Artificial condition

, #2

158 pages

English language

Published Nov. 12, 2018

ISBN:
978-1-250-18692-8
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OCLC Number:
1033693095

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4 stars (12 reviews)

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...

3 editions

reviewed Schémas Artificiels by Martha Wells (Journal d'un Assassynth, #2)

Et soudainement, le robot assassin devint queer

4 stars

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.

reviewed Artificial condition by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)

Review of 'Artificial condition' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

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 …

reviewed Artificial condition by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)

Review of 'Artificial Condition' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

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 …

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Subjects

  • Human-computer interaction
  • Life on other planets
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Androids
  • Robots
  • Interplanetary voyages
  • Fiction

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