SYSTEM COLLAPSE - Martha Wells

This is book seven in the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells and I've only read the previous book. This is a series that, by all accounts, I should really enjoy. But it also seems to be a series that really requires some information that most likely came out in the first couple of books.  I really feel like I'm missing some crucial information about our primary character.

The Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet that is having problems. They have also sent more Sec-Units, including our protagonist, Murderbot.  Murderbot has been around long enough to know that no corporation, Barish-Estranza included, does anything just to be nice. They will want payment of some kind, and if the colonization of the planet is a bust and there will be no resources on which to capitalize, they'll find  something else. And right now, the only thing on the planet with any value is the humans - they'll be good labor for the next project.  

Murderbot's job is to go in and rescue those colonists - from their dire situation as well as from becoming indentured servants. It should be a snap - except Murderbot is suffering from the mechanical AI equivalent of PTSD from his/its recent jobs. Can the robot figure out what's wrong and fix itself in time to save the humans? (Do they even deserve saving?)

While I found this to be a bit of a slow read, I did find myself much more interested here than with the previously read book in the series. Murderbot's internal struggle was interesting. I would temper that, though, with the fact that I still just don't know who this character is.  Without having read the previous books, the characters (is there more than just Murderbot who spans the series?) are still a bit of an enigma to me. This is not the sort of book which you can pick up mid-series and quickly catch up on the characters and the situations.

I'd like to read more Martha Wells but I do think I need to read this series from the beginning if I'm going to read any future books in the series. This would be my recommendation to others as well.

Looking for a good book? System Collapse by Martha Wells is the 7th book in the Murderbot Diaries series. It is not a book to pick up mid-series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

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System Collapse

author: Martha Wells

series: Murderbot Diaries #7

publisher: Tordotcom

ISBN: 9781250826978

hardcover, 256 pages