Mini Reviews: Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy

Hi and welcome to the reading world!

Today I’m sharing mini reviews of several Murderbot Diaries novellas. If you haven’t read any of the Murderbot Diaries, I have a full review on the first novella in the series here to check out! Today, I’m going to be writing about the subsequent novellas Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy.

Without further ado, let’s get into a mini review of the subsequent Murderbot Diaries novellas!

Artificial Condition is the second Murderbot novella and picks up where the last one left off. As Murderbot embarks on their new journey, we are introduced to my favorite secondary character of the series. The interactions between the two are my favorite part of this book and definitely a chance for Martha Wells to explore some humor and sarcasm in the unique tone this series is creating. The story itself lacked a little of the suspense and intrigue that All Systems Red had built so well, but still kept me engaged and entertained as I read on. Overall, I gave Artificial Condition 4.5 stars- to me, it improved some of the issues I had with the first novella, and the interactions between Murderbot and ART were some of my favorite character dynamics I’ve read in a series.

Another Murderbot adventure, Rogue Protocol brings back some of the mystery and suspense that I enjoyed in All Systems Red, but I felt like it fell short on the character development. While it had some definite twists and surprise moments, the plot itself wasn’t as engaging for me throughout the entire story as in previous installments. Rogue Protocol was the novella that I personally liked the least, but is still a solid read in the Murderbot Diaries.

This novella to me was the best of all of the first 4 in the Murderbot Diaries. Exit Strategy is worth the build up- there’s character development, excellent banter, and a fast paced story that kept me pulled in the entire time. It took all of the qualities I loved in the Murderbot novellas and emphasized those while improving on previous issues I’d had in the other stories. While it’s still not perfect- again, major climatic moments in the story didn’t feel fully developed in some much more minor ways- this novella is truly an incredible chapter in the Murderbot story and had me so excited to pick up the series’s full length novel soon after!

So, there are my thoughts on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th novellas of the Murderbot Diaries. I’m excited to be sharing my thoughts on the full length novel Network Effect closer to the release of the 6th in the series, Fugitive Telemetry!

What is your favorite Murderbot Diaries novella?

Thank you for stopping by!

-Rae