Martha Wells

Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot series exploded onto the scene in 2017, and the world has not been the same, since. Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel, Network Effect. 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. Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century. — 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.

A Murderbot Novel

Network Effect

350 pages of the well known and loved fast-paced adventures of Murderbot and friends. Some people had said this book was more drawn out, I disagree. The plot grow enough and produced enough branches to keep me engaged. I haven’t sat and read this much in one sitting in a while. Past friends return, staples continue to challenge Murderbot’s patience, and new characters expand the web of humanity around Murderbot. I am going into the final novella, and will likely finish just before episode one of the Murderbot show airs. I may cry, I love these characters and this world so much.

Emily McMeans

swan

My favorite in the series so far!  Lots of action from page 1 and funny banter.

Jenny Engel

** spoiler alert **
           4.25 stars

this was much longer than the other books but i honestly enjoyed it. art coming back was great and mb went through so much development in this one book, i love it so much

Vicky  Nuñez 

The best one yet! Full of unwanted emotions, new friends and our favorite robots.

The first full-length novel in Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series. "I caught myself rereading my favorite parts... and I can’t recommend it enough." — New York Times 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. Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century. — 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.

just as smart and fun as the previous stories, but as the first full novel just with more space for character growth and relationship development. the next novella in the series is already queued up on my ebook reader

Jiji

I loved getting a full-length Murderbot novel. It’s everything you expect from the Murderbot diaries: sweet, action-packed, funny, light sense of danger, interesting plot, and very moving. I can totally see why it’s won the Hugo Award. My main criticism is that it threw you into the action immediately and didn’t give you a chance to breathe for about the first 75 pages. But I loved the return of ART and I’m curious to see where the story goes from here. 

Katie Allard

Andrew John Kinney

I've now read five of six of the Murderbot books, and they are addictive. The action never stops, but the development of character is also very good. It's a bit hard to describe what makes these books such page-turners, but the irony / snarkyness is part of it. I guess the outside view of humans by an artificial intelligence is interesting to me. I've always had the same reaction Murderbot does to people who ask, "Are you okay?", as in I want to check myself to see if I'm bleeding because the question makes little sense to me otherwise....;-) So Murderbot's relentless eyerolling about humans checking on each other's feelings made me chuckle. Anyway, I've enjoyed the first five of these.

I have to commend Martha Wells for both writing a non-stop action sequence that has plot and maintains its excitement factor and never feels boring or repetitive, and for making me care about the relationship - sorry, "relationship" - of two non-binary entities. Outstanding job.

Joy Bush

This is the best one yet, maybe because its a full length novel instead of a novella. 
More feels too, especially at the end!

Boothby

Martha Wells and Murderbot have done it again. It's already a joy to read about Murderbot being amazing at its job, and this story has the strongest emotional core yet.

Loooooved it! Murderbot going on an adventure again with a new crew. Still have some familiar faces, and it was super exciting to see ART again. Murderbot is really starting to develop its personality and its been fun to see the character development. Also, the longer format of this book was definitely beneficial to the story - you couldn't have told this story in the shorter books, but it definitely didn't drag on. Excited to see where murderbot goes from here! 

Paige Carter 

I think this book is so far the most solid of this series. 

The intrigue was more engaging, overall I feel like there’s a lack of something making everything more engaging. If it weren’t for Murderbot, I wouldn’t see anything that could make me want to go back to this world everytime. 

Maybe it doesn’t help that the narrator does an average job 😅 

It fun and entertaining but this series is quite overhyped imo.

Amira BEN

I think this book is so far the most solid of this series. 

The intrigue was more engaging, overall I feel like there’s a lack of something making everything more engaging. If it weren’t for Murderbot, I wouldn’t see anything that could make me want to go back to this world everytime. 

Maybe it doesn’t help that the narrator does an average job 😅 

It fun and entertaining but this series is quite overhyped imo.

A 2021 Nebula Award Finalist! The first full-length novel in Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series. An Amazon's Best of the Year So Far Pick Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Book Riot | Polygon "I caught myself rereading my favorite parts... and I can’t recommend it enough." — New York Times 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. Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century. — 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. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Gillian Rose

I don't really have much else to say about this series. Every one has been such a blast to read. Murderbot keeps getting more and more relatable. I love the rest of the crew. They're just so fun!

Lynette Pedersen

Oh, ART, I missed you. I never thought the "relationship" between the biggest asshole in the universe and the biggest misanthrope in the universe could be so delightfully charming. I also adore Martha Wells' ability to wrap up a story while still setting up the next one. You get both closure AND anticipation for the next book. Nicely done, Ms. Wells!

