Plot or Premise

A security android has secretly hacked its governance module and is now autonomous. It continues to follow orders as if it is still being controlled by humans, while spending a lot of time bingeing serial entertainment (like episodes of TV space shows).

What I Liked

I had streamed the first season online, and so I had more of a sense of the characters than if I were starting to read cold. The story is much more streamlined here, which makes it fly along, and not too long. You still see the important interactions with the leader, the other SecUnits, and the ending.

What I Didn’t Like

Obviously, a multi-episode season can go far more into the various characters beyond the leader and the Murderbot itself, and so it did feel like it was a bit short in places. But other places where the show adds padding, the novella/short novel flies along better. There is very little about his previous experiences or his memory issues that are raised in the book, so you don’t get a sense of what he did before.

The Bottom Line

Fast-paced and a fast read