Discussion: System Collapse

Hello all! We will be discussing "System Collapse" by Martha Wells. Blodeuedd is in red and Carole is in blue.

Author: Martha Wells

Narrator: Kevin R. Free

Title: System Collapse

Series: The Murderbot Diaries #7

Genre: SciFi, Fantasy
Published: November 13, 2023

Pages: 245

Summary:

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast.

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.

Discussion:

I am here and ready to [redacted]. ;)

Let´s get started. Murderbot time.

Yayy! I’m glad we decided to give Murderbot another chance. I know there were a couple of meh ones. 

For me they were so hard to get, so I seemed to have given up. But I did audio now and caught up with book 6 so we could get to 7. And I do like Murderbot. Though to be honest I preferred the 6 novella over this one.

LOL I thought I had read 6 but certainly didn’t. I went back and had to re-read that too. Honestly….I feel the novellas are better. 6 was so much better. Don’t get me wrong…I did enjoy 7, but not as much as the last one. 

Yes, i feel that Murderbot works better in smaller versions. Because there we get more Murderbot. But in the longer ones there are more people and I am meh about the rest of the gang

Yeaah. I’m actually starting to like the human part of the gangs a lil bit BUT I do love seeing just Murderbot and ART. 

I do care more about the non-humans. The rest are good, but they are just there.

I do fear they will betray Murderbot eventually or ART….because they are JUST bots. And I’m sure they may feel justified because it will save a fellow human. I am worried. Hopefully, I’m wrong and they do care about Murderbot and ART………..

Nooo, do not say that. That would be so sad :/

I hope I’m wrong but I have a bad feeling. LOL. I just want Murderbot and ART to be happy and be useful forever. 

They def need to be happy. I could be fine with Murderbot solving crimes, oh like a TV show, lol. Murderbot does love shows. And around people who are not all judgey. Stupid humans. But then again who would not be afraid.

That would be cute!! Which I just love the fact he loves our entertainment. He’s so adorable. 

But the book itself then? I liked it, but I had a hard time focus for some reason this time.

It did take a long time and a lot of build up. The first half I struggled but things got better around the halfway mark. I loved the scene with Murderbot and the humans working together on that….project? Yes, we’ll say the project to avoid spoilers. It was a unique scene and way to handle things. 

I think that for me it would have been better to read this one, the novella worked well in audio, but this one, even if not long. My mind drifted somewhat. Sci.fi is hard in audio. Lots of tech talk.

TBH I might start reading more instead of audio. Don’t get me wrong…the narrator is great….but I think SciFi is easier to read. 

Sci fi can be hard to read, but in audio it is worse. Yeah def reading next time. The voice of the narrator was so weird to hear too. Like not at all how I pictured Murderbot . 

I’ve done some of the story with the narrator and he’s good, but not the Murderbot I hear in my head. 

Sorry, but not my Murderbot. Funny how that works.

Agreed. So I’ve done some in ebook and some in audio…I think going forward I may stick to the ebook. 

There are sure to be more, so I will stick to that too.

There better be more!!!!!!! The way everything was left….there are so many questions I have. 

Maybe a novella, and then a book again?

That seems to be the formula. I hope for a novella. 

Same :) 

But yes. I did enjoy this. The beginning was rough to get into, but I am excited for more. 

I liked it, but I liked the novella more. And I look forward to more

Agreed! Love you Murderbot and ART!!!!

The end?

Yesss ma’am!

About the Authors

Carole and Blodeuedd have been blogging for a long while now. For the last few years the epic duo has been discussing books, watching movies, and even wetting the pen and sharing their stories with the worldwide web. They both love cats, chocolate, and a good story.