4thace@books.theunseen.city reviewed Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Happy to see the return of some characters we got to know before
4 stars
I started the first couple of chapters of this novella which begins just as the previous one left off. Then I had a long appointment to get through and consumed 75% of it over a few hours. I might have had a dumb-looking grin while I was doing so, but I didn't care if anyone saw it.
The major part of this covers the way Murderbot comes to the aid of their former clients from the first book, All Systems Red, the PreservationAux leader Dr. Mensah and a bunch of the crew from the first book from that expedition. But this time all the action unfolds in a setting like those of the second installments far away from planetary environments (until the very end). It's an extraction mission that is shaped and scrapped multiple times along the way as the small team's plans crash when their adversaries come …
I started the first couple of chapters of this novella which begins just as the previous one left off. Then I had a long appointment to get through and consumed 75% of it over a few hours. I might have had a dumb-looking grin while I was doing so, but I didn't care if anyone saw it.
The major part of this covers the way Murderbot comes to the aid of their former clients from the first book, All Systems Red, the PreservationAux leader Dr. Mensah and a bunch of the crew from the first book from that expedition. But this time all the action unfolds in a setting like those of the second installments far away from planetary environments (until the very end). It's an extraction mission that is shaped and scrapped multiple times along the way as the small team's plans crash when their adversaries come to bear. Things escalate quickly and I could not anticipate the setbacks and turns in advance.
As usual, we the readers inhabit Murderbot's narrated point of view including when they frantically have to orchestrate events, sometimes giving commands to friendly humans, sometimes dealing damage to the unfriendly constructs and human non-clients. The payoff in the end comes with a personal physical sacrifice for Murderbot, as we've seen before, but also with a few more revelations leading to more reasons for them to make some life decisions.
There is a formula to the novellas, but the delightful surprises along the way make for a good journey throughout. The accumulation of experience the main character gains gives the author so many more ways to increase our engagement with them than the first of the stories. Now I am caught up to the point where I unwisely strayed from the chronological reading order a few years back. I won't begin-re-reading Network Effect right away, though, while I work on other items on my TBR list.