Rogue Protocol [Dramatized Adaptation]

The Murderbot Diaries [Dramatized Adaptation] #3

by Martha Wells, Alejandro Ruiz (reader), Natalie Van Sistine (reader)

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

Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Adult, Novella, Space, Science Fiction Fantasy

1 pages, Audio CD

Published November 16, 2023

About the author

Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, the Ile-Rien series, The Murderbot Diaries series, and other fantasy novels, most recently Witch King (Tordotcom, 2023). She has also written media tie-in fiction for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, Locus Awards, and a Dragon Award, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the British Science Fiction Association Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, the Sunday Times Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. She is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, and her books have been published in twenty-five languages.

She is also a consulting producer on The Murderbot Diaries series for Apple TV+.

Reviews

[Suhailah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dramatized Adaptation Audiobook ☆☆☆☆☆

Engaging and so much fun!

♡Buddy listen with my husband♡

My Husband’s Rating: Another 20/10 stars ☆ (He is naturally not a reader because he is a gamer 1000% unless we do audiobooks together, or I read to him.) And he says this series has captivated him because it is so thrilling! That’s huge!

~ It was even more heartbreaking to listen to the audio of this one because of the sad ending.
~ Miki has my heart and that’s that. Even if the voice actor wasn’t quite what I imagined when I read it, it also grew on me.
~ David Cui Cui is officially my Murderbot voice now!

My original review for the novella can be found here.

[reading_paiges · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️
Best one yet.
Funniest one yet.
Saddest one yet.
I think the only thing keeping me from giving it the full 5 stars is the fact that it’s still so early in the series and what if it gets better from here….

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awww Miki warmed and then broke my heart. Love Murderbot’s inner thoughts/dialogue. Probably my favourite entry in the series.

[Raquel Flockhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. All Systems Red ★★★
2. Artificial Condition ★★★

“I hate caring about stuff. But apparently once you start, you can’t just stop.”

I like that even though these novellas are independent of each other (at least the first three focus on different missions), they are all related in some way. Rogue Protocol follows Murderbot trying to gather some evidence in order to help Dr. Mensah, a character from the first novella. I can’t pinpoint exactly what made me enjoy this story less than the previous ones, but something was missing for me because I was little bit bored for a good part of this installment. It probably didn’t help that I felt quite indifferent towards the new side characters. Nonetheless, I’m still intrigued to see where the rest of the series go.

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[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving into the third leg of Murderbot's adventures as told by a talented full cast on Graphic Audio, I was eager for more of its wry humor, confusion and interest in human behavior and interactions along with the trouble it can find without even trying.

Rogue Protocol is the third novella in the Murderbot Diaries series. Each is an installment in one ongoing story so must be read in order.

Murderbot has been slowly assimilating into the futuristic world in the stars where its kind, a security robot or secbot is not supposed to be loose and enjoying the 'freedom' of a human. For one, it may have been part of a mass slaughter at a mine and it may have removed the controls that force it to obey commands and protocols. And, it most definitely may be addicted to entertainment vids. Murderbot just wanted to explore freedom and not belong to anyone even a kindhearted scientist who wouldn't exploit it, but it also feels a need to take it to the GrayCris corporation who use up and kill both humans and bots in their greedy quest for more.

Murderbot is still being talked about on the news channels so it must keep a low profile. This recent quest to dig up more dirt on GrayCris to help its scientist friend leads it into a new bad situation and an intriguing encounter with another bot who seems to like humans and is liked by its humans.

As I said before, I enjoy the humor, but I also enjoy Murderbot's thoughts on who and what it is and how it interacts with those around it. The suspense and action scenes don't hurt.

I'm now familiar with and enjoy David Cui Cui voicing Murderbot and it was fun to listen in for the new to me cast voices for the new people and bots Murderbot encounters. Graphic Audio's sound affects and the 'movie in my mind' feel is a wonderful experience.

I am eager to move on to the final segment of this story arc and look forward to more adventures with Murderbot. Those who enjoy sci-fi set in future space should give these a go.

[Kim Pelletier · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 out of 5 stars. Full disclosure: I listened to the audiobook for the fourth book before listening to this one (book three), so take my review into account with that knowledge.

This was definitely a weaker book plot wise compared to the other ones (especially with how quickly things pick up in the following book). I felt the characters were a lot weaker and that the action and plot were altogether just not as good as in the other books, though I also just am not vibing with the series so I’ve kinda tuned things out a little bit while listening. Truly I don’t want to knock the series, it’s crazy popular and I’ve said in all my reviews that this series has such great things going for it, but overall compared to the other four books of this series, this one was definitely the weakest by far.

Still give this series a chance! Don’t let my reviews hold you back if murderous robots, mystery and sci-fi are your thing!

