[subdue] Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells, 3.5 stars

[NancyJ]

This is the fourth book in the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, about an AI robot (sec unit) who hacks its own governor unit to reduce the control that the corporation has over it. I really enjoyed the first two books in the series. Book 3 was ok but it didn’t stick with me, and by the time I picked up this book I had lost the momentum of the story. When I started book 4, it just felt like a generic interlude in which the sec unit was once again in a public lobby trying to look and act like a human. The end of the book was much more exciting, and I am really looking forward to the first full size book in the series. The first four books are all short, and the reviews suggest that book five is the best of the series.

Since we’ve been talking about moral dilemmas, murderbot faced a few common ones in this series, and it weighs outcomes based on opposing ethical or moral principles. There is some mystery as to the tech vs human makeup of the bot, so we have yet to know if loyalty toward a particular human being is a sign of its humanity, or something else.

When I’m ready to read book #5 Network Effect, I think I will reread #1 and the last half of #4 beforehand.

[Robin P]

At first, I wondered about the hype, as the first book seemed just ok, but Murderbot grew on me. I found #5 to be the best, partly because it's longer. You also get to see an old "friend" reappear. One of the books, maybe #4, is a murder mystery that doesn't really have anything to do with the others.

I think one reason I like Murderbot is that I can identify with its wish that everybody would leave it in peace to watch favorite shows (or read a book)! I listened to the audio read by a man so I think of Murderbot as "he" but of course it has no gender.