After a few months away from Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries, I have returned to tackle the full-length novel Network Effect, fifth in The Murderbot Diaries and the only full-length novel in the series. The good vibes and wild shenanigans of Murderbot and its clients, crew, and friends still prove to be hilarious, intense, and extremely entertaining.

It calls itself Murderbot, but only when no one can hear. It worries about the fragile human crew who’ve grown to trust it, but only where no one can see. It tells itself that they’re only a professional obligation, but when they’re captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action. Drastic action it is, then.

For a SecUnit (Security Unit) bot, Murderbot sure suffers from emotions and worries regarding those he feels closest to. Even if it refuses to talk about its feelings and why it reacts so emotionally in the heat of the moment. This dilemma is incredibly interesting, provides many moments of funny banter and commentary, and gives the action and dramatic plot so much more grit and relatability. This isn’t just a space opera or an action novel set out in the middle of nowhere – it is a keen look at the evolution of a bot who has hacked itself and gone rogue, yet cares too much about those around it to truely leave any of them behind.

This attachment (sorry, Murderbot, that is kind of what feelings are) doesn’t stop at humans and augmented beings, and we see that clear as day in Network Effect when ART is in need of desperate help. It has been a bit since Artificial Condition where we first met ART, but the events between haven’t occurred all the far apart. Moreover, we learn so much more about ART and its crew – not to mention what they actually do – and the relationship between ART and Murderbot. They give such old married couple vibes that I was grinning from ear to ear as soon as their dialogue started and it continued for the rest of the novel. There is so much brilliance and wit between them and their interactions that you really can’t get through Network Effect without kicking your feet and wanting to giggle into a pillow.

Network Effect solidifies my decision that Martha Wells is one of the best science fiction writers out there, and I absoultely love her writing. I have added Books of the Raksura to my tbr list and eagerly await picking up the first in that series, The Cloud Roads. I feel so much personality and character awareness from her writing and it makes the reads so engrossing and immersive as a result, and considering the protagonist of The Murderbot Diaries is a bot who shouldn’t be feeling as much as they are, it makes a world of difference to the reading experience.

I highly recommend The Murderbot Diaries, and while it may feel like you could finesse the reading order, I recommend keeping Network Effect as the fifth read. It may seem a little funny consider the last two in the series, Fugitive Telemetry and System Collapse, are short reads but the timeline established is important for the character development and set up for Fugitive Telemetry, not to mention the right balance and flow heading into the final act with System Collapse. I hope you enjoy the reads as much as I do, and maybe you’ll find yourself buying the series to keep on your shelves for rereading like me too.