158 pages
English language
Published Nov. 12, 2018
It has a dark past - one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself Murderbot. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a research transport vessal named ART (you don't want to know what the A stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks...
about a year since I read the first book, and a TV show in between it was time to pick up murderbot again. took me a bit of time to get into it, but once I was the book was finished in the day. enjoyed being back in murderbots head, the interactions with ART are great. just wished the climax would have been drawn out a little longer!
This is my favorite Murderbot novella. What stands out the most to me is the prickly but endearing not-friendship between ART and Murderbot. I also love seeing Murderbot taking on its first clients (by choice) and feeling just as invested in doing a good job in protecting them. My delight in this book is probably why I also like the novel Network Effect so much, as it feels like a thematic expansion of all the best bits of this book (plus ART).
I think it's also easy to read this book as such a queer and trans story (only metaphorically, as it would be horrified at this comparison). It really gets into how fraught physical change for the purpose of passing is; it's something that Murderbot feels it needs to do for safety as rogue SecUnit, even as it feels emotionally unsafe to do. And also it's Murderbot having to …
This is my favorite Murderbot novella. What stands out the most to me is the prickly but endearing not-friendship between ART and Murderbot. I also love seeing Murderbot taking on its first clients (by choice) and feeling just as invested in doing a good job in protecting them. My delight in this book is probably why I also like the novel Network Effect so much, as it feels like a thematic expansion of all the best bits of this book (plus ART).
I think it's also easy to read this book as such a queer and trans story (only metaphorically, as it would be horrified at this comparison). It really gets into how fraught physical change for the purpose of passing is; it's something that Murderbot feels it needs to do for safety as rogue SecUnit, even as it feels emotionally unsafe to do. And also it's Murderbot having to navigate this change with the (extremely pushy but supportive) help of ART.
This book also gets into some of Murderbot's traumatic history in its investigation of Ganaka Pit. On a reread, I think I was surprised at how little reaction this gets from Murderbot in the moment once it has unraveled a core mystery of its past. But, at the same time, trauma is unevenly distributed, Murderbot is not the best at feelings, and it certainly catches up later in conversation with ART and Tapan.
The relationship between Murderbot and ART was one of the most adorable and hilarious things I've read recently. Hoping they get to meet again in the future.
J'avais apprécié le tome 1 de l'Assassynth comme un bon page turner et une personnalité atypique pour une IA rogue dans la SF. Le tome 2 offre l'opportunité d'étendre un peu plus l'univers dans lequel Assassynth évolue, et de lae voir relationner avec des humains et d'autres machines. Et c'est à la fois très drôle et relatable. On ne s'imagine pas un assassin avoir de l'anxiété sociale, et pourtant! Et il y a de la queerness à laquelle je ne m'attendais pas du tout, c'est validé! Côtés points négatifs, certains concepts et noms mériteraient d'être explicités (c'est quoi un MedSys, la différence entre synthétique, bot, augmenté, humain, et pourquoi un killware ça fonctionne sur l'un et pas sur l'autre???); et il ne se passe finalement pas énormément de choses. Ce tome a ravivé mon intérêt pour la série en tout cas.
If you enjoyed "All Systems Red," you'll almost certainly enjoy this as it's a direct follow-up to that story, expanding on the Murderbot character and the surrounding universe in a nicely-executed, quick, and satisfying manner.
Murderbot is a bit sassier and more overtly brash in this one, which at times during the read felt a little forced to me but I ultimately adjusted to the new tone and ended up chalking the change up to a plausible evolution of the character given the events of the first book.
The story is fairly simple and straightforward, which leaves plenty of room for the additional world building and character development that I'd say are the bread and butter of the experience. I particularly enjoyed Murderbot's interactions with ART as they did a lot to check both of those boxes in a fun and novel way.
If you got your fill of Murderbot …
If you enjoyed "All Systems Red," you'll almost certainly enjoy this as it's a direct follow-up to that story, expanding on the Murderbot character and the surrounding universe in a nicely-executed, quick, and satisfying manner.
Murderbot is a bit sassier and more overtly brash in this one, which at times during the read felt a little forced to me but I ultimately adjusted to the new tone and ended up chalking the change up to a plausible evolution of the character given the events of the first book.
The story is fairly simple and straightforward, which leaves plenty of room for the additional world building and character development that I'd say are the bread and butter of the experience. I particularly enjoyed Murderbot's interactions with ART as they did a lot to check both of those boxes in a fun and novel way.
If you got your fill of Murderbot from "All Systems Red," I don't think there's much in "Artificial Condition" that you'll miss experiencing but if you enjoy the character and the universe, and are looking for more of both, this is certainly a worthy sequel worth exploring that will likely leave you itching for the next volume in the series.
I'm not enjoying this as deeply as the first time and I'm getting distracted a lot, but it's rly nice still. I love ART.
Murderbot is such a fun character. Never thought a construct could be so relatable but it’s just the cutest. I love when it gets bewildered by humans.
4.5 stars for this one. I enjoyed it way more than the first one, though it nicely continues Murderbot's story. Murderbot has a hacked governor module, so is basically one of the dreaded rogues only known in media. It hacked it after a massacre in a mining pit on some moon. But Murderbot barely remembers anything about it, so instead of staying with the crew that adopted it, it runs off to travel to the mining moon to find out what happened.
On the way she 'befriends' ART, an asshole transport ship, and finds new humans to protect. Of course everything goes terribly wrong, and Murderbot has to do what it's great at: murdering.
Seriously, I enjoyed just about anything here. ART was great, the story about the surveyors wanting their data back was exciting, and it even included a non-binary character, and diverse relationships. Bring it on, modern science …
4.5 stars for this one. I enjoyed it way more than the first one, though it nicely continues Murderbot's story. Murderbot has a hacked governor module, so is basically one of the dreaded rogues only known in media. It hacked it after a massacre in a mining pit on some moon. But Murderbot barely remembers anything about it, so instead of staying with the crew that adopted it, it runs off to travel to the mining moon to find out what happened.
On the way she 'befriends' ART, an asshole transport ship, and finds new humans to protect. Of course everything goes terribly wrong, and Murderbot has to do what it's great at: murdering.
Seriously, I enjoyed just about anything here. ART was great, the story about the surveyors wanting their data back was exciting, and it even included a non-binary character, and diverse relationships. Bring it on, modern science fiction, bring it on.
Fills in the background story of going rogue.
