Book Review: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

See my review of volume one here.

Free from corporate ownership and having run away from its new owner, Murderbot starts its investigation into the "incident from its past." It travels to a distant moon where it was involved in a massacre of human miners. His transport is a university research ship that's being rented out for cargo delivery (the school cashes in when it doesn't need to do actual research). The artificial intelligence running the ship is very inquisitive and a bit annoying, but also helpful. Murderbot develops an uneasy relationship (though, to be honest, all Murderbot's relationships are uneasy). They work together to find a way onto the moon. Murderbot passes itself off as an augmented human (with some surgical adjustments from the ship's medical facilities) and hires itself out as a security adviser to a group that needs to negotiate the return of research data taken from them. Murderbot's primary interest is getting to the moon's surface but interacting with the humans triggers its old protocols to protect its clients. They need lots of protection, especially from their own bad ideas.

The story progresses nicely, with humor and action and character revelation/development naturally flowing from the plot.

Highly recommended.