Name: Rogue Protocol
ISBN: 9781250191786

Martha Wells

"Sci-fi's favorite antisocial AI is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is. And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good"--Dust jacket flap.

The Murderbot Diaries

Rogue Protocol

"Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)"

Yet again, I am enjoying this series but there are a number of things that make this good but not great. The beginning of this novella was a bit slow going and dry, we followed MB (Murderbot) as it jumped between transports to try and reach the edge of the Corporation Rim, making some passing comments about other humans it encounters, and then finally we got into some pretty good action again. MB discovers a news article about Dr. Mensah and figures it can help her get home quicker if it retrieves files off a nearby planet called Milu. This would prove that GrayCris has attempted other illegal jobs similar to the one on the world we saw in the first book. Yet again MB finds itself saving humans it's not required to save, and I love the way that Martha Wells shows such a complex level of empathy in a bot which only has a very small amount of human traits and therefore shouldn't really care as much as it always ends up caring. This seems to be the standard script for these novellas and I'm hoping this formula doesn't end up feeling too formulaic as the series continues - the overarching plotline is for MB to escape and live as a free agent, with a subplot of wanting to help Dr. Mensah along the way and a subsubplot of getting mixed up in the drama wherever it ends up along its journey.

The action in this one was pretty good, there was a level of suspense and thrill about it that I enjoyed. 

SPOILER>>>The scene where Abene almost gets her head ripped off had me on the edge of my seat, I was imaging a terrifying organic alien but in the end it was an equally terrifying Combat Bot. This whole sequence where we follow MB, Wilken, Abene and Miki to retrieve Hirune was really fascinating and put me on edge, it was almost a bit scary to read. The betrayal of Wilken and Gerth was a good twist as well, although I did kind of see it coming.

Miki was a real stand out in this book, somehow Wells yet again makes us feel deep emotions for bots who are reletively emotionless! The way it was treated by its team was so heartwarming, and how it wanted to be friends with MB was absolutely adorable too (and MB wanting to vomit about the cuteness was hilarious). The ending of this book broke my heart and for such a short novella I am always surprised by how much character work is packed into these books, although I do wish we got a bit more clarity on the humans too. There have been a number of humans mentioned in each novella and I am quickly losing track of who is who, even when MB mentions a past human in one of the other books I have to really think about who it's referring to. I also find the "Mary Sue"-ness of MB a tad annoying, its abilities are so extreme they trivialise the conflict a bit, the way it always manages to find a hack and get out of trouble quite easily gets a little bit boring when it happens so often.

Overall, another good addition to the series - although I didn't enjoy it in a lot of ways quite as much as the first two, and yet I also enjoyed aspects of it more as well. Definitely a bit of a confusing one for me, the pacing and the all-powerfullness and the slight disconnection I am feeling with the characters, except MB and the other bots it encounters, means that this series is enjoyable but far from perfect. I am definitely interested to see what happeneds in the next addition but I am starting to get a little bit tired of the sameness happening with each new book I pick up in the series - hopefully something a little bit different will happen soon, or maybe MB will get caught or damaged and this will help make the story feel more genuine. Definitely a very fun sci-fi series though!

Genevieve 

"Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)"

3.75⭐

Yet again, I am enjoying this series but there are a number of things that make this good but not great. The beginning of this novella was a bit slow going and dry, we followed MB (Murderbot) as it jumped between transports to try and reach the edge of the Corporation Rim, making some passing comments about other humans it encounters, and then finally we got into some pretty good action again. MB discovers a news article about Dr. Mensah and figures it can help her get home quicker if it retrieves files off a nearby planet called Milu. This would prove that GrayCris has attempted other illegal jobs similar to the one on the world we saw in the first book. Yet again MB finds itself saving humans it's not required to save, and I love the way that Martha Wells shows such a complex level of empathy in a bot which only has a very small amount of human traits and therefore shouldn't really care as much as it always ends up caring. This seems to be the standard script for these novellas and I'm hoping this formula doesn't end up feeling too formulaic as the series continues - the overarching plotline is for MB to escape and live as a free agent, with a subplot of wanting to help Dr. Mensah along the way and a subsubplot of getting mixed up in the drama wherever it ends up along its journey.

