*The Murderbot Diaries includes All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect, and Fugitive Telemetry, by Martha Wells (as well as some short stories which I haven’t read)*
Everyone is saying how great The Murderbot Diaries is, particularly its main character Murderbot. I bring low expectations into reading really popular fiction, not because I expect them to be bad but because I’ve been let down more than once. So I read The Murderbot Diaries not expecting much, and… yeah. It’s even better than what people are saying. I loved this series, so much so that I just had to write about it.
(Minor spoilers ahead) (I tried to make sure reading this would not detract from reading The Murderbot Diaries for the first time afterwards)
### Characterization
In an attempt to avoid rambling incoherently (despite reading I’m not actually a good writer myself), I’m going to try structuring this into sections, starting with the highlight of the series: the characterization. It’s not an exaggeration to say Wells is a bit of a genius in this field, and it’s why so many people come away loving the main character.
The story is told in first person. In my experience first person is used primarily to provide a limited perspective to the events that occur and secondarily to give us a look into the mind of the character it follows. Wells takes these two usually separate qualities and blends them together seamlessly. Events do not simply occur and are described in a Murderbot story. Instead, everything that happens is understood and contextualized through the mind and experiences of Murderbot. Things that Murderbot doesn’t care about, things that you might expect to be described at times, just aren’t in the text, and conversely things that are only really important to Murderbot are in the text. It’s an intimate experience. Everything that happens, you know how Murderbot feels about it. If it annoys it. If it… well, usually things annoy it. But sometimes things awe it, or stun it, or frustrate it, make it shy, make it excited, even make it happy (though it hesitates to state that so honestly). I truly came to understand all the interesting quirks that make it feel human (though I definitely would not want to say that to its face).
This isn’t a revolutionary idea, but it’s aided and brought to excellence by Murderbot being such a deep and interesting character. Its motivations have layers that are wound complexly with its history as a slave and its desire to be free, and it’s constantly growing (figuratively; it doesn’t actually grow). You get to see it confront human and relatable problems in an honest display of raw emotions while it tries to navigate the messed up universe Wells creates. Everything feels so raw and unfiltered, and by the end I felt I understood Murderbot just as much as I do anyone in real life. Which has to be one of the nicest things I’ve ever said about a fictional character.
While Murderbot is definitely the highlight, there’s more to talk about. The main cast that surrounds Murderbot shifts from book to book, but they always feel fleshed out, at least as far as what Murderbot understands about them from its interactions. They have motivations, quirks, interests, families. Maybe most noticeably, they are always likable. Very likable, even. A lot of authors will throw in the one or two characters that people are supposed to dislike, either for them to have growth or just to be a villain. Wells doesn’t bother with that, and it’s refreshing, my dear reader. So refreshing to just follow a group of characters that I like for once.
### Queer representation, and other progressive qualities
I’m gonna level with you. The queer scene is scraping for good rep, and bless her, Wells delivers. I started this series not knowing there was queerness at all, and frankly it blew my mind. This wasn’t just a lesbian here, gay couple in the background there kind of thing. Almost everyone is queer. Important characters are in marriage pacts of 3+ people of various genders. There are non-binary characters (including Murderbot of course) and even genders that don’t exist in our world, with unique pronouns and everything. And all these people just, exist. No unnecessary justifications for why someone is the way they are. The books don’t miss a beat. They’re just a normal part of society.
Wells is a female author so it’s expected that women are written well. Nevertheless I feel compelled to note, at least in passing, that this is indeed the case. Women are often the driving force of the narrative. They are independently characterized, never having their identity defined by their relationship to a man, and have their own interesting qualities, motivations, etc. Wells doesn’t try to give her women the masculine traits that are perceived as “strong” by a lot of (our) society, but instead just lets them be people, of all types. One benefit of the story being told from Murderbot’s perspective is it doesn’t care about (or maybe just doesn’t even notice) how attractive people are, so the story isn’t even given a chance to trip into the annoying pitfall of every important woman has to be attractive, unless they’re evil in which case they are unattractive. Also they hold a lot of positions that gender roles would usually dictate be filled by men, including such fancy titles as planetary leader (okay, that’s not technically accurate but close enough).
Maybe what most people will notice though is the communist Preservation Alliance and how it’s characterized, its past, its benefits and flaws, and its juxtaposition to the Corporation Rim (which is exactly what you expect it to be). While they are good enough not to clumsily state so outright, these books are staunchly anti-capitalist, progressive works, and if that resonates with you, you should really give them a try.
### Pacing
A lot of the Murderbot books are short, hovering around 150 pages. Too short, according to a lot of people, which makes sense when you see the prices they’re charging for these things. However if you can get around the price, whether by using your local library or, uh, other means, you might find it refreshing that an author doesn’t take their time but instead gets right to the details. These books are excellently paced. They never drag, and they’re never longer than they need to be. People generally like having more to read, especially when it’s good, and believe me I get that. But there’s not a single story here that I wish was fluffed with extra words just so we could read full length novels. If nothing else, these books respect your time. And they’re great for rereading.
### Good vibes
The Murderbot Diaries has good vibes. It’s a little hard to explain outside of that phrase but I’ll give it a try. Despite the perils the characters face, the books feel like they’re trying to make me smile as I read them, constantly. As mentioned before, the characters are likable. I felt myself giddy with excitement on several occasions seeing certain ones interact in what I knew would be wholesome encounters. The bots and human constructs have bonds that make me feel warm inside. Murderbot is hilarious, to the point where I was laughing aloud reading the first book and was still going by the end of the journey. There are occasional sad moments, but by and large these books seem designed to make people happy, and while there’s nothing wrong with a sad story, it really does feel nice to smile so frequently while reading.
On top of that, once I read a bit of Murderbot and understood it well enough, its mind became oddly comfortable. It’s like slipping into a second home, where I know how things work, what makes it tick. The writing style is smooth and eloquent enough that I found myself neatly reading page to page, not being distracted by odd dialogue or melodramatic descriptions. The books are suspenseful and engaging, but they aren’t taken to the point of ridiculousness like some YA, nor do they obsess over particularly sensitive content like much of the literature targeting adults. Despite being set in a corporate dystopia, there isn’t much needed in the way of content warnings. They’re comfy, and I think that’s nice.
### Identifying with Murderbot
I touched on this briefly in the characterization section, but ultimately I decided it was probably a good idea to give this its own spotlight. Despite its name, it is so easy to identify with Murderbot. It has traits that (at least I imagine) are common in readers, certainly myself. It’s shy and doesn’t like spending time around people. It’s bad at communicating. It doesn’t understand its own feelings very well and retreats to the comfort of its favorite soap opera when it can. But it also cares about people, and it wants to help them in the ways it knows it can. Basically, it’s a very endearing introvert.
There are also problems it faces that people of various backgrounds can identify with. People treat it differently, as if it isn’t human (in the philosophical sense, because okay it’s not technically human, but it has feelings and these people really need to understand that). They ignore it when it’s in the room, or judge it based on their preconceived notions of its species. People of all sorts of marginalized groups will understand that feeling. There are others but I’m omitting them because spoilers. Ultimately, I think a lot of people will be able to see at least some part of their life experiences in Murderbot. As a black genderqueer person I resonated with a lot of its struggles in ways that felt personal to me, and I imagine the same could be true for you too.
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So that’s why I think The Murderbot Diaries is so great. This was mostly for myself, to get out all of these feelings, but if someone out there considers reading Murderbot because of this post, that’s awesome, and you totally should. There’s even a full length Murderbot novel coming out in November.
by nonbinary_finery