Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Apr 25, 2020 Nataliya rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020-reads, 2021-reads, favorites

“Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas.
(Yes, that was sarcasm.)”

Our not-too-social, cynical, sulky and very snarky Murderbot, “a rogue SecUnit with a record of past mass murder”, hates to admit that it cares, especially when its supposed not-caring was its equivalent of security blanket (yes, pun intended) until now. But care MBot does, and so, instead of choosing a life of watching space soap operas it is headed to Milu, a planet where it just may f

“Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas.
(Yes, that was sarcasm.)”

Our not-too-social, cynical, sulky and very snarky Murderbot, “a rogue SecUnit with a record of past mass murder”, hates to admit that it cares, especially when its supposed not-caring was its equivalent of security blanket (yes, pun intended) until now. But care MBot does, and so, instead of choosing a life of watching space soap operas it is headed to Milu, a planet where it just may find some evidence against GrayCris company and help Dr. Mensah - the one who treated our MBot as a person regardless of it not being human.

“If there was one thing good about this situation, it was reinforcing how great my decisions to (a) hack my governor module and (b) escape were. Being a SecUnit sucked. I couldn’t wait to get back to my wild rogue rampage of hitching rides on bot-piloted transports and watching my serials.”

And what would a trip to a dangerous corner of space be without finding a bunch of human researchers who desperately need protection and face certain death without the expertise of a certain Security Consultant?

“A SecUnit’s job is to protect its clients from anything that wants to kill or hurt them, and to gently discourage them from killing, maiming, etc., each other. The reason why they were trying to kill, maim, etc., each other wasn’t the SecUnit’s problem, it was for the humans’ supervisor to deal with. (Or to willfully ignore until the whole project devolved into a giant clusterfuck and your SecUnit prayed for the sweet relief of a massive accidental explosive decompression, not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.)”

This installment really made me think about what future holds for Murderbot. Yes, it is free from the governor module and does not have to obey command of humans who view MBot as nothing more than a dangerous tool, a deadly weapon, something to cautiously use and discard when not needed. Murderbot is seen as property, not person. And that obviously does not sit well with it.

“The only thing I knew for certain was that Preservation didn’t need SecUnits, and their idea of a SecUnit being considered a free agent meant I’d have a human “guardian.” (In other places they just call that your owner.)”

Murderbot does not want to be property, but he does not want to be a pet robot either. Along the way it meets one of those - sweet loyal Miki - but even though at times it almost envies the life of a bot who is loved and cherished, it refuses to even consider trading free will and its own agency for the comforts of pampered life as a “pet”. Slavery taught it the need for fierce independence - but it’s hard when society denies you that and when your disguise remains an obedient SecUnit.

“Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really thought its humans were its friends, because that’s how they treated it.
I signaled Miki I would be withdrawing for one minute. I needed to have an emotion in private.”
—————
“What did Miki have that I wanted? I had no idea. I didn’t know what I wanted.
And yes, I know that was probably a big part of the problem right there.”

“Somewhere there had to be a happy medium between being treated as a terrifying murder machine and being infantilized.”

It’s the sheer unfairness of the disparity between who you are and what society considers you to be that is infuriating. It’s the complacency of those treating you as property and the denial of any free will to the other SecUnits - any one of whom has the same potential of being a full-fledged person just like MBot but is denied that opportunity out of plain inconvenience it would present to those who are “owners” - that elicits real emotion from me, a cynical reader, let alone from Murderbot itself.

“Oh, Murderbot, what did you do?
(I don’t even know. I suspect it has to do with the fact that I went from being told what to do and having every action monitored to being able to do whatever I wanted, and somewhere along the way my impulse control went to hell.)”

Murderbot’s emotional development is also fascinating. It’s done slowly and subtly, but the benefit of binging all the novellas in one sitting is the ability to follow the inevitable change as it gets more comfortable with the idea of personhood. Some anxieties are lessened, some heightened, new emotions is processed and a bit of frustrated anger surfaces more and more through the snark and the sarcasm. It’s done very well, a epitome of showing, not telling.

And just like the two novellas before, it’s fun, it’s a page-turner, it’s captivating, and I love it to bits.

5 stars.

“Again, I know in the telling it sounds like I was on top of this situation but really, I was still just thinking, Oh shit oh shit oh shit.”

—————————

My review of the first novella, “All Systems Red” is here.
My review of the second novella, “Artificial Condition” is here.
My review of the fourth one, “Exit Strategy”, is here.
My review of the fifth story (and the first full-length novel), “Network Effect”, is here. ...more

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Aug 05, 2018 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018-shelf, sci-fi

Urban fantasy has made it to the broken assassinbot AI stage in a big way. Just as much internal monologues as the other field, but this is entirely a corporate/spaceships/planetary colonies kind of popcorn fiction.