The action in this one was pretty good, there was a level of suspense and thrill about it that I enjoyed. 
SPOILER>>>The scene where Abene almost gets her head ripped off had me on the edge of my seat, I was imaging a terrifying organic alien but in the end it was an equally terrifying Combat Bot. This whole sequence where we follow MB, Wilken, Abene and Miki to retrieve Hirune was really fascinating and put me on edge, it was almost a bit scary to read. The betrayal of Wilken and Gerth was a good twist as well, although I did kind of see it coming.
END SPOILER<<<
Miki was a real stand out in this book, somehow Wells yet again makes us feel deep emotions for bots who are reletively emotionless! The way it was treated by its team was so heartwarming, and how it wanted to be friends with MB was absolutely adorable too (and MB wanting to vomit about the cuteness was hilarious). The ending of this book broke my heart and for such a short novella I am always surprised by how much character work is packed into these books, although I do wish we got a bit more clarity on the humans too. There have been a number of humans mentioned in each novella and I am quickly losing track of who is who, even when MB mentions a past human in one of the other books I have to really think about who it's referring to. I also find the "Mary Sue"-ness of MB a tad annoying, its abilities are so extreme they trivialise the conflict a bit, the way it always manages to find a hack and get out of trouble quite easily gets a little bit boring when it happens so often.

Overall, another good addition to the series - although I didn't enjoy it in a lot of ways quite as much as the first two, and yet I also enjoyed aspects of it more as well. Definitely a bit of a confusing one for me, the pacing and the all-powerfullness and the slight disconnection I am feeling with the characters, except MB and the other bots it encounters, means that this series is enjoyable but far from perfect. I am definitely interested to see what happeneds in the next addition but I am starting to get a little bit tired of the sameness happening with each new book I pick up in the series - hopefully something a little bit different will happen soon, or maybe MB will get caught or damaged and this will help make the story feel more genuine. Definitely a very fun sci-fi series though!

Careful reading the other reviews on this site that spoil parts of the book without using the spoilers feature... 

Otherwise a short but okay addition to the series.. Not sure if I like the series or not at this point. 

BC Hark

Careful reading the other reviews on this site that spoil parts of the book without using the spoilers feature... 

Otherwise a short but okay addition to the series.. Not sure if I like the series or not at this point. 

iluv this series but istg i continue to get more and more confused with the tech lingo. martha wells is too smart istg. but so excited for the next book ^__^ gang is reunited 

anya

** spoiler alert **
           you're sick for killing off miki miss wells SICK.

anyways this was great as usual but the emotional damage is painful

Vicky  Nuñez 

murderbot goes on another adventure, but this has a bittersweet ending.

Jenny Engel

Bethany s. 

This was a bit lackluster for me. In comparison to the previous two installments, I just didn’t feel much for the characters or the journey or anything. I am listening to the narration by Kevin R. Free, who is spectacular. 

But roughly 70% into this listen I literally started it over because I felt like I had missed a whole, whole lot. 

Nope. I hadn’t missed anything. It was just a little less interesting and impactful than the others. It was just okay for me.

I love a murderbot who founds its strategies on its most binged drama series.

Nate

Denaiir

Really enjoyed this new installment even though I was very disappointed that ART was not included in this one. However, Miki was such a lovely new character that I found myself engrossed in this one as much as the previous ones, and of course I still love Murderbot and its soap opera antics. Great series overall!

Murderbot makes a new robot friend and saves pesky humans. As always, I love this murderbot. 

Krys C

Another solid contribution to the Murderbot Diaries. I heard someone say that this series is greater than the sum of its parts and I totally agree with that. I’m glad I have so many to read to quick succession because I think it provides a much more interesting character study. Murderbot continues to be a sweet baby angel that we must protec at all costs and the enjoyment I get from this series continues to expand. 

