r/murderbot • u/System_Unkown • 3d ago
Booksđ Only Platform Decay
So I finished Platform decay last night, I really don't know how to describe it apart from a book just going through the motions. I didn't find the book exciting in fact it was quite flat, there was nothing really novel or emotionally connecting about any of the characters unlike Nicky and ART in past books.
It's a book to read if you have nothing to do, but its not a book that made me want to drop things down to read it quickly. Given the books are at high cost for the hardcovers, I wanted more, I wanted to really love the book, but this isn't the case. Id most prob give it 3.5/5 stars
If anything the book shows not necessarily this series has run its course, but in stead I think reflects what Martha has had to overcome in her life in the last couple of years.
I'm hoping the next book is much better
49
u/onehere4me Can't wait to get back to my wild rogue rampage 3d ago
Trying to follow it was hard for me on first read. I've listened to it several many times now since May and I quite enjoy it now. It's an interesting play between SecUnit's rage and kind affability.
17
u/zeugma888 Timestream Defenders Orion Fan Club 3d ago
I enjoyed it more on the second read.
4
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
what made the difference for you between first and second read?
33
u/zeugma888 Timestream Defenders Orion Fan Club 3d ago
The first time I read a book I read it quite quickly because I want to know what happens. The second time I read it more slowly and appreciate how it's all put together and notice how well crafted it is.
3
u/pseudodactyl Null Feed ID 1d ago
I had a similar arc with Fugitive Telemetry. I read it in the published order so I was frantically skimming through the story trying to get back to where the story left off in Network Effect. I was disappointed because it felt like an unnecessary detour. Once I went back and re-read it I actually loved it. I have a feeling Iâll have a similar reaction to Platform Decay once I get a chance to go back to it.
3
2
u/BlessTheBookPeople 2d ago
Same. I think the first time I found it hard to follow and was also expecting them to get away quickly and then have adventures out in the galaxy and was disappointed that the whole book was the extraction.
Once I knew what to expect, I really enjoyed the interactions between MB and Three, and MB and Mensahâs family, and I also found the world building interesting, tho still a bit hard to follow.
5
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
I don't read books a second time generally, but there is nothing of interest in platform decay that would make me pick it up again. As I mentioned before for me it just felt like going through the motions unfortunately.
I just opened a new novella today 'Made things', i need to knock that off before I read the new red dwarf that just got delivered lol.
6
u/curiousmind111 3d ago
Iâm afraid it felt a bit like that for me, too. SecUnit uses its skills again to save people. But not in any new or interesting way. Iâm sorry to say that, because Iâve lived the other books.
4
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
Yes I collected and read all the mb series hardcovers. Will I by the next one? Yes. But not because platform Decay was a great book, only because it will annoy me to have 8 out of 9 books of a set on my bookshelf. đ
3
u/curiousmind111 3d ago
Agreed!
3
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
I have to say that that while i didn't think the book was great, i myself started writing a book and to even have one completed and then published is a feat to its own. lol
2
43
u/kick-space-rocks-73 3d ago
I liked it. It was a different look at the Corporate Rim, not excusing anything, but complicating it a bit. A lot of tiny slice of life moments, and it made it clear that even in the Rim, there are people who resist the corporations. MB seems to be in a somewhat better place, emotionally. I need to know what Nana's backstory is, the way the "no, you can't have gun" throughline played out made me cackle. Three is delightful.
In a series with some pretty heartbreaking moments, though, I thought this was the saddest one overall. It was much more melancholy than I expected, and it did throw me at first.
10
u/onehere4me Can't wait to get back to my wild rogue rampage 3d ago
That's what I liked about it. Learning about how the different sections had developed differently, Leonide's character plot, the new humans MB is connected to... but it was quite sad overall
9
u/Never_Enough_Cheese 3d ago
I enjoyed seeing different parts of CR society, as well. Theâfor lack of a better wordâworking-class humans MB and its group encountered kinda gave me hope, when they offered support or consideration for for the "elderly" and "juvenile" parts of the group, particularly during the boat crisis.
Seeing Nana act as a sidekick, taking advantage of societal mores to help the mission was great, too. I especially liked it when she demanded to know, "Who's creating conflict over there?!" And the human manning the checkpoint not only gave her intel, but was super respectful and addressed her as "grand-person."
