The Artificial Condition is the second volume of Martha Wells' Murderbot series, and it's definitely better than the first one. I see why people love Murderbot, now – they, and their interaction with both humans and other bots, are bittersweet and relatable. In this second volume, Murderbot has to figure out what to do with their freedom, and they use it well – to examine their past, and work on ways to live their future. I enjoyed that while the protagonist is snarky, the snarkiness isn't overdone at all, and leaves spaces for cleverness, and vulnerability, and all kinds of connections to other people.

In Rogue Protocol, the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells continue to be enjoyable – it's lighter on the character building and action than the previous two volumes, and some ticks of our protagonist start to feel worn-out, but I still liked it! I read it when I was feeling tired, and down, and easy and fun (but never too easy, or too fun) books like these are the best thing next to hot chocolate for moods like that.

It's hard to judge All Systems Red on account of it being so short – it's fast-paced and engaging though, and I felt invested in the story. But after reading it, I was more interested in reading the next part and finding out more about the world and the protagonist – the whole book felt like it just provided a backdrop for the further series. As the series is generally well-liked though, I trust that things will pick up from here.

The (currently) last part of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells is aptly called Exit Strategy. I liked it, just as I liked all the Murderbot Diaries. It's not quite slice-of-life, but it's got a protagonist that dearly wishes to live in a slice-of-life novella instead. Think Rincewind, only here it's filled with competence and charming snark, and touching not-quite-humanity (we're still talking about a hybrid life form with dominant artificial intelligence!). Murderbot acts with human levels of procrastination and self-deception, super-human hacking and combat skills, and adorable coming-of-age behaviour in this novella: It disovers that its humans are in danger and need saving (yes, yes, this is the complete plot). Murderbot charms, and while it's a novella and I'm not sure the full book price is justified, I enjoyed reading it, I felt for the main character, and if the story wasn't terribly deep, or the language wasn't particularly overwhelming: so what.

Martha Wells is currently best known for her socially awkward Murderbot, and I wanted to see what she's up to when she's not writing robots. Well, let's just say that the protagonist of this series is a socially awkward outsider, shunned unless he tries to make himself into something as human-like as possible.