A note for anyone considering starting here because this is the first novel-length story: Please don't start here. You could enjoy it on its own, but there is a lot of backstory that will go over your head without having read the novellas. They're all good and fast reads, so take the time to read them first.

dija

Juliana Matias

The first full-size novel in the Murderbot Diaries did not disappoint. If anything, I found I might prefer the novella format, but still, it was nice being introduced to new characters. However, that was NOT the best part at all. I will just say 3 words: ART is back. That’s it, that’s all you’re getting out of me.

I can’t wait to read the next one.

Shona Tiger

Love Murderbot; did not love this book as much.

Murderbot, our favorite rogue security bot with social anxiety, goes along on another survey mission and ends up getting kidnapped along with a teenage daughter of Doctor Mensah who was an intern on the team. They are taken through a wormhole and into corporate territory. The shock is that it is a familiar ship, the research transport  from the second book. But the crew is gone and ART, the bot pilot, is innactive. Hostile humanoids have hijacked the ship. This is the first full length novel in the series. There is more space for world building, more characters, and an expansive plot. The pacing is good and the humor and emotional beats are all there. The cultural differences between the cooperative based culture of Preservation and the hyper-capitalist culture of people in the Corporation Rim are wide. I was engrossed by the mystery, action and character relationships. Murderbot is developing a lot. So far, this is my favorite installment that I have read and I hope the author will continue. No news yet on plans for a new book after Fugitive Telemetry.

Cheryl Hedlund

Ryan LaFerney

The world is of Murderbot is exactly what we need right now and I'm so thankful for this novel. It's a sassy, funny, tale about protecting others. AT a time when a virus is plaguing society and we are told to shelter-in-place to protect others (even if we may not want to do so), this is the message we need. SecUnit would rather be streaming its favorite shows than protecting the rather fragile human crew it works for, even if it has become somewhat partial to them. Unfortunately, being captured has become a matter of course for the crew’s missions, and this time the kidnapping brings SecUnit face-to-face with its pseudo-creator, ART (Asshole Research Transport). Turns out that ART, another AI, needs SecUnit’s help to rescue it from a hostile takeover by alien remnant technology. Will the hilariously humanlike Artificial Intelligence Security Unit save the day? Read this funny and wonderfully imagined novel to find out. Wells is a master world builder as she is able to create believable technology (of the hard-sci-fi kind) while still managing to be engaging. I would not be shocked to see this as a nominee for the Hugo award in the coming months. Get this book when it comes out in May!

Janice Hopper

The first Murderbot novel DOES NOT DISAPPOINT.

Lots of action, lots of Murderbot. ART is back. There are new historical serials to be watched, new annoying humans to defend.

Lots of action too -- at one point I had to stop listening, because I was getting a little anxious and needed to step back a bit. 

The narrator of the book and novellas is really very, very good. 

I loved it.

John Harkabus

I’m so glad I finally got around to reading the first full length novel of the murderbot series. One of my all time favorite series and the most relatable main character. 

Some of my favorite parts of this specific novel was the introduction of new character Amena and the inclusion of more alien interference. 

Seeing ART and Murderbot back together was also very special. This book was also interesting in that it felt like it could be read as the first one. All previous events were explained in book(which was helpful for me as I had forgotten a few points). 

Highly recommend!

Fraser Simons

3.5 rounded up 

As always, the voice crafted for Murderbot is great. Equal parts deadpan humour, logic, and angst. I always sort of marvel that it works. But it really does. Though, as always, the language feels simplistic because it fits the character internal processes. But here, because it is longer, it is even more noticeable and gives more of a chance to get annoyed by it. Probably the audiobook is the way to go with the sentence structure not being super interesting stuff. 

This go around does feel slightly padded to me, probably because everything else is a contained, fast paced novella and this has more room to breath, but still felt like the arch of the novellas. Lots of action. Occasional philosophy tied to, typically sociological or political factors that directly affect the autonomy of Murderbot. Good, satisfying plot. Good characterization. Fun mystery. Murderbot is always solid, thus far. 

There are some fun call backs to former novels, but I think also would be a good jumping on point, which I’m sure is what they intended with this. Many people don’t pick up novellas. Hopefully they—and others, give this a shot. There’s a reason is has such widespread appeal.

Ken Yuen

At 3 times the length of the previous novels, this Murderbot entry expands in scopes. More sci-fi concepts, more characters, more humans causing problems for each other. But the core of Murderbot getting the "human experience" as well as figuring himself out is still as hilarious, honest, and relatable as it ever is. Also characters that we like are back, so that's always a win!

Network Effect A Murderbot Novel

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