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Last night I just finished book seven in Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series called Fugitive Telemetry. The story is actually set between books five and six, but that doesn’t take anything away from the adventure.

SecUnit, otherwise known as “Murderbot,” is basically a cybernetic being, mostly machine with some organic parts. They (technically SecUnit has no gender but I always think of her as female for some reason) is a Security Unit designed to provide bodyguard and security protection for humans conducting dangerous off world activities. They are property and although capable of independent thought, are forbidden from independent action. There are consequences.

Our SecUnit managed to override their internal governor in the first book becoming an independent entity. Thanks to her former employers, who are from a very egalitarian space station orbiting a planet currently being terraformed, she (I keep saying “she”) has more rights than she knows what to do with.

She’s still providing protection for her employers and being paid, and along the way, is being introduced to more of her humanity.

She hates and fears most humans, doesn’t like talking to them, and doesn’t even like making eye contact (she uses her remote drones for that most of the time).

She’s sarcastic, insecure, neurotic, and (often unintentionally) funny. What’s not to love? I adore the rest of the series and this edition does not disappoint.

It’s basically a murder mystery. With all of SecUnit’s resources including the ability to hack into systems, onboard computers giving her a continually updated threat analysis of every situation, and a database of possible hazardous scenarios, she believes she has a better chance of solving the murder than her human counterparts on the station. She’s wrong but in an interesting way.

Very few humans have had direct interactions with a SecUnit. Most of their knowledge of them comes from fiction where they are almost always depicted as rogues and murderers. This means almost no one trusts her and initially, she was a prime suspect in the murder. Our SecUnit is still a rogue but doesn’t kill unless they have a good reason, like protecting their clients or themselves.

Oh, I should mention that she loves the futuristic equivalent of soap operas and would rather be viewing her downloaded store of shows than just about anything.

The tale is a fast read at about 168 pages. All of the Murderbot stories are extremely short, but here’s the rub. For their size, they are also pretty expensive.

For example at 168 pages (Amazon says 176), both the hardcover and paperback editions are $14.99. For comparison, the book by Jim Butcher I’ve just started reading The Olympian Affair: The Cinder Spires Book 2 is $17.99 for the hardcover and $19.00 for the paperback and you get 621 pages. That’s definitely a better deal than what the noodles at Tor, well Reactor are offering.

It’s not just me. Others have dinged the series in Amazon’s reviews for the same reason. I brought it up to Wells on X (formerly known as twitter) and she immediately blocked me. Go figure.

It’s a shame, because Wells is an excellent writer and the Murderbot stories are so much fun. But someone should tell Wells (I’m sure they have already) and Tor/Reactor that it’s not nice to rip off and piss off their fans.

Fortunately, I have a library card and I’m not afraid to use it.

Oh, New Scientist recently published an article called Sci-fi author Martha Wells on what a machine intelligence might want. Keep in mind there’s a big difference between writing about a sapient AI murderbot and understanding what real life artificial intelligence “wants,” assuming it has motivations that are anywhere in the neighborhood of being “human.”

Can’t read the entire article? Go to MSN.com.