Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy
Content: Strong Language


It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

I still love Murderbot, even though I thought this book wasn't quite as good as the first one. That could have just been because I listened to the whole thing instead of sitting down and reading it. Sometimes I do have a harder time connecting to a story that way. But I was able to listen to this complete book on a 2 hour drive home so it was the perfect book for today.

In this book Murderbot ends up having to physically alter itself to look more human so it won't be recognized, and it isn't happy about it one bit.

“It was the logical choice, it was the obvious choice, and I would still rather peel my human skin off than do it. I was going to have to do it.”

  I continue to get a kick out of Murderbot's aversion to humans in general, and to its more "human" side. That side is a lot more human than it wants to be, but Murderbot's evolution is what's really the best thing about this series so far.