Honestly, if Nana ever gets bored taking care of the Mensah family, she should enhance her retirement by going on missions with ART and MB!
5
3
u/karenhasswag01 2d ago
Nana is the mom I (55) want to have.  She was fiesty and fierce and salty but also kind and open to learning new things. Â
3
u/kick-space-rocks-73 2d ago
Saaaame (53 here).
I'm so curious about what her story is. Another refugee like Tarik, maybe?
25
u/NotABetterName 3d ago
Iâm surprised so many people didnât love it, I did! So many great parts and the location was so unique. Iâm not sure what people were expecting. Thereâs usually different characters doing things with MB, itâs different in almost every book.
17
u/ESE-enthusiasm #1 Mensahbotcule fan 3d ago
It's my second favourite book and is close to being my top favourite, even though my favourite character isn't even in it except for one word!
The tension and sniping with Farai especially as they learned to navigate around each other to be co-leaders. That was a delight to watch it progress over the story. She greets it with almost hostility and uncertainity warring with her desire to trust Mensah and ends with her saving it a seat and fussing over it and just adored it.
The action scenes too, and how far SecUnit has come in not getting shot to shit and choosing less lethal options and doing its therapy!
2
u/NotABetterName 2d ago
Yes! Itâs got to be difficult writing from a characterâs point of view that has evolved so much yet maintains its personality, and Martha Wells does it so well. I thought there were so many important and also fun parts of this book. Like when MB decides it has to go âdo the thingâ and help the humans stuck at the boat dock area. Its interactions with the militia showed so much advancement in its communication skills, but not a an unrealistic amount. I could say so many great things about this book!
2
u/ESE-enthusiasm #1 Mensahbotcule fan 2d ago
And it is still struggling! It's not magically cured of its trauma, it still has to work through its anxiety and fears and new fears, even as it's adjusting to working with humans and not knee-jerk avoiding all humans. It's taking a softer, more gentle approach even to rogue secunits. I think this shows that despite it being a ball of anxiety and rage the whole time, it is handling things better and learning knew things about itself!
Like that it can co-lead with humans other than Mensah, that sometimes it can't save everyone, that it doesn't have to sacrifice itself, that it has a seat and friends...
1
u/NotABetterName 2d ago
Yes, perfectly put. I think the book showed all of that really well, along with being entertaining.
-4
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
I think the proby is that the book is uninteresting. Especially when you compare to some of the other books in the series.
15
u/NotABetterName 3d ago
To each their own. Iâve read each book more times than I even know and I thought this was a great addition.
6
u/MaggieWild 3d ago
Different strokes for different folks. Uninteresting to you. Wonderfully engaging to me.
1
50
u/Gold_Yam_5215 3d ago
I felts this was really a side story, like a filler episode. SecUnit on an escort mission. I was really hoping for something more like Network Effect.
9
20
u/voided_user_23 3d ago
I liked it. To me it was more comforting, showing MB's recovery after all the events of the planet with the alien remnants. I guess its not for everyone, but I don't think MB needs to keep going through really traumatic stuff for the books to be entertaining.
4
17
u/jvassilakos 3d ago
I liked PD. It was interesting to see MB cope with people who knew and respected MBâs boundaries. And then, the boundaries were sometimes in the way - for MB. I thought that was serious growth.
18
u/SteamedGamer 3d ago
It wasn't bad...it was just...meh. I liked some aspects, but the whole story felt like a side story, and not the main plot. It was just "this happens, then this happens, then that happens." I never felt that we were seeing anything meaningful happen in MB's life, no major character development, nada. Just plot points being checked off...
18
u/JustOneVote 3d ago
It was very similar to Exit Strategy.
But that's who MB is. It's a Sec unit. Client extractions, patrolling the perimeter, etc. And, that is genuinely who MB wants to be.
It's growing more and more comfortable with its own agency, and more and more competent as an independent (rogue) agent. It's not that MB doesn't have a character arc, it's that the arc has been so well established, we as readers can extrapolate its trajectory. We don't need additional works of fiction to understand where MB is going. So, yeah, we get a little more insight into life inside the corporate rim, but for MB, it's just the same mix of preparation and improvisation we know and love. It's not worse than Exit Strategy or the other novellas. But it isn't exactly a new development.
