Fugitive Telemetry

, #6

First edition, 168 pages

English language

Published April 27, 2021 by Tor Books.

ISBN:
978-1-250-76537-6
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
1240264968
Goodreads:
53205854

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(5 reviews)

The security droid with a heart (though it wouldn’t admit it!) is back in Fugitive Telemetry!

*No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall. * When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

A standalone adventure in the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning series!

Having captured the hearts of readers across the globe (Annalee Newitz says it’s “one of the most humane portraits of a nonhuman I’ve ever read”) Murderbot has also established Martha Wells as …

5 editions

reviewed Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Fugitive Telemetry

This isn't a bad Murderbot novella, but it doesn't really move enough forward enough for me to appreciate it as anything more than an action/detective side event in between the much more emotionally impactful Exit Strategy and Network Condition. I think my favorite parts of this book are Murderbot snarkily interacting with Indah and station security, where it's trying to one up them but also do its job and also (mostly) obey the rules that they've given to it.

This novella does get some more into Mensah's trauma (and avoidance) but I'm not sure this story is doing extra on top of what Home or Network Condition is doing, and her trauma is not the thematic focus of this novella either. (Although what that focus is, I'm not sure I could really pin down. Maybe that's part of the problem.)

If Murderbot was going to stick around in Preservation space …

reviewed Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)

A mixed experience

I realize I might be a bit of an outlier with this one, but I felt this was a decidedly mixed experience. I loved "All Systems Red", and thought Murderbot was probably the most relatable character I'd come across in fiction, but the subsequent novellas were rather less satisfying and I'm afraid this one is no exception. There's still a little of the charm of the first book, but it does rather feel submerged in exposition and parenthetical asides.

reviewed Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)

A good murder mystery with our favorite Murderbot

This is a bit of a 'flashback' novella set when Murderbot's first few weeks in Preservation. It was a neat chance to see more of how Preservation works in comparison to the Corporate Rim. As for the investigation itself, I had an inkling as to who the culprit was, but not the motive or the how and regardless it was still enjoyable.

Subjects

  • Fiction
  • Science Fiction
  • Robots
  • Androids
  • Artificial Intelligence