Hermetic Library Fellow T Polyphilus reviews Rogue Protocol [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library] by Martha Wells, part of the Murderbot Diaries series.

In this installment of its diaries, Murderbot continues to provide evidence that its vocation isn’t really dependent on its governor module. This third repetition of the series’ charm seems to demonstrate the entrenchment of a formula, except for the pivot promised in the penultimate paragraph (pardon the passel of plosives). As at the finish of the previous book, the “conclusion” to this one implied a discovery by Murderbot not yet shared with the reader–and the earlier one has been deferred as well. Call it a protracted epistemological cliffhanger?

Of the three books so far, this slightly longer one had pacing most like a Hollywood movie, complete with a bunch of explosions, double-crosses, and a heroic sacrifice. But of course it relied on the characterization and setting established in the previous volumes, and I can hardly imagine how most of this would be communicated cinematically, since the multiplex inhuman sensorium of the construct is one of the important ingredients of the narrative.

I’m still enjoying the series, but it needs to break form in the next book to keep my attention.