The Sword and Laser discussion

Kevin R. Free is so good at narrating these stories. I can even tell when Murderbot is saying something parenthetically. My husband and I both laugh out loud a lot.

Here's one early on in the book that surprised me and made me laugh out loud.

(view spoiler)["So, on the night when Potential Target invited Amena to come back to his semi-isolated camp house with him to “meet some friends,” I decided to come along.

He led her into the darkened house, and she stumbled on a low table. She giggled and he laughed. Sounding way more intoxicated than he actually was, he said, “Wait, I got it,” and tapped the house’s feed to turn on the lights.

And I was standing in the middle of the room.

He screamed. (Yes, it was hilarious.)" (hide spoiler)]

What are some quotes that made you laugh out loud?

Another funny excerpt, about halfway through.

(view spoiler)["Ratthi sighed, leaned against the wall and said, “So, you have a relationship with this transport.”

I was horrified. Humans are disgusting. “No!”

Ratthi made a little exasperated noise. “I didn’t mean a sexual relationship.”

Amena’s brow furrowed in confusion and curiosity. “Is that possible?”

“No!” I told her." (hide spoiler)]

Leesa wrote: "Kevin R. Free is so good at narrating these stories. I can even tell when Murderbot is saying something parenthetically. My husband and I both laugh out loud a lot.

Here's one early on in the book..."

Kevin R Free seems totally wrong for the books. He takes me out of the books as he has the wrong voice... (probably because I interpret Murderbot as being female)..

Iain wrote: "Leesa wrote: "Kevin R. Free is so good at narrating these stories. I can even tell when Murderbot is saying something parenthetically. My husband and I both laugh out loud a lot.

Here's one early ..."

Interesting. I was considering getting Network Effect on audiobook as I have a load of Audible credits atm, but I wonder if I might also find a male narrator off putting. I know that, for another series with a gender-unspecified protagonist, Lock In and Head Onby John Scalzi, they recorded two versions of the audiobook, one read by a man (Wil Wheaton) and one by a woman (Amber Benson). I guess once I finish the novellas I’ll just have to listen to the audiobook sample and decide.

Anyway, yes, Murderbot is very funny. One line from Rogue Protocol which made me smile (and was also a great illustration of character) was: (view spoiler)[ ‘The clever thing to do was to kill them all. Guess I was doing the dumb thing.’ (hide spoiler)]

For whatever it's worth, Kevin R. Free sounds a little robotic to me and totally works as the narrator. I've been listening to the books in my workouts.

There's a twitter-bot (MurderBotBot) that tweets quotes from the series (not from Fugitive Telemetry until more time has passed) and there's a lot of good ones there, some have spoilers for the rest of the series, but here's a few that only illustrate personality, no spoilers, no names, no context needed. :)

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure."
"I didn’t want to answer any reasonable questions."
"How humans decide what to do with their arms on a second-by-second basis, I still have no idea."

I love Free’s narration. I’ve been listening through the whole series, and at first I was surprised, since I think I expected Murderbot to have a female voice (because, the author). But after a short time listening, it just sounded right.

It took me a little while to click with Free's narration. I think he improved with each novella. By the end of the fourth novella, I could tell who was talking just through Free's narration. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get the audio from the library in time. So I'm going to read the paper version. I'll probably hear Free's voice in my head as I'm reading!

Chris wrote: "It took me a little while to click with Free's narration. I think he improved with each novella..."

I read the paper books myself the first time around, and listened for a refresher before taking on Network Effect, and I mostly agree. The first book I just hated hearing him read, but by the third I was OK. I just read Fugitive Telemetry in paper, however, and the voice in my head was my own from before, and not Free's (though I did adopt his pronunciations of names I wasn't completely settled on). I can't tell if I just don't like listening to books, or if it's this narrator I wasn't able to connect with quickly.

Ruth wrote: "Interesting. I was considering getting Network Effect on audiobook as I have a load of Audible credits atm, but I wonder if I might also find a male narrator off putting.."

I read the entire series via audiobook and I really liked the narrator. Also, considering the dystopian future that is occurring in the Corporation Rim I would not at all be suprised to find out that MB looks stereotypically masculine.

Leesa wrote: "Kevin R. Free is so good at narrating these stories. I can even tell when Murderbot is saying something parenthetically. My husband and I both laugh out loud a lot.

Here's one early on in the book..."

This happens to be one of my favorite moments in the book.

M-bot is dead funny throughout the series.

“I was having an emotion, and I hate that.”

For me one of the most fascinating things is how I can actually hear when M'Bot tries to tell themselves something, even though we know through its actions and the outside viewers that they are wrong.
Like how they constantly deny feeling something for their human team.
And M'Bot terrifying the guy hitting on Amena was beyond awesome. Best parent ever!

I struggled with the audio books initially but now I hear Kevin's voice when I read!

Has anyone read anything else by Martha Wells? I'm wondering if her fantasy stuff is also funny.

I've read the first book in the Raksura series. Not funny. Very good, but the story doesn't have a character where funny would work, it's just not that kind of story.

I think Murderbot lents itself to the funny/sardonic voice. Death of the Necromancer had some snark in the first pages, but I've not read further (it seems fine, just have other stuff to read).

Well, there is that moment in Raksura when protagonist describes some really baffling sexual behaviour from one village he visited… ;-)

Rick wrote: "I've read the first book in the Raksura series. Not funny. Very good, but the story doesn't have a character where funny would work, it's just not that kind of story.

I think Murderbot lents itsel..."

Good to know. I am enjoying the Murderbot series so much I wouldn't mind trying her other stuff, but it's good to know to know expect the same level of snark.

Yes, I read her fantasy work and it is excellent! She's a true wordsmith. But the humour is rare in those. The tales are deep and surprising, almost like unraveling a mystery.

CAKE!

https://twitter.com/marthawells1/stat...

Kevin R Free has a fascinating body of work too - https://www.kevinrfree.com/about

Tom wrote: "Kevin R Free has a fascinating body of work too - https://www.kevinrfree.com/about"

That is awesome. Not that he needs it, but he now has another Twitter follower.