Obsolescence
Murderbot Diaries Book 2.5
I have read the first seven novels and novellas in this series. As I await the release of the eight I am going back and reading the 4 short stories. Two are prequels and two falls between other works. This one it is hard to tell where it fits. I am thankful I gave this series a try, it was highly recommended from an author I love. I read this volume and the other 4 shorter works on the same day.
The earlier stories in this series were novellas then a full length novel and now back in the novel range for book 7. This one was written a number of years ago. All of the stories in this series are excellent reads. And I was excited find out after reading this that an eighth volume has been announced for release early in 2026.
The description of this instalment is:
“On a space station near Jupiter, station manager Jixy discovers one of her friends, Greggy, an “augmented human,” has been brutally murdered. The crime resembles past incidents on other stations where people were attacked and their augmented body parts stolen. A semi-mythical figure called Piecework has been blamed for the attacks. Determined to protect the others on the station, Jixy sets out to see if Piecework—or someone else—is responsible for the crime.”
This story was originally in the anthology Take Us to a Better Place: Stories, published in 2020. This particular story is available online as both an eBook or as an audio book. Short fiction is a very different art form that writing novels and very short fiction like this is also a different skill. Wells is a master of all three, and has all three in the Murderbot Universe.
This is a wonderful little story in this universe. It does not have any direct or inferred appearance of Murderbot, but readers will recognize the universe and some of the technology, especially hybrids or augmented humans. It is a mystery story, and involves a serial killer. It is a tightly written story. It really adds some interesting information into the Murderbot Universe.
I read the stand alone version, but picked up the anthology and plan to reread it as I work through that collection. I have heard the audio version is excellent as well. A great read I can easily recommend.
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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