[Deb the Reading Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I hate caring about stuff. But apparently, once you start, you can't just stop.” - This Murderbot quote probably also summed up how readers felt at the end of the book.

In Rogue Protocol, Murderbot again ends up with a new crew of people who keep getting into trouble. The bot he interacts with and who would love to become their friend is Miki - a bot who became so close with humans that even Murderbot becomes jealous at some point.

This book had the first farewell, which was difficult - and the series keeps getting better as Murderbot's character develops through the story.

[Bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Diana T-C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review for the graphic audio version. Stuck close to the story. Enjoyable alternate version of the book, although the voice actor for SecUnit/Murderbot continues to speed through his lines.

The humor and humanity of Murderbot suffers as a result of the speedy narration. Humor depends on timing and delivery. When the narration is at breakneck speed the expert delivery of a comedic line or idea doesn't happen.

The graphic audio version has sound effects (not as well done as by BBC audiobooks with full casts) - and that adds some action to the story.

But, without the humor, the snark, the insightful observations within Murderbot's inner talk, the story is missing a very important part of what makes these books special. All due to narration that is too fast.

Also, the production missed editing/fixing where the reader for SecUnit spoke the line that belonged to one of the two hired security guards (Wilkes? spelling?) - in the audiobook Murderbot doesn't say that. (The scene where she asks him what he's doing as they are supposed to do a rescue)

The audio books narrated by Kevin Free seem to be more carefully produced compared to the graphic audio versions. And, Kevin Free narrates with a range of emotion, and has the talent to convey humor, irony, wry observations and sarcasm. So, while the graphic audio version is fun and has action, it's missing the humor and humanity of Murderbot experienced with the audio books narrated by Kevin Free.

5* Martha Wells writing - 2* Graphic Audio - 3* average

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is everything I love about The Murderbot Diaries series! (Except that it didn't have A.R.T.)

I thoroughly enjoyed it and burst out laughing several times as Murderbot continues interacting with humans and dealing with the series' main theme of the human experience.

The cast of the Dramatized Adaption did an excellent job! Now that I'm caught up to where I was (on book four) and I'll switch back to the normal audiobook, and it will be weird hearing a different voice for Murderbot. (Although I really enjoyed the narrator's performance for the first three regular audiobooks as well as these three Dramatized Adaptions.)

On to book four!

(This Dramatized Adaption says it's unabridged but it's still a bit shorter than the regular audiobook, and shorter than I would assume just taking out the "he said, she said's" would be.)

(I can't remember exactly but I think there's some R-rated language.)

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The structure was similar to the previous book, but I still really enjoyed Rogue Protocol. Listening to them as Graphic Audio books has made me love the series even more.

I enjoyed seeing Murderbot reluctantly connect with humans and other bots, and while I missed Art a lot in this (almost as much as Murderbot misses Art!), I really liked Miki. I was absolutely crushed by Miki's death :sob: I genuinely thought it would survive the book; GA did a good job humanizing the bot that I was quite emotional when Murderbot realized Miki was destroyed. The ending has me intrigued and excited. Can't wait to pick up the next one!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Murderbot helps a bot named Mickey.

Murderbot is starting to realize that some humans (definitely not all) are actually worthwhile, and that makes Murderbot incredibly uncomfortable, even as it works to save people it really doesn't have to save. It's interesting following these shorts via Graphic Audio. Because each episode is short and features different people, it's somewhat difficult to get invested in anyone other than Murderbot. I am enjoying them, though.

[LibraryKath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic MurderBot adventure, but this one turned out to be... emotional! I cried at the end! Martha Wells has a gift for writing action scenes that are so engaging and easy to follow. I often get bored with these kind of scenes with other writers of the genre, but I never do in a MurderBot book.

Just be warned, this one has a sad ending!

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm just binge listening to the Murderbot serie and it's SO GOOD. I loved Miki and Adena, but mostly I love Murderbot. He's such an endearing robot, on its way to humanity (or shall I say emotions)? It's sassy, sarcastic and honestly, so relatable.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75🌟

So much action in so little time! Gotta say I’m enjoying watching murderbot evolve. It just wants to live its life watching its media but somehow always ends up in the most dangerous situations LOL!

Onto the next!

[ZAF · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOOOO MIKI. STOP I GOT SO ATTACHED TO IT I CANT BELIEVE THIS

[Jim Kownacki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just couldn't get into it.

[Igor Tokmovtsev · Rating 1 out of 5]

small book but could not go all the way through..............

