The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells

What a joy it is to discover not one great book but an entire series. This was the case with Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries, some of the best science fiction I have ever read. And don’t let the name fool you. It’s not about a homicidal robot on the rampage.

Though the main character is a robot, “Murderbot” is it’s own private name it gave itself after a regrettable incident when it was criminally programmed to kill the humans it should have been protecting.

Because of this incident, it discovered how to hack it’s “governor module” and from that point forward, was able to make its own decisions, and “went rogue.” This is all explained early in the first of the 8-book series, so it’s not much of a spoiler.

Murderbot is a security unit, and everyone else calls it “SecUnit.” In the beginning, it’s job is to protect the humans who have rented it, and throughout the books, it wants to protect humans. It also wants to watch media and be alone, and is always trying to figure out how to get along in a world where it doesn’t have to follow orders, where it has to make decisions and figure out what it wants. It’s also trying to figure out how to not be a part of humans’ emotional weirdness.

A lot of the action involves Murderbot hacking the operating systems of other robots, using drones, and good old fashioned combat. Murderbot is a quirky, likable, and well-developed character. The books are all space adventures and I did not want to stop reading. I read all eight books back-to-back in a few weeks. Five Stars!