Is this is as good as the other two delicious entries? I think so. Maybe not quite as interesting as the last, but introducing the near-skinjob Miki who is treated at worst as a pet and at best as a valued member of the team was a real treat for us, if not for our favorite broken assa ...more

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Jun 12, 2018 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs

Niki's Narrative Novella Review [Part 3/4]: I braced myself for this book. My trust in this author and this series was so strong by this point that I just hopped in and buckled up without even asking where we were going. And I was treated to possibly my favorite of the bunch (it’s like combing fine hairs). With all the key components right up front, some amazing Murderbot feels that kind of rocked some of my perspectives on life (that’s deep), and crazy whirlwind action that almost gave me whipl ...more

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Aug 11, 2018 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: novella, audiobook, rereads, 2018-read, 2024-read

Still 4.5 stars on reread and audiobook remains excellent

Original Review

Another excellent instalment in the Murderbot Diaries that has me anxiously awaiting the fourth and concluding novella in the series. The main character retains the trademark dry humour that makes Rin's voice so appealing to read. The story progresses nicely and continues to be tight and densely complex for such a short piece. Honestly, I can't get enough of these books. ...more

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Aug 13, 2018 Lindsay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

More Murderbot? Yes please!

Murderbot continues on its mission to find evidence to bring down the dodgy company GrayCris and in doing so gets to visit yet another site where the company committed its crimes. And almost inevitably, ends up having to protect a bunch of humans. The increasingly poorly-named Murderbot seems to do that an awful lot.

It's the voice. Murderbot's wry commentary on everything around itself and its own performance is absolutely the star of these books, even given that the p ...more

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Jul 17, 2018 Cathy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2024

I listened to the previous two Murderbot novellas as dramatized Graphic audio versions. My Libby didn‘t have this one here available in the same version, so I switched to the unabridged Audible audio. This is easier to comprehend as an audio, the adapted dramatized version is more fun.

I actually recommend eye reading the novellas first, before switching to audio. But that‘s me.

This time around Murderbot's conversation with and thoughts about Miki were what resonated with me the most. Yes, the f ...more

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Aug 11, 2018 Veronique rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2018, read2022

Re-read

“Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas”

Our favourite Murderbot is back, this time investigating GrayCris by checking out a seemingly abandonned terraforming space station. Naturally, things don’t go to plan. There are pesky humans in the way, as well as their ‘pet’, Miki. Wells keeps giving us different versions of AIs - not just Murderbot, but also transport, combat and sex bots, the brilliant ART, and now Miki who is puzzling with its naivety. A ...more

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Aug 31, 2018 Lata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, 2025-read, sf-f-h, x2020-read, x2018-read, auth-f

2025-07: Why oh why do humans bother being security, when SecUnits are just so much better at it? This is Murderbot's refrain when it demonstrates how dangerous it is. And though Murderbot professes to be very annoyed with Miki, it's so easy to feel Murderbot's hurt that no human has ever treated it like Miki was treated, and I love how this, and the data it steals at this facility, convince it to head back to Dr. Mensah and company.

2020-04: Murderbot has to deal with emotions, when it decides t ...more

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Oct 23, 2019 Alissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-ebooks

This was intense. I love the Murderbot diaries and this installment reminded me of all the reasons why. The authors pulls off a not quite SecUnit, not quite human protagonist who can hit all the right buttons of my sensibilities as a reader.

The story is fast -paced and nice, with the right amount of tension. The characters are are interesting even for a novella format and I can’t wait to see what our (yes, our) self-styled Murderbot has learnt from the experience.

Who knew being a heartless kil ...more

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Mar 03, 2020 Emma rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first two in the series. It was just ok.

16 likes · Like · see review

Aug 15, 2018 Robyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018

Oh, Murderbot, let me count the ways I adore you....seriously, though, these books are just excellent. I love viewing the world through their eyes, and the overall mystery unfolding is great, too.

14 likes · Like · see review

Aug 18, 2018 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars. I love these novellas but I do wish they had been published as one book.

13 likes · Like · see review

Dec 28, 2018 Christina Pilkington rated it really liked it

After feeling a bit meh about Artificial Condition, I was so happy I enjoyed this book much more than I did the second in the series!

The setting of this book was really interesting. Murderbot heads of to a deserted terraforming facility in space in order to continue their investigation of the company GrayCris. I love all the cover ups, secret illegal operations and discoveries in this book. Murderbot also undergoes some great character development that I found a bit lacking in the second book. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2019 Suzanne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio, science-fiction

I have greatly enjoyed every book in this series, and this was no exception. I love, and identify with, Murderbot, and I also really liked the group of humans and the innocent robot Miki that he associated with in this one.

6 likes · Like · see review