Murderbot is a bit like that; the central core of the "product" is biological, a cloned human being, but with only rudimentary free will - he can make decisions within a task but cannot decide between tasks. Unless he has managed to hack into and subvert his governor module.
This is the big secret, he may be a security unit, known as a SecUnit, assigned to a small team of planetary explorers but he is not under their complete control.
The drama gets rolling when it is discovered that another nearby base has lost communications. The team goes to investigate.
The story is narrated by Murderbot himself. I’ve got to admit “Murderbot” is a pretty compelling name and I wanted to know why he called himself that. Only glimpses of his past are revealed.
Martha Wells has done a nice job of delivering a tense thriller and gave the protagonist unexpected depth. The story is layered and I was happy to be introduced to the larger universe this one story occupies. This is a perfect way to dive into a Space Opera; start with a small group of characters in a small place, in this case a far off planet, and then return them to their homes and you get a natural way to introduce the reader to a larger world.
I am certainly looking forward to reading the second instalment.
No comments:
Post a Comment