Martha Wells’s Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, The Murderbot Diaries, comes to a thrilling conclusion in Exit Strategy. Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right? Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous … galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah–its former owner (protector? friend?)–submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.
But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?
And what will become of it when it’s caught?
“I love Murderbot!” –Ann Leckie
The Murderbot Diaries
#1 All Systems Red
#2 Artificial Condition
#3 Rogue Protocol
#4 Exit Strategy
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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Loved loved loved this book! The fourth in the series, #4 ties up the arc in beautiful, unexpected and wholly satisfying ways. The relationship between Murderbot and Musa is amazingly rich in so many ways – and also defies traditional explanation. Murderbot has no gender or sexuality, but this relationship becomes almost a romance, in the best sapiosexual definition. They become friends, and so the story illuminates the nature of friendship as well as of humanity. As the title implies, it’s also about extracting people from a dangerous situation and the intelligent strategizing is terrific.
This is a wonderful conclusion to the series arc. I’m both happy to leave the story there and also secretly hoping for more. Highly recommend.
So that thing that Murderbot did in the last book? Apparently it upset the Big Evil Corporation. Oops. Not the Murderbot cares.
But then Big Evil Corp decides to kidnap Murderbot’s favorite humans, and threatens to kill them.
OK, now Murderbot cares. In fact, it’s pissed.
Yup. Gonna recommend this whole damn series. Read my review on the first one. It applies to all of them.
This right here is why I love science fiction so much–human/non-human interaction! Fantastic action sequences! Deep moral and philosophical questions: (What does it mean to be human? And why would anyone aspire to be a meatsack anyway?) Snark! A mechanical entity who gives the Three Laws of Robotics the metal middle finger! And, best of all, primo writing, plotting and characterization.
I have been buttonholing everyone I know who’s a science fiction fan and telling them to read The Murderbot Diaries. It’s that good.
The only good thing about finishing this book is knowing that in 2020 I will get an entire novel featuring Murderbot. That makes me cry happy tears. This is by far one of my favorite sci-fi series.
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells is book 4 in the series. I read the first one but have listened to the rest. Since book one, I picture the unisex murderbot more female than male but in book two it seems more male.
Either way, it is certainly has more humanity than most humans. The story is peppered with humor, lots of action, adventure, corporate intrigue, and fantastic tech busting from our favorite murderbot! It is a super hacker on two artificial legs! A wild ride through the universe with one of the nicest Miller’s you could know! Love it!
The narration complements the story so well! Nicely done!
First of a 4 book (novellas, really) series. An original take on the AI premise. Fast moving, with a very engaging lead character; the AI! Who is constantly making snarky and trenchant asides about us benighted humans. Highly recommend!
GrayCris is desperate. After Murderbot’s theft of their illegal information, they’ve decided kidnapping Dr. Mensha is their next best option. I don’t know about you, but kidnapping someone who is tied to a SecUnit doesn’t seem like a good idea. When a news burst comes across Murderbot’s feed involving Dr. Mensha and GrayCris, those pesky complex emotions start to crop up. And Murderbot finds itself en route to liberate Dr. Mensha.
No one thinks SecUnits can have emotions. Murderbot will tell you differently. In fact, the humans it finds itself thinking of as friends cause a whole variety of emotions it isn’t programmed to handle. And while Murderbot hates figuring out what these emotions are, it might actually admit to liking those humans. Must be part of that organic tissue they used to form its neural network.
I’ve realized I’m drawn to Murderbot because it struggles to deal with things humans experience every day. It brings to light all the little stresses that add up over time and begin to compromise the way we think. I can’t be the only one who’s had no clue what to do with their arms, or felt socially awkward around people that stir emotions I can’t name, or understand immediately. But not only that, Murderbot reinforces the theme that it’s ok to feel different. Just be yourself and do the best you can.
Murderbot is reaching a point in its character development where it outwardly no longer cares what people think. When readers first met Murderbot, most of its sarcasm and feelings were told through inner monologue. Now Murderbot is learning how to use body language and actions to show what it’s feeling. Even though Murderbot still doesn’t like to admit it feels anything. And it’s hilarious. You can count on Murderbot’s sarcastic humor to alleviate any situation.
The return of Dr. Mensha and the crew brings Murderbot’s story full circle, but it is far from over. And I can’t wait for Murderbot’s next adventure. Complex feelings, awkward encounters, and sarcastic humor included.
Murderbot is back in the fourth installment of Martha Wells loved ‘The Murderbot Diaries Series.’ After the first three books in the series, I was intrigued with where our SecUnit was going to end up following the end of the third book. Knowing I still have two more to go after this, as well as more announced, there was always the worry about plot running thin, but ‘Exit Strategy’ ramps up the action as Murderbot goes in search of Dr. Mensah.
