Play Book Tag discussion

I listened to the whole series a couple of years ago. Recently I watched the TV series, and I kept thinking, “I don’t remember this from the book”. So I decided to relisten to this short book. The reason there was more in the show is that the original story is very spare. It makes sense, narrated by a bot. There’s no description of people’s appearance and only a few conversations reported. The rest is irrelevant to Murderbot. Even the action sequences are only briefly depicted. At the beginning, some kind of hostile fauna attacks, but it’s vague. The TV show had a horrible giant worm thing with lots of teeth.

When I listened the first time, I gave the book a rating of 3, it was ok. But I had purchased the whole series, so I went on and Murderbot continued to grow on me. In the 2nd book, he/ she/it makes a sort of friend. I gave the later books a 4, and the final, longer one a 5. This time I felt the same way. The story is just too limited to merit more than a 3. I believe the author worked on the TV series, so she could flesh out her vision of the book.

My favorite thing is how Murderbot just wants to avoid stupid human emotions and be left alone to watch its favorite shows. I can relate! The TV version has some snippets of Murderbot’s favorite show, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, and they are delightfully cheesy.

I think #2 was my favorite with ART. I enjoyed when the bot was learning to pass for a human. For me, the short length of the early books was a huge plus when I needed a break from more serious books. A little action is enough. The last one I read felt like a crime procedural.

I’m enjoying corporate antagonists more now that I don’t have to work with them or defend them to anyone.