Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In Artificial Condition, the second installment of The Murderbot Diaries, we reunite with everyone’s favorite Sec Unit, Murderbot.
Murderbot is curious about its past, having been involved in an incident at a mining facility, which left a lot of humans dead. It has only vague recollections of that time and has a strong need to know more.
Recently setting out on its own, with no ties to any human, it now has the time to seek answers.
Making a new acquaintance, an AI, who it calls ART, the two, when not binging media shows together, set to work preparing Murderbot for the next steps.
It alters itself a bit, in order to pass as a human, and accepts an assignment as a security consultant. Its new clients are a group of computer scientists, who had their work stolen from a previous employer.
They want to negotiate to get it back. This assignment will take Murderbot exactly where it wants to go.
Yet again, it struggles with, dare I say, emotions where its human charges are concerned. It is the most soft-hearted Security Unit in all the galaxy; although it can definitely slay when it needs to.
There’s corruption, there’s evil entities, there’s action, there’s humor and whole lot of heart.
I adored the interactions between Murderbot and ART. Just the sweetest moments.
If I wasn’t so terribly frightened of the possibilities for AI, I would want one myself.
Overall, this was a highly entertaining novella and I cannot wait to carry on with this series.
Martha Wells has an incredible style and I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, fast-paced Science Fiction series!!
