I read the first Murderbot book, All Systems Red, with total and complete delight. In the future imagined by Martha Wells, SecUnits are security androids Company-supplied to keep humans on planetary missions safe and secure. They are cold, impersonal, and deadly, rigidly controlled by their owners with a governor module.

Except…the main character in Well’s multi-award winning series has hacked its governor module, has gone rogue, is now self-aware and autonomous. It thinks of itself as Murderbot, and it thinks of humans as, well, not all that bright. In All Systems Red, Murderbot is part of a disastrous mission that leaves many humans, and SecUnits, dead, and leaves Murderbot questioning its place in the universe.

Artificial Condition finds Murderbot on a quest of sorts, looking for answers, avoiding detection, and in the process becoming part of another deadly mission.

Artificial Condition is an exciting, fast-paced story that fires on all cylinders. But much like the first book, it’s so much more than that, because Wells has given Murderbot, who narrates the books in first person, an amazing voice. Equal parts questioning, sarcastic, funny, and self deprecating, Murderbot’s narration is a master-class in how to use voice in a way that both moves a story forward and lets you inside the character’s head in a sometimes surprisingly intimate way.

My TBR stack is annoyingly tall, but reading Artificial Condition has again reminded me that I need to regularly add some Murderbot to my life.