Everyone’s favourite media obsessed rogue SecUnit, Murderbot, is back in form with Fugitive Telemetry. In this latest installment of the Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells continues to give readers action-packed adventures with the most human non-human character in science fiction today.
There is a dead body on Preservation Station and Murderbot is going to have to work with the humans to solve the mystery. While Murderbot is not happy about it’s new situation, it needs to find a way to overcome it’s dislike of the slow thinking humans (seriously, how are humans so slow?) and determine whether this murder has anything to do with GreyCris or if something more foul is afoot.
In terms that I think Murderbot would appreciate, Fugitive Telemetry feels a bit like a filler episode on a TV series. Now, sometimes filler episodes don’t add much to the overall story, but this is Martha Wells we are talking about and she really nails it when it comes to Murderbot. Reading this was akin to watching a murder mystery procedural TV episode. We’ve got a dead body, some incompetent police types, and the gruff investigator who will definitely solve the murder but would rather be doing something else instead. For Murderbot, the something else would be watching media, but it knows that helping the humans will go a long way in making it’s existence easier.
There is something in the way that Wells writes the Murderbot Diaries that fits perfectly in the novella space, but never lacks the world and character building you’d get from a 500+ page space opera. I’ve talked to readers who tend to say they don’t want to read novellas because they don’t feel like it’s a whole story. When I’m faced with this attitude, I immediately recommend the Murderbot Diaries. As evident in Fugitive Telemetry, and all previous Murderbot novellas, Wells excels in deep storytelling, all in under 200 pages.
The main misstep in Fugitive Telemetry is it’s place in the Murderbot timeline. Set between Exit Strategy and Network Effect, it feels a bit like a regression. Since it’s not explicitly stated that this sixth entry is actually set between the 4th and 5th books, some readers will be a bit thrown off at first (it’s me, I’m some readers). Readers will have to bring themselves back a bit in terms of what they know about Murderbot and the things it has experienced, which feels a bit odd to do. After finishing this, one can’t help but wish it had been published in sequential order.
Timeline issues aside, Fugitive Telemetry is peak Murderbot content. There is no lack of snarky internal dialogue from our favourite SecUnit and the murder mystery aspect of the story serves to accentuate Murderbot’s amusing annoyance with the human race. And whether it wants to or not, Murderbot is always growing and learning, which brings a level of character development that could be missing in a lesser story.
Fugitive Telemetry is a great entry into the Murderbot Diaries and is sure to please long-time readers. If you are looking for a sci-fi series that won’t overwhelm you and will make you smile with sardonic glee, look no further than the Murderbot Diaries novellas.
Fugitive Telemetry is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of April 27th 2021.
Will you be picking up Fugitive Telemetry? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.
When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)
Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!
Again!
Yes, have picked it up and read it. Didn’t realize until I’d finished where it was in the timeline (I’m some readers, too); if I had, I’d have read it in timeline order when I re-read the rest of the books in preparation for reading this one. Now I want the sequel to Exit Strategy.