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Reading: Artifical Condition
May. 13th, 2018 03:45 pmMartha Wells's Artificial Condition is the first of several planned sequels to her 2017 novella All Systems Red. All Systems Red introduced us to Murderbot, a snarky security cyborg whose course of action after hacking its governor module and acquiring free will is not to go on a killing spree but to download all the entertainment media it can and to spend its free time binge-watching serials.
In this instalment, Murderbot returns to the mining facility it was stationed on shortly before hacking its governor module to try to find out what actually happened to them there (in particular, whether they were responsible for a massacre). It's aided by ART (Asshole Research Transport), a bot-piloted ship as intelligent as it it, with whom Murderbot strikes up an awkward and initially unwilling friendship, and hindered by a group of wet-behind-the-ears young scientists it agrees to work as a security consultant for as a cover identity. I particularly loved the interactions between Murderbot and ART, but the novella was a delight from start to finish; Murderbot's awkwardness and anxiety are very relatable, their snarky narrative is hugely entertaining, and the series continues to pose interesting questions about the nature of personhood. I have preordered the third and fourth instalments and am very much looking forward to reading them when they're released.
In this instalment, Murderbot returns to the mining facility it was stationed on shortly before hacking its governor module to try to find out what actually happened to them there (in particular, whether they were responsible for a massacre). It's aided by ART (Asshole Research Transport), a bot-piloted ship as intelligent as it it, with whom Murderbot strikes up an awkward and initially unwilling friendship, and hindered by a group of wet-behind-the-ears young scientists it agrees to work as a security consultant for as a cover identity. I particularly loved the interactions between Murderbot and ART, but the novella was a delight from start to finish; Murderbot's awkwardness and anxiety are very relatable, their snarky narrative is hugely entertaining, and the series continues to pose interesting questions about the nature of personhood. I have preordered the third and fourth instalments and am very much looking forward to reading them when they're released.