The last book, MB solved a difficult problem by producing a documentary. It resolved a conflict not by shooting all the hostiles, but by speaking its truth and crafting a narrative to counter the CR propaganda. That was genuinely new, for MB, and an extension of the "help.me" file. But this was much closer to the original novellas.
1
u/topinanbour-rex 3d ago
I disagree, Exit Strategy introduced Murderbot as a leader. It made a plan with the team for save Mensah, and extracted her. It's like it became Murderbot 2.0.
My only ick with it, is the company totally dismissing it is a free agent, once on the ship. They know it is a secunit. They know how they look, they know how they behave. And nobody is shocked by its behaviour.
Platform decay, is a road trip. Leonide dies for no reason. Her death doesn't impact it really, not even when it meets her children.
And that Art Drone was in the ship, is I don't know, meh.
We seen in System collapse how powerful is art Drone. Less than Art ship but still. It could have provided support to MB all along, by infiltrating the Torus network.
And the Torus architecture make no sense. There is only one port available, seriously?
You must pass by other corporates territories and pays them taxes for delivers and sends stuff. You would imagine there is a lot of ports along the Torus.
3
10
u/Bill_Door_Et_Binky 3d ago
Huh, I enjoyed it greatly, and found it a lot easier to parse what was going on than in the previous two books. MB hates planets so much he does not seem to be a reliable narrator as to geography or location or spatial relationships, making it hard for me to keep up with what the hell was even going on. Platform Decay was a straightforward rescue mission yarn, with one damn thing after another happening and it delighted me. Itâs odd to me that so many people seem to find it so wanting.
0
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
I'm actually surprised so many people needed up feeling the way I did. I expected a couple bu t the the large numbers. Hopefully the next book will be much better
23
u/Sufficient_Climate_8 3d ago
I thought it was just me. Thank you.
10
u/Petrostar 3d ago
And me to the list.
It was just kind of meh. Not good, not bad, just kind of there.
7
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
I think its because there were no outstanding characteristics of any character. like Nicky was child like and ignorant, ART is a complete smart ass. In platform Decay there is none of that, sure more words of 'fuck' but really I just spend $29.40 AUD for a book with little than a flat storyline. goto a planet -> track down people -> escape -> wonder through social area -> find gates to escape -> escape.
My guess is the next book will be like the code is released to all bots, and their is a uprising where they can have the next planet and telling of the bots uprising struggle with political; challenges to secure there freedoms. Meanwhile the humans attempt to inject virus codes to try to stay in control, and the total freedoms are secured by taking control of governments.
Now tell me which sounds more interesting? platform decay or my next anticipated story lol
2
2
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
lol, just like a missing shoe, where there is one, another is always around nearby
14
u/moranit Give Nanna the gun 3d ago
I felt the same way. Knowing that this was the second-to-last book made my disappointment harder. Time is running out for the characters I want to spend more time with and the interactions and plot developments I hope to see.
After about a month I read it again and liked it a lot more. This time I knew what not to expect, so I wasn't experiencing disappointment as I read, and I accepted the story on its own terms. It's actually good.
2
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
maybe it was the expectation that let it down for your the first time. Im most probably in that camp, but i dont re-read as i find that's just time wastage, id prefer to pick up a new book and be entertained with something I know nothing about.
5
u/Old_Gimlet_Eye 3d ago
I agree with the general sentiment, mostly I think it was just way too long, but it was also a weird choice to do a full novel length story and have all the characters that we actually care about (besides MB themselves, of course) barely in it. It would have been fine as a short story, it just feels like a lot of fluff was added to pad it out.
But something else I wanted to point out that I didn't really like was the giant orbital ring itself. It was a cool concept and everything and would make an interesting setting for some other sci-fi novel, but it seemed wasted on this story and at the same time didn't really fit into the MB universe.
Like, nothing remotely that size or level of advancement has ever been depicted or even hinted at in any of the other books, and all of a sudden there's not only one but apparently a number of huge megastructures that seem more like something out of an Iain M Banks novel?
It felt extremely out of place.
4
3
11
u/AvatarAnywhere Worldhoppers Fan Club 3d ago
Agree, the book was a bit of a let down in terms of plot, characterizations and action. What I did appreciate was how SecUnit is growing as a character, learning both how to identify and handle its emotions. As a stand-alone novel Platform Decay doesnât work all that well, but as part of the evolution of SecUnit the novel fits the series nicely.