What I liked: With GrayCris Corporation seemingly holding Dr. Mensah hostage, the book revolves around Murderbot trying to come to terms with the reality that they care. This has been a plot point that began in book one and travels with our augmented killing machine through the next two, but it is in Book Four that they really face this truth and try to figure out how to accept it.
Wells continues to infuse a lot of snark and sarcasm in our main character, who would rather be watching downloaded TV series than actually interacting with humans, but it’s within this sarcasm that Murderbot has a lot of their revelations. When they make a snarky comment and then realize that they didn’t actually mean it and wished they could take it back. The evolution of our SecUnit has been the most enjoyable aspect for me reading the first four books so far.
The majority of the story focuses around rescuing Dr. Mensah, and because of this we get A LOT of action sequences, which were all really well done. I’ve found that Wells ability to craft these scenes without overly describing them is masterful and her use of numbering events or bullet pointing actions really lets the ready know everything that is going on, especially as the story is told through Murderbots POV.
What I didn’t like: I think I would’ve liked to know a bit more about the events that resulted in Dr. Mensah being captured. Ping-Lee describes it and we get some hints about it, and maybe we learn more in the next few books (especially as Book Five is a full blown novel), but I felt like there was a piece missing.
Why you should buy this: Look, if you’ve made it through the first three books, you’ll want to keep going. Well Book Three was a bit of a tiny dip, this one ramps right back up and was a rampaging blast as Murderbot goes in search of the one human they realize they really do care about.
This was a ton of fun!
Murderbot continues on his adventure throughout the universe in the course for answers. While on this trip, Murderbot meets up with previous characters. Murderbot also continues to be self aware and makes me laugh with the humor. I am enjoying these novellas!
A welcome chapter in Murderbot’s journey that brings everything full circle. It was a relief to see old faces return again. A very fast laced entry into this series, but still plenty of time to see Murderbot realize how much they’ve grown.
I loved getting to see more of Dr Mensah in this one. There was lots of drama in this one. Murderbot has all the dirt on GrayCris! I cannot wait to read the novel next! I really enjoyed this one. Murderbot is still just awesome.
I completely adore this whole series. I love getting back to Dr. Mensah in this one. I love Murderbot as a character and adore Dr. Mensah. I’m loving this reread of the series so much!
I love this series. Murderbot is my kind of hero, antisocial and on a mission. There’s lots of action and daring do in these books, making them a fabulous read for fans of the pew pew pew. Just make sure you don’t have anything else to do when you start reading, ‘cause you won’t be putting this sucker down.
I mean, it’s Murderbot. If you’ve gotten this far into the series you know you love Murderbot already, and Exit Strategy absolutely delivers. Plus! The return of certain characters we haven’t seen in a while… don’t read this one out of order, is what I’m saying.
Love this series about an AI robot who would rather watch videos than murder like he was programmed to do. He gradually builds relationships with his humans & even other computers. Lots of action & sarcastic sense of humor.
Excellent cap to the 4-part novella series, and a great set-up for the full-length novel I have next on my to-read list. This entry is a wonderful reunion of the original cast and a fitting conclusion for the overarching conflict/nemesis. Murderbot shows its range of growth over the series, how it’s increased its reasoning and broadened its skills, all in order to better care for the humans to whom it’s formed an attachment. There’s humor, suspense, and loads of action, a trademark of this series. Looking forward to The Network Effect.
This one reminded me of the first one, only times a hundred plus boosters. SO GOOD. What a fantastic series.
This is the fourth book in the Murderbot series. Murderbot, part human, mostly machine, and all about security, has set out to rescue Dr. Mensah, his former owner (now more of a friend and protector), from the GrayCris conglomerate whose drive for profits will stop at nothing, including killing Mensah and Murderbot, who are threats to the company.
While it is not necessary to have read the first three books in this series, it is highly recommended to read them in order to see and understand the evolution of Murderbot and why he does what he does. If you do decide to read this wonderful series in order, you’ll fall in love with Murderbot in the first book and may find yourself binging on the series to see what happens to Murderbot next.
The entire is series, including “Exit Strategy,” is well written and is sure to keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning. Murderbot is well developed as a character and you will find yourself cheering him on and amazed at what he does and how he does it. As the series has progressed, Murderbot has become more self-aware and is constantly amazed at human behavior. He also knows that if he is caught, he will be dismantled and used for spare parts for other security bots.
If you like SciFi, this series is not to be missed. If you’ve never read SciFi but are intrigued by the description of this book, go to your favorite source for books and get the first three books in the series, block out a day to read all about Murderbot and his adventures.
My thanks to Tor Books for an eARC.
This is #4 in the Murderbot series. Like all the others, the action whips along at a frantic pace. It is a really fun action packed story of kidnapping, corporate mischief, murderous AIs, daring rescues and lots of shooting and explosions. It is also a very satisfying end to the first (hopefully there will be more) Murderbot series. The whole series is definitely recommended.