Book Review: System Collapse by Martha Wells

System Collapse is the next novel installment in the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Walls coming immediately after Network Effect. Note that Fugitive Telemetry, which was released after Network Effect is more of a flashback novella rather than continuing the story chronologically. Here is the Goodreads blurb:

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.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Overall Impression

This is another fun novel featuring Murderbot and his friends. I like that it continues pretty much after the prior novel and further expands on the topics there. The plot is simple and fast-paced, though relatively short for a novel. 

Plot

The story picks up shortly after the events in Network Effect and it's another full-length novel, which is very welcome in the Murderbot universe. One of the interesting aspects is that while the usual stuff is going on with Murderbot safeguarding the various members of its crew, there are also mysteriously redacted elements in its memory. You can tell that something very wrong is going on with Murderbot, but not exactly what. It's a bit of a mystery even after it gets revealed, so you're left wondering how bad it may get. One neat aspect I loved is a bit of a plot element that touches on a surprising aspect of Murderbot's skills that we've not seen before. I'll not spoil it, but when it comes up you immediately recognize why Murderbot may be so good at it.

Characters

A lot of the cast of this novel is the same as in prior novels and novellas, so not much time needs to be spent introducing folks. Chief in the story is the SecUnit Murderbot, of course, but also ART and a handful of the humans including Iris, Ratthi, and Tarik. With Murderbot's seeming malfunction there is a bit more anxiety and stress going on in the characters and especially with Muderbot itself, which makes it seem even more humanlike (but don't tell it that).

Setting / World Building

This continues exploring the universe Wells has created with hyper-capitalist colonial corporations and the folks fighting against them. We're still around the world introduced in Network Effect and the characters have to deal with the ramifications of alien contamination and a large population of colonists that doesn't understand how the rest of the galaxy is going about. One interesting little tidbit is whether we will see more rogue SecUnits in the future. In the prior book, and reappearing here, we see one that SecUnit had helped free of its governor module. That seems to be establishing a precedent that could lead to some very intriguing places if allowed to continue.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a fun book, albeit a bit shorter than it's predecessor. It's still a fun ride with the usual cast of characters we've come to enjoy. A relatively simple plot with plenty of action and high-stakes moments and a recognizable setting with hints of more complexity in Murderbot's psyche. I recommend it for folks that are already reading the Muderbot Diaries at it continues its story.