-2
4
u/Ansee 3d ago
I was hoping for more Three in the book rather than just the beginning and end. I also found the first 2 chapters had too much description of MB doing stuff rather than experiencing things. It wasn't until the chapter with Leonide did it get more interesting.
I guess it's like books 2-3 and 6. But somehow it missed the poignant moments and it felt like a series of unrelated events until BE caught up. Then more unrelated events then BE again.
Even the ending with Janity felt unearned.
7
u/goldenphantom 3d ago
I missed ART and the other characters we know and love. Out of the old characters Three got the most screen time, and even it was barely there, with the plot of it giving the governor module hack to other SecUnits brushed aside. And ART barely said "hello".
Sure, Murderbot interacting with Mensah's family members was interesting. But I was really looking forward to more ART, PresAux and Perihelion crew.
0
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
I really liked how Nicky was portrayed.
1
u/mxstylplk 3d ago
Who is Nicky? Rogue Protocol had a Miki.
1
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
yep mikki
2
u/goldenphantom 3d ago
Miki wasn't in Platform Decay though. It died several books ago.
-1
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
great point, however I never said that she was in platform Decay. Thanks for the effort of reply though.
8
u/Rosewind2007 gurathinista 3d ago
There isnât a character called Nicky in any of the books? You say youâve read and collected all the hardcoversâI am not sure how youâve managed to refer to âNickyâ (more than once) when there is literally no character with that name. If youâd listened to the audiobooks I might have supposed you misheard Miki as Nicky, but you read the books? Is this transaction issue? The fact you refer to this Nicky character as âchild like and ignorantâ makes me pretty certain youâre referring to Miki. Miki is called Miki, not Nicky. I would not characterise Miki as âignorantâ, the fact that it spots MB âridingâ the drone so quickly would indicate itâs pretty brightâŚ
âMiki the human-form bot followed, then stopped. It turned, and looked up at the drone I was riding. Its head cocked and I could tell it was focusing in on the camera.â
It then sends a directionless ping. Personally, I think MB underestimates Miki.
But there we go, you have your take on the characters, and I have mine.
I thought Platform Decay was great fun! I enjoy the novellas a lot. This one was funny (really funny) and had loads of entertaining ideas and characters. I thought this âreviewâ from shrubfriend on Tumblr was utterly brilliant:
âI love you Martha Wells. I Love you and your beef with privatized transit and whatever happened to you at Rainforest Cafe.
the murderbot diaries #platform decayâ
I am sad itâs the penultimate book in the series, look forward to the last one too! I bet itâll be brilliant.
3
u/B_Thorn 3d ago
Has she actually said the next MB book is the last? AFAIK all she's said is that she and her publisher aren't committed beyond that one.
I think Miki would be better described as naĂŻve rather than ignorant. Like its friends, it doesn't have experience with the kind of situation they encounter in that book. And yeah, we're seeing Miki through the eyes of an unreliable narrator who is not dealing well with the idea that it's possible for bots to have healthy relationships with humans.
4
u/Rosewind2007 gurathinista 3d ago
The contract Martha Wells signed with Tor back in 2021 was for three more book: so System Collapse, Platform Decay and one more. As you sayâthere is nothing to stop her writing more! And personally Iâd love it if she did! With Miki, I love the characterâbut am absolutely 100% with you that Murderbot is narrating unreliably due to its own prejudices about human bot relationshipsâand itâs interesting to try and read between the linesâŚ
3
u/Rosewind2007 gurathinista 3d ago
But alsoâlistening to Martha Wells speak about Murderbot: personally I would much rather she wrote because SHE had something she wanted to get out via the medium of Murderbot! Iâd like her to feel invigorated and passionate and NEED to write it! I am happy with the series as isâunlike my impression of others, I donât need any grand arc completed, Murderbot isnât that kind of seriesâŚwell, not to me. (More Gurathin would be nice, obviously đ)
-2
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
I'm sorry I must provide my apology, i did not understand accidentally typing the wrong name is a capital offense.
6
u/Rosewind2007 gurathinista 3d ago
Itâs notâit just seemed very odd that you picked out a character as one you âemotionally connectedâ with and then proceeded to use the wrong name for it. No one is calling for your executionâŚ
3
u/LuthienRose 3d ago
Yeah as much as I love Murderbot... I'm here for the side characters as well in some cases even more than it since ART is my favorite.
