And here are my thoughts
It was an interesting and refreshing read but I don't seem to love it as much as everyone else did.
Yeah, it was an unusual take on a reluctant hero trope and it worked really well. This spiel of “I really just want to be left alone and watch tv shows but I’m going to go and do the right thing instead” felt like it could become pretty old for if it keeps repeating with no variation. This makes me both curious and cautious about the next book
Another thing that made me like main character quite a bit more was his final decision. I did not expect it and it made him a bit more human in my eyes.
I’m not voting this time since I think I’m ok with any of those books =)
Book 2 has been decided and it is “Artificial Condition”
Now, this is the second book in The Murderbot Diaries, so as I’ve said before, if you haven’t read the first one and want to join, just go ahead and start the series at the first book, and you’ll still be able to contribute to the conversation.
There is virtually no time limit since I will only be picking the 3rd book after everyone is done, so read at your pace.
And once you’ve finished, feel free to tell us your opinion and predictions of future books, just remember to mark it for spoliers.
okay im done and i started the third one
so about artificial condition: i read through it a lot quicker than the first installment so it felt even shorter which is not nice i was really enjoying it
spoilers maybe? yes!
It was all great i liked all the characters i loved ART only the ending bothered me that is why i jumped right into the next story. in the first one the ending suprised me and did not feel good but it made sense and it could have been the end of the whole murderbot storyline
but this time the ending is similarly abrupt but it feels off because the reason for the quick end is that there is a shuttle to catch which does not seem as urgent or serious as just escaping from your owner and being on the run
and i was hoping that ART and murderbot would stay together
there was a character whose gender was something made up and had weird pronouns and i just wanted to ask if any of you had trouble reading it because for me it did mess with the flow of my reading (best description i can do) is it just me? is it easier for native englishspeakers?
The tercera cleared ter throat. Te had purple hair and red eyebrows, standing out against light brown skin. “I’m Rami, that’s Tapan, and Maro.” Te shifted nervously and tapped the empty chair.
I’m stoked to see this is a thing! Had I known I would’ve totally hopped aboard, I’ve already been working through my own goal of reading a book a week as is. If I find time maybe I’ll jump in when you’re reading standalone novels. I love the idea of a book club, I hope you keep it up!
I’m glad to hear it, I look forward to you joining us whenever we finish Murderbot.
Thoughts On Artificial Condition
Personally, I enjoyed this one more so than I did the first, simply because I meshed a little better with the plot of this one, though I don’t think it’s without its flaws. Along with that, I felt I knew the main character a little better, and felt more connected, especially when it talked with ART since I felt they had a great synergy. I also thought that the small group Murderbot helped out had more of a presence in my mind than the previous books group did since, for whatever reason, I found the humans in the first book to be a little boring.
If I’m being totally honest, I think the real reason I enjoyed this one more, is simply because I wasn’t in the right headspace when reading the first one, and now that I’m more invested in the character, my mind has been opened to the books. So I look forward to reading future books and even the possibility of re-reading the first one.
Personally, I didn’t even notice this, I had to actually go back and check to see if it was in my copy of the book, which it was. So I do think it was probably a language mishap, but clearly you made it through, and I commemorate you for that, I can’t imagine learning another language, seems a daunting task.
Book 3 Update
I’ll probably be creating the poll for book 3 in about a week unless I get confirmation that everyone is done, at which point I will start it sooner, or If I get confirmation that some people are still reading, at which point I will lengthen the time.
Sorry, forgot to post here but I actually went ahead with the series.>_>
I just finished book 4 with books being 3-4 hours long it was kinda fast. I’ll post my thoughts a bit later, sorry again
Hey Slushie, LTNS
Murderbot is an easy read. The second part I read in 3 hours. If you are interested in reading it, message me.
Like @Nateninja21, I went back to see if I had just skipped over it. No, must be the translation. Sorry about that.
Me too. English can be so confusing at times.
Summary
I loved Art once we figured out who/what he was. Murderbot’s human side is showing more as he felt obligated to help even after all but one had left. And It helped that he found out he wasn’t to blame for the murders. I don’t know whether to continue reading or wait. With the headache I have gonna wait for now though.
Ok, I finally got some time to type down my thoughts on Murderbot diaries. Sadly I don’t have enough to organize them and present in neat and orderly form. So it’ll be a bit messy and unstructured.
So, spoilers below for all 4 books
On the whole I liked them. There were some parts that annoyed me (mostly it’s a bit of young adult book tropes) but it was not a deal breaker. There were some parts that I simply loved (mostly related to worldbuilding).
Generally speaking it’s a simple story but it feels different due to experience being filtered through unconventional main character. And since in all the books he gets himself in situations with very different context it did not become repetitive. It was not perfect but sometimes I got this feeling of Murderbot being inhuman and I liked it.
I have no experience with serious anxiety but the parts where he experiences emotions and is surprised by this fact I found strangely relatable. That was unexpected
And a few bullet points to finish it off, I guess
I was annoyed by:
Anxiety issues getting better with exposure (I don’t think it works this way with people)
Main character being a godlike hacker
Some of the main character emotional stuff was a bit heavy-handed (see the part where he explains why he likes the show he likes).
This young adult book trope where main character does something questionable and later other characters apologize to him because they did not take it very well.
I really liked:
Implication that all sec units tend to be anxious and depressed and main character is not a special snowflake in this regard
I was afraid that Murderbot would discover that during his mass-murder incident he’d been actually protecting humans. It did not happen and I was pretty happy about that.
I liked that it was actually comfort units who were trying to save people in this incident
I like that main character does not want to become human.
Once more I’ve arbitrarily decided between some books and have placed them in this poll to decide what book #3 will be. If you do plan on participating I encourage you to vote, even if you feel you don’t have an opinion you can just vote for those you feel the most excited to read, or perhaps the ones you hate the least, it also lets me know how many people will be participating. Also, as usual, if you do not vote you can still join in the reading at any time.
The books in this poll are slightly lesser-known, at least they weren’t at all on my radar previous to me searching them out, compared to the other books I usually place in these polls, and that is for the ease of access since I know getting your hands on books can be difficult.
Personally, I have almost no proof of quality when it comes to Silver in the Wood, and Redshirts. However, I have slightly more faith in Shades of Magic (the only fault in that series is that only the first book was given away by Tor.com.) Meanwhile, we all know Murderbot, and Animal Farm is a cult classic that happens to be downloadable straight from Goodreads.
I look forward to the results, which will be officially released sometime this week. Happy reading
My vote goes against Redshirts. I’ve read it a while back and I was not impressed. I liked the premise but nothing interesting came out of it IMO. It was not awful but I did not find it especially funny and plot felt very bland and unimaginative beyond the original premise.
Book 3 has been decided, and it is “Rogue Protocol”
Now, if you haven’t read the first or second book in this series and want to join, just go ahead and start at the first one, and you’ll still be able to contribute to the conversation.
As always there is a decently long time until book 4 is decided, so feel free to read at your own pace and I’m sure you’ll finish in time.
As well as that, anyone can join in at any time, and obviously, leave at any time, the last thing I want this club to do is to limit your reading, or hinder your enjoyment of reading, so come and go as you please.
Once you’ve finished the book, feel free to post your thoughts and predictions on it, I always love to read them. Though make sure to mark for any spoilers
