A book and a wish

This will be a quick post, for I don't have much to say but still wanted to leave some kind of register that I have read the following story.

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Comment: I've finished last night the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series. This is novella size, therefore there isn't a lot of pages but the content certainly has a lot to talk about. For me the issue is that I was easily distracted by other things and feel I didn't get to appreciate the story in all its glory. Still, I can see why it is liked by so many readers and why it was hyped for a while. 

This sci-fi story is set in the future, and planets are being conquered or investigated and humans live alongside aliens (possibly) and robots with more or less awareness. The main character and narrator is Murderbot, a sort of AI that works as security for a group of scientists, while having the task of recording everything and snitching for the Company, the enterprise that builds and controls all robots. Murderbot, however, having had a bad past experience, has erased or disabled the inputs with this order and now simply works as best as he can while protecting the humans, while enduring their constant talking in the hopes he can have enough free time to keep watching his entertaining series.

The plot thickens when the team has a call for help and upon investigating, they discover the other team to be dead, probably by their own security AI units. What follows is a funny and surprisingly sweet description of what happens while the team dodges the enemy. I liked Murderbot voice and what the author has done with this character, making it seem quite human, thus easier to like. I would say the element I found less appealing was how everything works out in this world, the few details included didn't seem to be enough for me to have a broader idea a«on the whole thing. I can only suppose the next installments will answer some questions, especially considering the way this story ended.

All in all, this was good, entertaining like Murderbot's series, but I imagined more.
Grade: 7/10

-//-

Taking the opportunity to wish you all a happy weekend, lots of fun and chances to read!

Enjoy your reading!

(image here)