2020/051: Network Effect -- Martha Wells

Ratthi commented ... “Anyone who thinks machine intelligences don’t have emotions needs to be in this very uncomfortable room right now.” [loc. 2428]

I've read and reread the Murderbot novellas (All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol and Exit Strategy) several times, and recommended them to many. Now there is a full-length novel! And I enjoyed it very much.

The structure's more complex than that of the novellas, with two distinct timelines (the second presented as the contents of a file named 'helpme') and the introduction of other narrative voices*. There are characters from previous episodes, settings both planet-side and in space, and a whole new batch of trashy media shows.

Murderbot is acting as a security consultant for Preservation Station, Dr Mensah's homeworld, which is resolutely resistant to the Corporate Rim. Returning with the team -- which includes Dr Mensah's daughter Amena -- from a research mission, Murderbot and friends are abducted by a team of grey-skinned individuals who seem to have commandeered the the Perihelion, a ship that looks horribly like Murderbot's old friend ART (Asshole Research Transport). The grey-skinned captors aren't forthcoming about their motives, but they have a destination in mind. There are Corporation Rim intrigues, possible alien remnants, an interesting depiction of the economics of terraforming, and more discussion of relationships than you might expect. (Amena is such a shipper.)

Network Effect does what it says on the tin: it explores networks, hardware and software and bioware, social contacts (one aspect of the plot concerns contagion, which I found unsettlingly relevant), interpersonal bonds of obligation and friendship and loyalty. Murderbot experiences two life-changing, life-affirming experiences, cementing both its sense of personhood and its location in the network of friends and allies (mission-assists!) which sustain it. It's already an independent agent at the beginning of the novel: by the end, there is a sense of maturity. Perhaps this is a coming-of-age novel as much as anything.

Also of interest is the way that Murderbot interacts, non-violently, with another SecUnit, and begins to wonder if perhaps it is not like the other bots after all: if the anxiety and depression and loneliness are not intrinsic to the SecUnit build. I think this is a really significant development, and perhaps one that Murderbot wasn't psychologically capable of recognising earlier. And it makes me feel a lot better about all the SecUnits who haven't hacked their own governor modules ...

I balked at one word! The 'little' in 'you little idiot', which is absolutely a term of affection in this context, but felt completely wrong from person A to person B.

The finale of the novel sets up many intriguing possibilities for future Murderbot tales. I am hopeful.

* ish.
Spoilers in white: highlight to read:
ART! ART's coded message and the way in which it's coded!
And the splendour of this line, on reread:
The good thing about being a construct is that you can’t reproduce and create children to argue with you. [loc. 1393]