SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Has anyone else watched the first two episodes? Going to leave a little spoiler space.









I have, and I have really enjoyed them. I'm a book fan, and an audiobook fan. My imagined Murderbot has always had a male face, despite the gender neutral pronouns. I'm aware that this is probably going to be a sticking point for some people, however, the series has been very much up front about the lack of secondary (bottom half) sex characteristics and in episode 2 there's a Sec Unit/Comfort Unit conversation with Gurathin.

No series will be completely the same, however, I'm loving the characterisations of the team, and their interactions. I'm also loving the narration of what's inside Murderbot's head. While Alexander Skarsgard's voice is not my imagined voice, the tone is.

The awkwardness is well done, and makes me smile. I'll be really interested to hear what everyone else thinks!

It was not bad at all - funnier than I thought it would be - but maybe since I have zero expectation and I lost my interest in the series after reading the last few books. Maybe a TV series format would be more enjoyable for me later, who knows. Though I am not sure I like that (view spoiler)[they added the anxiety attacks on Mensah - don't think it's in the books? (hide spoiler)]

The best part would be the Sanctuary Moon, that was hilarious.

Silvana wrote: "It was not bad at all - funnier than I thought it would be - but maybe since I have zero expectation and I lost my interest in the series after reading the last few books. Maybe a TV series format ..."

The (view spoiler)[ Mensah panic attacks are referenced later in the series, but more in the context of her not wanting to go anywhere without Murderbot, after a couple of assassination attempts. (hide spoiler)]

I agree about Sanctuary Moon!

I wasn‘t sure I would like Skarsgaard as Murderbot, but I like his internal and external tone. I also think they made good casting choices.

I am also glad I reread all of the novellas and novels not too long ago, so it‘s all reasonably fresh to compare.

So up to ep 3 I am not sure a 20-minute episode is enough since they release it weekly, different case if all at once. Feels like everytime it gets interesting then I have to wait another week. Maybe I'll just watch it when it's finished like I did with Foundation.

Silvana wrote: "So up to ep 3 I am not sure a 20-minute episode is enough since they release it weekly, different case if all at once. Feels like everytime it gets interesting then I have to wait another week. May..."

I do wish the episodes were longer!

What is the release schedule for new episodes?

New episodes drop on Fridays; not sure how long the season will be (and 3 eps dropped week one).

I'm loving it! I think they got the tone just right from the book. I was also unsure about the main actor's casting, but it was a good choice. And I'm okay with the shorter episodes; they're packed and after each one they've felt longer than they were (in a good way)

There should be 10 episodes, with the last one airing on July 11th.

I love Murderbot, but I'm actually very disappointed by the adaptation and I don't like the changes they made. The casting of the main character is the main issue for me. The actor aside, the choice of not using the helmet almost at all gives me the impression of watching another series with all human characters and not something unique.

Given the insanely high praise that the series is getting, I feel very isolated with my opinion.

I can understand why they use the helmet sparingly—hiding the actor‘s face is probably not something they like to do. I wasn‘t sure before the start of the series if I would like Skarsgård in the role, but I do. Luckily he isn‘t too bulky after having done The Northman before this.

I did a quick reread after one of the episodes, because I was ranting about changes—turns out my memory sucks. Not saying at all that yours does 😏, they did make changes—the weird bit for me is the expanded Sanctuary Moon episodes. And I would have loved it to have longer episodes. I am already hoping for another season to find out what they are going to do with ART.

I've never read the book, but I'm really enjoying the show. I love the dry humor from Murderbot and seeing things from his POV. It's a really refreshing take.

Sanctuary Moon is the best! Just watched Cowboy Bebop (live action on Netflix) and seeing one of the actors from that show playing as the Captain in Sanctuary Moon just makes it that much more fun.

immediately after the finale of Murderbot, Reactor (Was Tor) will have a new Murderbot novelette to read

https://reactormag.com/read-a-new-mur...

The new novelette “Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy” will go live here on Reactor at 10:00 PM ET on Thursday, July 10th. It can be read as a standalone story for anyone who has finished Artificial Condition, the second book in The Murderbot Diaries.

In “Rapport” we catch up with Peri (short for Perihelion) and learn a bit more about what this galaxy does to people and the machine intelligences that have to deal with them….

I've just watched the final episode, and while different in parts to the books, it was (for me) 'very Murderbot' and very poignant. I actually loved it.

And...there will be another series, apparently!

Yes, it was announced that the series will be renewed.

Which means, ART may be part of the series now, if they continue to follow the books. If so, it's more fitting that they used the new novelette Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy as a promo of sorts. It's now available to read for free on Reactor as well as for purchase. I'll be posting some of my thoughts on the new novelette in the thread here about the books series.

Thanks for mentioning the story again and that it is on reactormag. I will read it tonight…

I wonder how they will do ART. In my head ART sounds male, the Graphic Audio (those are fun as well) version has a female voice, which I found very distracting at first.

Link to Reactor: https://reactormag.com/rapport-martha...

I think the show was enjoyable. Skarsgard while not ideal, did a good job. I will be tuning in for the second season.

Finished watching the 10 episodes. The 10th episode seemed a little different from the book but my memory is not reliable. Overall it seemed fairly close to what I remember. I thought the last three or so episodes where the best. At first I thought the special effects were a little weak and the acting was not great. But it kind of grew on me. I liked the creatures on the planet. They were good effects.

It was the same as the book, but the parts that happened without its memory were summarized; whereas, the tv show allows for the perspective of the plnatary alliance crew.