Rogue Protocol
Murderbot Diaries Book 3.0
ISBN 9781250186928
eISBN 9781250186935
ASIN B075DGHHQL
It has been a while since I read book 2, it was lost in my ever growing ‘to be read’ pile. I will make sure that does not happen again. I wanted to finish the series before starting the new film version of the story. I read the first volume in this series over five years ago, and book 2 almost 2 years ago. I finished it in under 5 hours reading during two sittings. And now I am desperate to read the next instalment in the series. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Prior to reading that first book I had never heard of Martha Wells, but author Arthur Slade mentioned his on social media. And specifically, he mentioned that first book, which he had just finished. I have read a few books over the years that Art has plugged and have never been disappointed. And that was the case that time as well, with the first book and the series I have completed to date. I bought and read book 1 while sitting in PICU after my son had spinal surgery. When I picked it up, I did not realize that it was part of a series. Let alone this long. A series, but it gives me several more books to look forward to that year, or at least that was the plan. It is in many ways a classic science fiction tale. It reminds me of stories I read a lot of in my youth but only pick up from time to time now. The description of this third instalment is:
“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.”
Our hero was formerly property. But It was being given some freedom and decided just to go on a quest. However, in this installment in the series, he has decided to sneak back to the place that caused him ‘refurbishment’. The bot is trying to figure out what happened and why. It is determined to get the information and share it then disappear. However, things do not go as planned, and plans are great until the first encounter with the enemy! And in this one there are plenty of possible foes.
Again, there is some great action, but not as much as this first but more than the second. This one still reads like a space noir combined with Space Opera or action. There is some great character development, and a very sound story line in this third volume.
That one alone made me think of James Bolivar diGriz, Slippery Jim aka The Stainless Steel Rat. And as you can tell from the first, it is a thinking book. Not just fluff to entertain. That feeling was even stronger with each offering in the series.
The story in some ways reminds me of the Stainless Steel Rat Series by Harry Harrison. And in other ways it reminds me of Starship Troopers by Heinlein. The action and mystery reminds me of the Rat. And the deep reflective internal dialogue of Rico. It was a great read in an excellent series. I can easily recommend it.
Books by Martha Wells:
The Murderbot Diaries:
0.1 Obsolescence
0.5 Compulsory
1.0 All Systems Red
3.0 Rogue Protocol
4.0 Exit Strategy
5.0 Network Effect
7.0 System Collapse
8.0 Platform Decay
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