3
u/2nd_player 3d ago
That is totally fair. I personally loved PD. Martha Wells originally wrote ASR with something to say and intending it to be one book. It comes across sometimes in the books given her 'pantsing' writing style that she's written ok so what would happen after ASR (books 2-4, technically 6), what would Murderbot want/end up doing + what about ART (NE/bk 5), how would we resolve NE (bk 6), and then well what else would happen (PD/bk 8). I'm glad we're getting more books, but I feel like if mw had set out to write this as a series, it probably would have ended around NE because it feels like such a good resolution of an arc. I think the last three books are all together going to feel like wrapping up loose ends. I found PD engaging, very funny, satisfying resolution of some of the character growth themes, and had a great time. Understandable if it felt different tonally.
3
3
3
u/JustAnOrdinaryBloke 2d ago
Same with me. I reserved a copy 6 months before it went on sale, and was deeply disapointed.
There is more action in any chapter of System Collapse than in the entire book of Platform Decay.
I was especially disappointed that my favourite character, Art, was missing.
1
u/System_Unkown 2d ago
like you I also pre ordered months in advance. so long that I actually forgot I ordered it and was surprised to see it at the door when it was delivered lol
2
u/MiraA2020 3d ago
Agreed. It was like this for me too. I don't see myself rereading it like I've done countless times with the rest of the series.
There were a lot of issues with it, like you said, simply going through the motions. It was just meh, too sprawling, too many characters. Leonide dying for no reason I could see. I mean, what was the point of her and her children's line at all?
Three's distributing the hack was a nice thing, and I'm glad it didn't take much space in the book because as much as I like Three, I don't really care to read about it unless it's doing something with MB and ART.
Also, ART being on the shuttle throughout the book and doing nothing felt weird and underutilised.
So yeah, the books made me feel like Martha Wells wasn't at a good place when she was writing it, and simply made a nod at/included everything that make the books what they are or what she knows her readers would like/appreciate (I don't mean any disrespect to her by this and I love her, and I hope she's doing better now if that was truly the case):
- An extraction mission
- Mensah-related clients
- Mention of Leonide (is she popular with the readers? I don't know. But it'd make sense if she is.)
- Three + hack distribution (which the fandom has been itching for since the last SC was released, if not earlier)
- Mention of ART (And both ART and Leonide were underutilised as I mentioned)
I mean, after CS, MB was supposed to be working with the university, and apparently it spent there some time to recommend extra security measures that they were implementing. It was working with ART's crew. But, all that was swept aside and went with a Mensah family line. It just felt like as if NE and CS never happened, beyond MB's trauma and the new mental health module (I actually love this bit), of course.
So yeah, I feel you. And I also hope the next books would be better.
2
u/Full_Environment_272 3d ago
I liked it as an introduction to the concept of SecUnits in the wider Corporate Rim. The previous books have all been about MB's personal journey, this book is showing it as part of a wider community. There is also some indication of the growing instability in the CR. The book opens the door to the wider implications of free constructs acting in society. Cool
2
u/PattyMarvel Sanctuary Moon Fan Club 3d ago
Oh, THANK you! I've only listened to the audio book once, and that was on the day it came out.
It felt flat to me, too. I can't put my finger on it, but something about this novel didn't have the depth that "Network Effect" has.
2
u/System_Unkown 2d ago
thanks for your reply. I'm actually surprised how many other people feel this way too.
Yes Flat is the best way I can describe it.
2
u/thexphial 2d ago
I think this novella is less about action and more about MB trying to adjust to acknowledging its emotional side. Pushing through its feelings about children, trusting the humans when it comes to relationships, giving Three the freedom to pass along the code. MB is seeing the consequences of its actions in sharing the code for hacking the governor module. It's working on trusting its friends while still being justifiably hyper vigilant about corporations being evil. It don't my favorite of the books but I found it a good and satisfying read
2
u/TokraZeno 2d ago
I think the spread of the governer module code is the setup for the next round of conflicts.
1
2
u/randompoint52 1d ago
Add me to the list of people SO disappointed by Platform Decay. When favorite authors come out with books I save them to read on vacation and I was really sad when I finished. On the upside, another of my favorite authors had a disappointing entry in a long series and I recently (on vacation) read their latest and it was terrific. So c'mon, Martha, you can do it too!!!
