by Martha Wells
Part of The Murderbot Diaries, book 0.5
First published 2023
Murderbot settles in to watch episode 44 of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon when humans create yet another unnecessary crisis. A miner finds himself in mortal peril after a pointless dispute. The sardonic, media-obsessed android must choose between following protocol and staying put, or pausing its entertainment at the most exciting moment to mount a rescue that could expose its location. For most security units, orders would trump everything else. But Murderbot has never been most security units. The decision seems simple enough until the android weighs what matters most: duty, self-preservation, or something harder to quantify. Martha Wells puts her beloved almost-homicidal protagonist in an impossible position where every option carries a cost. This compact story captures everything fans love about the sardonic android that has become science fiction's most popular character of the 21st century.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, contemporary, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: duty-vs-self-preservation, found-family
Period: 21st-century
8 pages · Kindle Edition · Subterranean Press