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Murderbot and, as a series, is getting a 5 star, but this one just wasn't my favorite.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, I miss ART too I cant believe this. Overall enjoyed this installment, but I always enjoy everything before the action at the end and zone out at that part LOL

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fab production from GraphicAudio, but I thought the plot was a bit slow in the beginning. So far book #1 was the best and I’m slowly losing interest with each book.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is proof I'd trust an AI if it was snarky enough.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2026 52 book club meetup
Used for prompt 39- a book that costs you nothing

Works for the following prompts:
5- features a conspiracy
8- three Syllable word in the title
11- requires suspension of
24- uneven number of chapters
28- from a book series at least 8 book long
35- character with a secret identity

[Jeana Cheque · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had Murderbot trying to gather evidence for Dr. Menza. She's the one who freed him, before he decided to take off on his own instead of living on her farm. She was supposed to serve as his human guardian, but it felt too much like an owner to him. Graychris (?) is the evil company that almost killed Dr. Menza and her crew in book 1. Murderbot hitches a ride on "Ship". It had unsophisticated software and he made it look like he was supposed to be on board to do maintenance. He goes to a station that Graychris had been doing illegal mining on, under the guise of doing tera forming. He meets a Human Form bot named Mickey. Its human loves it like a friend, which has Murderbot feeling some kind of way. He ends up saving Mickey's human from combat bots that Graychris had left on the station to cover up their illegal mining. Murderbot gets the evidence he needs by hacking into some drones (?) and downloading what they had recorded. All hell brakes loose as they are departing. Murderbot is trying to hold off more combat bots, even though he has less weapons and speed. Mickey disobeys a direct order from her human in order to buy time for the humans to get to safety and assist Murderbot. Mickey dies in the end. Her human cries, which again, has Murderbot's emotions over human/bot relationships in turmoil. Once the humans are safely on their way in a pod, he takes a suit and makes it look like he was sucked out of an airlock along with the suit. He hails Ship to pick him up. He takes the evidence to Haveratten (?) to give to Dr. Menza in person.

[C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two Murderbot novels were MUCH better than this (third) one. For one, the pacing of the action scenes was way too slow, mostly because the story got bogged down with too much description. Overall, this tale just had way too much telling and not enough showing, and that includes both dialogue AND descriptive passages; several action scenes became technical info-dump central, which isn’t the ideal placement for this sort of detail. For reference, I’m both an avid reader and writer of hard science fiction, and actually do, in fact, enjoy reading about both technical and scientific details but, all the same, their placement needs to be both strategic and organic to the storytelling process so they can inform the tale without interfering with action scenes, which typically need to contain shorter words and less description so that these sequences can move along at a faster clip.

Moreover, I didn’t care about any of the supporting characters nor did the plot grab me at all; I lost interest in the story well before the halfway mark, and actually nodded off a few times throughout 😆; and, that definitely wasn’t the case with the previous two novels in this series, which kept me engaged all the way through. Nonetheless, based on how good the first two books were, I’m still willing to give this series a chance and am hoping that the fourth book will be a return to the same high-quality as the first two books in this series.

[arlene ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. Really enjoying this series. Fun, action-packed, but with a lot of heart. Murderbot is a surprisingly relatable character and David Cui Cui does an excellent job of voicing them for the GraphicAudio versions.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, I know. Believe me, I know. I read these too often. BUT. In my defense... I'm listening to these GraphicAudio versions as they come out now, okay? They're cool experiences! Don't get me wrong, Kevin R. Free simply isMurderbot in my mind, but I also cannot deny that these are just downright fun. David Cui Cui is also a great Murderbot, and the sound / voice effects and added music and battle sounds are just a totally new way of experiencing these stories, and, well... let's be real, I'll take any opportunity (/ excuse) to listen to these again.

[Wendy White · Rating 4 out of 5]

For any Murderbot book, I recommend reading the original first (either as text or via Kevin R. Free's fantastic, expressive narration of the unabridged audio book) but the dramatised versions are fun just to mix things up, especially if you re-read this series regularly, like I do!

5 stars for the original work, 4 stars for dramatised just because sometimes the sfx take me out of the story rather than immersing me. However, of the three dramatised versions, I think this has the most seamless sfx - maybe the next book will be the one where I give the dramatised version 5 stars too!

[Kimberly R · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars : for the graphic audio production of Rouge Protocol! I loved the characters in this one, and feel like our main sec unit is further developing empathy and personality dynamics in this one. Another great mission and fun story! I’m eagerly starting the next in the series now!

I do wish these dramatized editions of the books included the full text though, it bums me out these are almost always abridged, as this one is.

Please note this book contains mature adult content including language, violence, and mention of sexual content.

[karenbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for Rogue Protocol, three stars for the dramatized adaptation format. It sounds polished with all the extra voices and sound effects, I guess, but that polish means I'm even more thrown when Murderbot pronounces freight like "fright," for example. It's a fun format but it doesn't work for me.

I might try a standard audiobook at some point, but I think I like Murderbot better inside my head. You know what I mean.