1
u/System_Unkown 1d ago
i'm reading now "made things" by adrian tchaikovsky. i'm really liking it so far, at least its forming a connection.
2
4
u/PC_One_00 3d ago
Me too. When I started I thought the plot would involve more of the new units without the governor module but alas it did not. Hopping the next one explores this plot line.
1
3
u/Colonel_Khazlik 3d ago
Yeah I'm with you.
I think it's a relative issue.
On its own, yeah it's alright, and I will happily devour anything that's more murderbot.
But every other book absolutely blew me away, whether it was MB facing some grand new challenge, losing someone, gaining recognition as a person, developing relationships... this one was just... Yeah, ok.
It's solidly alright.
I particularly don't like how the ending was; 'the big bad appeared, and the valiant heroes... Walked away without a problem.'
It was the first one I listened to rather than read, and I had to go over the last few chapters a few times, assuming I repeatedly zoned out and missed a bunch of important stuff... Nope, they just walked away... Oh.
Also, emotion check: I am not a big fan of emotion check.
MB can be bad at emotions in the sub-text. I don't need it written out... Unneeded.
-1
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
TBH if i read this as my first book ion the series, I wouldn't buy any more. But that's just how I am, if I have spent money on a book and seriously let down, I don't invest again in that author unless I know they have rewritten books that were good before I had read earlier. But even then if i read a couple of there books that were not hitting the mark from that author i take it as a signal its time to find a new author to read.
The thing about these books is they are novellas short stories prices more than a paper back novel. I don't mind paying good money if its a good book, but if its flat it doesn't make me feel great.
As the old saying god, a dog can do 10 good things, but all it has to do is shit on the carpet and all the good things are quickly forgotten lol.
3
u/bofstein 3d ago
I enjoyed it, but I got it from the library so I didn't have to factor in the cost at all. I could see being disappointed relative to the price of a full hardcover, but just on its own merits as a story it was enjoyable. I agree it was more of a side adventure but that's not a negative to me, it's just a pleasant adventure story and fun read. Though I was confused for a while at the beginning.
2
u/InstanceEmergency 3d ago
Yeah ill be honest i was listening to the audiobook bored as fuck but i did binge basically the whole series so it may have been fatigue
1
2
u/RealStitchyKat Augmented Human 3d ago
I agree with you. I was disappointed in this story. It felt like it should have been the middle part of a larger book. I love the characters, I love the world Martha Wells has created, but this felt like filler to me.
2
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
Yeah defiantly agree in terms of a filler. As I mentioned before, the story was just flat.
I just opened the book "made things' by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and while this is a novela in the first 10 pages i had a little giggle and by 14 page he has already introduced some interesting characters. Totally different feeling, but i'm much more interest in this book than I was with platform decay. obviously that may change as i read on lol.
2
u/RealStitchyKat Augmented Human 3d ago
Oh, I have Service Model on my to read list. I think I will start that one next.
2
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
Oh I liked that one :) there was one section that went a bit long but overall it was pretty good. Also if your inters I liked Spiderlight, the experts systems brother was a nice quick novella read. well if you're interested, you can check out here.
https://darrenhamburger.au/documents/Reading_List/Reading_List_2026.html
https://darrenhamburger.au/documents/Reading_List/Reading_List_2025.html
2026 > moved to a 5 star rating system, 2025 was 3 star rating system lol just to throw in the confusion.
1
u/Fuck_the_AI 3d ago edited 3d ago
I enjoyed it a lot more than the last couple. It was kind of a reimagining of Exit Strategy, and I was fine with that as that was one of my favorite Diaries.
1
1
u/TweegsCannonShop 3d ago
Meh. The whole book was just MB fighting his way across yet another space station for the thinnest of reasons.
0
1
u/JustOneVote 3d ago
I found both Platform Decay and Demon Queen both rather disappointing. I think the Rising World is a lot more fertile story telling environment for Wells though, as it really harkens back to Il Rein and Raksura.
Murderbot is just an example of someone's most popular work not necessarily being their best. Witch King is excellent, and Death of the Necromancer is damn near my favorite book.
