Tag: Artificial Intellegence

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews

REVIEW: Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*No Major Spoilers*

Sci-Fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is again 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.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Continuing on with the Murderbot Diaries series, we have Rogue Protocol. Now I wasn’t that impressed with the previous entry, Artificial Condition. So I was going into this novella with cautious optimism. So let’s secure this review for Rogue Protocol.

We are continuing on Murderbot’s mission to find evidence against the company that tried to kill their team, while also trying to figure out its past before it became self aware. Murderbot is finding itself going to another mining planet where GrayCris had a contract. Now, a different exploration crew is going to evaluate this mining spot and clear it before the next mining team moves into the spot.

There needs to be an error code that means “I received your request but decided to ignore you.”

Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

However, things go awry and it’s up to Murderbot and her newfound friend, Miki, to save Miki’s crew from combat bots. Miki is more of a “old school/traditional” robot as Murderbot describes it. Miki is close to his guardian, Don Abene, and it makes Murderbot have emotions about how its been treated in the past.

Overall, I found this adventure to be a lot more exciting than the previous entry to the series. Miki and all his crew are likeable, the action is intense, and I felt like there was a lot at stake. The mystery and saga continues and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on it soon!

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Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews

REVIEW: Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*No Major Spoilers*

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

As I continue on in this series, I was excited to dive into Artificial Condition as soon as I found the audiobook for this on the virtual library. So, let’s explore this review of Artificial Condition.

Originally, on Goodreads and StoryGraph, I rated this novel 4 stars. I usually rate books as soon as I finish them so everything is still fresh in my mind. After a day or two to think about how I feel about this, and I’m feeling somewhat different about this novel.

Sometimes people do things to you that you can’t do anything about. You just have to survive it and go on.

Martha Wells, Artificial Condition

I’m not sure if the audiobook just didn’t hold my attention, or I had a hard time focusing on it. My memory of this book comes in patches. I like that Murderbot got an upgrade/the possibility to blend in to this futuristic society.

This story as a whole is okay, not the best one so far. I’m hoping going forward things will pick up and we get more entertaining temporary companions for Murderbot. I like that this A.I. is making friends along the way whether they want to admit it or not.

Overall, I thought this is novella was alright, I am going to continue the series and we’ll see where we go from there!

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*No Major Spoilers*

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is a series I’ve been wanting to delve into, but I just wasn’t sure if all the hype I was hearing about it would live up to my expectations. I read a lot of sci-fi, and so I guess it’s time to delve into All Systems Red.

When I first started reading this, it felt disjointed in regard to the way Murderbot interacted with the humans. For a long time I couldn’t describe why I felt like the humans were just cardboard. However, I think this was a stylistic choice to show how Murderbot feels when interacting with humans. They would just rather not talk to humans.

And in their corner all they had was Murderbot, who just wanted everyone to shut up and leave it alone so it could watch the entertainment feed all day.

Martha Wells; All Systems Red

There’s not much action in this first instillation, but it’s a great introduction to Murderbot and how they carry themselves and how they see the world around them. When the crew figure out that something is trying to hunt them down, that’s when Murderbot gets to shine.

This is a great place to start if you’re new to sci-fi, or wanting to get more into the genre. I know sometimes sci-fi gets carried away with all the science and tech, but All Systems Red explains the tech in ways I think newcomers to science fiction can follow.

Overall, I liked All Systems Red, I liked seeing a sci-fi mystery through the eyes of a robot. If you want a new take on the sci-fi genre or are looking for a quick read, then I’d recommend All Systems Red.