Katie Allard

I will confess - I read these the same way I read the Bridgerton novels and the Wayward Children novels last year. As a palate cleanser, as something to be going on in the background that entertains me but does not require too much from me. That being said, this is - of course - entirely excellent.

Joy Bush

Rogue Protocol is the third entry in Martha Wells's Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, The Murderbot Diaries. Starring a human-like android who keeps getting sucked back into adventure after adventure, though it just wants to be left alone, away from humanity and small talk. Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas? Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is. And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good. "I love Murderbot!"--New York Times bestselling author Ann Leckie Murderbot Diaries #1 All Systems Red #2 Artificial Condition #3 Rogue Protocol #4 Exit Strategy At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Gillian Rose

This one was a little faster in my opinion. And devastating at the end. I loved Miki and how Murderbot reacted to it. These novellas are SO GOOD.

dija

murderbot if you don't become my bestie right this second

Jeff

Ryan LaFerney

Another enjoyable murderbot entry by Martha Wells. Did I like it as much as the previous two entries? I think so.

The plot? It's action packed and humorous. In a nut shell:

Murderbot claims not to like humans at all, and to want to spend all its time watching entertainment media—its favourite is The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon—but it worries about Dr. Mensah and her team. Information about GrayCris’s nefarious activities might speed up the legal proceedings that are preventing Mensah and company from returning to their homes in PreservationAux, so Murderbot decides to go get that information. 

Murderbot arrives at a distant, barely-inhabited station masquerading as a security consultant near a terraforming project that GrayCris has abandoned for probably vile reasons. A salvage company has acquired the rights to that project, and a small team of humans and bots are about to set out for the terraforming platform alongside of Murderbot. The team includes a bot called Miki, who has never been hurt or lied to by a human, and who refers to the humans on the team as its friends. Murderbot finds its cheerfulness annoying and frustrating—and has other more complicated feelings about Miki’s relationship with its humans—but enlists its help in order to get to the terraforming platform.

But, it turns out that the terraforming platform is a dangerous place. Although Murderbot is really only there to gather information, when the human salvage team runs into danger in the form of deadly combat bots, Murderbot has no choice but to come to their rescue. ( 
 SecUnit has a vested interest in keeping its human clients safe and alive, since it has an especially grisly past expedition on its record.)



Rogue Protocol was clever, brutal, and fun. I'm looking forward to reading Exit Strategy where we shall see MurderBot delivering the evidence of GrayCris’s nefarious activities to Dr. Mensah personally.

Re-read 2020: This series is becoming one of my all time favorites. There is something comforting about reading this series, getting to know SecUnit and its "feelings." It's an immensely rewarding series this is just as thrilling the second time through.

Janice Hopper

I've read this before, but apparently I didn't note it here.

Still love this series, but I had a little more trouble visualizing the layout and everything exactly that was going on in this one. Still good, though.

Anastasia 

Maggie Gordon

I miss ART, but Murderbot continues to get more and more brilliant with even novella! This is a very action-packed addition to the series, revealing lots of nasty secrets and an ever increasing innovative and intelligent Murderbot :D

Fraser Simons

Similar problem with the prose being overly simplistic, creating a dissonance between events and characterization. But fast-paced and an interesting theme introduced with the new characters once again. The ending felt better than the previous two as well, but otherwise maybe a bit less strong.

Francis Buggey

4.5 stars! 

this was so much sadder than i expected it to be lol

baelgia

It just keeps getting better??

-

(Somewhere there had to be a happy medium between being treated as a terrifying murder machine and being infantilized.)


I signaled Miki I would be withdrawing for one minute. I needed to have an emotion in private.


I wasn't annoyed at all. Not one bit. 

I had to run back the drone's camera feed to catch up, I had been so busy conquering that burst of non-annoyance.

Rogue Protocol The Murderbot Diaries