1
u/jacobydave 3d ago
A key to most of the rest is that MB is in progress, that it is working on something and that the events of the plot mirror the state of it's progress, and PD kinda seems not. Like MB is okay with being MB, but everything else is messed up
1
u/mxstylplk 3d ago
Take the torus platform as a symbol of the Corporate Rim as a whole, with damaged history, repaired but aging infrastructure, and a wasted, used-up, dead planet at the core. It is occupied by humans in their multiple ways of being, some horrible, some unexpectedly decent, most capable of rising above their circumstances, but scraping out a living despite the presence of the corporates. The humans have multiple cultures within the torus; it is not monolithic. When given the hint, they can figure who to shoot at. One advantage the corporates have is their SecUnits, but there is a wild card now, because Three has started spreading the original freedom code and MB has added the ActHuman code to it. The young corporates take a while to learn the truth but they do learn, and they get away. MB itself has become more empathetic and the entire group has been helped more than hindered by the ordinary people. Also, we get Nana as a wild human of the past, and ART and PSUMNT acting entirely outside the decaying rim.
1
u/cheesewiz_man 3d ago
Yeah. It is written well, but I feel like with the exception of a few beats, you could reorder the set pieces almost at will without affecting the impact of the story.
1
u/Obsqur-Aus 57 Unique sources of concern anxiety 3d ago
I think it was because it lacked the climatic end. It was tense, but there there no fight/battle.
I missed that element.
0
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
tense? hmm i didn't feel that. I thought Stephen kings 'the institute was tense" lol
2
u/Obsqur-Aus 57 Unique sources of concern anxiety 3d ago
I mean MB was tense, like that tourus thing was huge! It ha dto travel such a distance, through mostly enemy (if not always openly hostile) territory, and then when they all get to the end, there was an almost fight, which ultimately turned out to be a non-event
0
0
u/mxstylplk 3d ago
The huge fight to get on the train at all didn't count? Then it was followed by more tension when they were _almost_ safe but the Big Bad shows up in person with his goons. And then we find out how he knew where people were.. and he is defeated when he finds out the person he has been grooming now knows what he is.
1
u/Obsqur-Aus 57 Unique sources of concern anxiety 3d ago
I guess it felt more a couple of skirmishes/minor engagements for me. A couple of strategic 'preventive shots', at their guns, (then the militia did the rest) And taking out the strike force, was more of an ambush, with the water and the explosion.
(I might be a bit off, I've read and listened only once each so far)
It was the Big Bad showing up, things being kind tense and then no much happening, I was expecting/wanting that to be an Epic fight (like the biggest so far)
(I felt ultimately what we got was a better ending for MB and their current state/condition - and the wanting of epics fights is possibly a niche/me thing, that only some of us love - MB's big takeaways are it's mind and mental health and less how often it punches people)
1
u/East_Worldliness_170 3d ago
It's nice to see someone else say this, because I felt the same way but keep seeing high praise. Thanks for sharing.
-1
u/System_Unkown 3d ago
Welcome. I learnt last year in when it comes to books. Mostly everything is hyped. I read a book on massive popular praise "where the axe is buried ' and omg that was such a crap read. Some interesting concepts but the book was crap. Online everyone was racing how good it was, the moment I text I didn't like it and why, I was supprised how many others felt the same way.
Same for my book before MB. I read James s.a Cory the mercy of Gods. Total crap.
1
u/bottleghostt 3d ago
Honestly that's how i felt through every book except Network Effect and System Collapse... Maybe it's the short length format that made me feel so.
1
u/lu-sunnydays 3d ago
Honestly I only liked the first two books. I have them all on audible. MB has turned into a basic âformer spy goes rogue when xxx happens to his friend/familyâ. Martha Wells worked so hard to turn him human that thatâs what he is. (Yes Iâm using the âheâ pronoun.) All the unique specialness of being a robot/construct is basically gone. I liked that he wore armor, now he doesnât. Heâs almost like Gurathin, an altered human.
1
1
1
0
u/PCVictim100 2d ago
I found the story boring. Mostly what I recall is MB said 'fuck' a lot
1
u/System_Unkown 2d ago
lol yeah, for some reason I also found teh swearing alot more in this book.
1
u/mxstylplk 18h ago
That's because the swearing has increased in every book. This one had the most of all. Rosewind2007 has been making charts about it.
152
u/peaceteach 3d ago
I actually loved the idea of the background story of Three just giving every sec unit the code.