've had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.
I'm usually alone in my head, and that's where 90 plus percent of my problems are.

When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.




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