I love The Murderbot Diaries, and Martha Wells is truly one of my favourite authors as a result of binge-reading the novels. Rogue Protocol, the third instalment in the series, really taps into the deeper themes and concepts of life, both for humans and robots, and to see it all culminate in this brilliant addition to the action-packed adventures of Murderbot is truly a thing you need to experience,

Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas? Sci-Fi’s favourite 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.

On top of all the GrayCris politics and drama, Murderbot is dealing with some withdrawals – it is missing others. Dr Mensah. The Preservation crew. Even ART, the research transport that isn’t really an asshole. While battling with the internal conflicts and uncertainties of its mission (whatever that is at any given point, considering Murderbot doesn’t know itself), it comes across a group of humans and their robot heading to run an assessment on one of GrayCris’ abandoned terraforming stations. But is it abandoned? And what were they doing at this station given the rumours starting to arise with the lawsuits?

But underneath all that, setting aside the plot and action of Rogue Protocol, we have a relationship that develops, nothing romantic, but perhaps platonic, between Murderbot and Miki – the robot that is friends with this human crew. Is it programmed to be friends with this crew? Are they actually friendly to this robot? It rubs Murderbot the wrong way, not to mention all the hacking and not-so-polite infiltration Murderbot does with these robots it comes across for the sake of surveillance, safety, and old habits. The more Murderbot learns about the crew, the job, and the unfolding drama, the more Murderbot questions Miki’s loyalties – after all, if it says the wrong thing, Murderbot is as good as dead.

Martha Wells is a mastermind in human dilemmas and thought processes being taken up by robots. Murderbot is an anxious, depressed, confused robot with a soft spot for humans needing protection. It struggles to be nonchalant, even tries to pretend other humans doing dumb things that could get them killed isn’t its problem. After all, these humans aren’t its crew. But Murderbot just can’t. You can free a SecUnit from a lifetime of contracts and servitude, but you can’t take the SecUnit out of the robot. Maybe you can, but Murderbot would never allow it.

Rogue Protocol really homes in on the existentialism aspect of these books, making the personal journey for Murderbot not only an emotional rollercoaster amid the carnage of enemy fire and dastardly plots to cover up tracks, but also a painfully introspective one. What should be binary reactions from robots instead breeds possibilities, choice comes into play when it shouldn’t, but somehow it does and choices change everything. This is a poignant addition to the series and a great way to propel the narrative forward. The characters are awesome, the action plot is high-energy and high-stakes, and the overall impact of the story is compelling as a piece of the narrative.

You need to pick up The Murderbot Diaries. Everyone – fantasy readers, sci-fi readers, contemporary literary fiction readers. This series has everything and more within its covers and you will learn so much in the process. Pick up The Murderbot Diaries ASAP!