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Re-read 11/28/23: Had to read this again because System Collapse picks up almost immediately after it ends and I didn't remember enough. This time I was a little less satisfied with the distinction between the pre-CR colony and the Adamantine colony, which for some reason I had trouble with, but the story itself is still great.

Read 6/3/20: It surprised me, when I read the first four Murderbot stories, that I was satisfied with their novella length. Usually I prefer longer stories, but those were just the right length for what Martha Wells wanted to tell. And this book is the same--just the right length for this story about friendship and sacrifice and, for lack of a better word, humanity. Murderbot would be irritated at that categorization, since it has no desire to be human, but its journey has been not only about it learning what it wants to be, but also about the humans around it. So it's not so much Murderbot's "humanity" as it is that of everyone it encounters.

The characterization in book five of the series reaches new heights as Murderbot gets to know new people, human and otherwise, as well as encountering old friends. Having said that, I immediately have to dive into spoiler territory: (view spoiler)[I was as devastated as Murderbot by the idea that our old friend ART might be dead--worse than dead, because its "body" is still functional. (hide spoiler)] This, however, sets up the entire heart of the book, which is Murderbot's friendship with ART. It's an extraordinary relationship, complex and multilayered, and (view spoiler)[I look forward to the next book, with Murderbot traveling with ART and its crew (hide spoiler)]. It allows for some very good conversations about what love is, and I liked the contrast with Murderbot's friendship with Dr. Mensah--there's a moment when one of the characters asks Murderbot if it loves Mensah, and Murderbot says "not the way you think." Murderbot is asexual, and that never changes, but there are elements of the romantic that deepen those friendships without ever being the kind of romantic a human would expect.

While the heart of the story is relationships, the plot is jam-packed with excitement and terror. Wells is a skilled writer with a great sense of tension, and I read the book in a single three-hour session, swept along by the action. Part of the joy is, of course, seeing how Murderbot reacts to the irrational humans it's nevertheless very attached to, but watching the humans interact with each other is nearly as good. Liking Mensah's teenage daughter Amena was a huge surprise. The first time we meet her, it's under conditions that make her look like a typical self-involved teen, but she turns out to be smart and quick-thinking and mature in the right ways. (view spoiler)[She calls Murderbot "third mom" at one point (Mensah being one of her two mothers) and that was a delight. (hide spoiler)]

The climax is sweet and terrible and emotionally fraught, and I'd like to burble about it, but I think it's better people just read the book. I very rarely recommend a series so wholeheartedly, because I don't believe anything is a "must-read", but this is a series that starts out looking like nothing more than an action novel and gradually builds to something very powerful.

Okay, a little burbling: (view spoiler)[The creation of Murderbot 2.0 made Murderbot's apparent death way more plausible and therefore way more affecting. I loved how everything worked out, from 2.0's sacrifice to the way SecUnit 3 began its journey of self-determination to ART wanting Murderbot to stay with it. Also, I calculated a while ago how long Murderbot had been free of its governor module because number of hours doesn't translate to actual time in my head, and SecUnit 3's uncertainty is a reminder of how much longer Murderbot has had to become what it is. I'd love to see more of SecUnit 3. (hide spoiler)]

On a more personal note, I have been a fan of Martha Wells since reading Wheel of the Infinite back in 2002 (I'd read and loved two earlier books, but that was the one that really hooked me) and it has been an absolute joy to see her achieving such amazing success with this series. It's like seeing my favorite underdog team win the World Series, and I'm not a sports person so I'm not sure why that's the analogy I came up with, but there it is. I hope people who discover her through the Murderbot Diaries go on to pick up her fantasy work; I realize that's not a natural crossover, and a lot of readers of SF aren't into fantasy and vice versa, but what she's done here is the natural culmination of years of writing powerful stories about complex people. So if you're one of those readers, give her other stuff a try.