Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries book 3) by Martha Wells (book review).
‘Rogue Protocol’ by Martha Wells is the third novella in the science fiction ‘Murderbot Diaries’ series, which currently comprises five novellas, two novels and two short stories.
Murderbot is a SecUnit (part-robot/part-flesh) that has hacked its own governor module to stop it being completely controlled by its human owners. It has run away from its legal ‘guardian’, Dr Mensah, who had bought it as ‘a reward’ for saving her and her research team’s lives from GrayCris Corporation while exploring a planet. They have good reason to believe GrayCris illegally mines and sells alien artefacts, but the proof is missing, usually destroyed by their own combat bots.
Having discarded its armour and pretending to be an augmented human security consultant, Murderbot was heading for the Corporation Rim as far away from human society as it could reasonably get. It doesn’t like humans, much preferring to watch entertainment shows like ‘The Rise And Fall Of Sanctuary Moon’. By the way, humans tend to be scared of it, as it is SecUnit.
While hitching another lift on a bot-driven spacecraft, it comes across a news interview with Dr Mensah calling for an investigation into GrayCris. News agencies had turned up quite a few instances of GrayCris ruining a planet, presumably to get at alien artefacts, but, again, no proof. One of their current projects is the planet Milu. It was terraforming the planet but abandoned the effort.
Murderbot owes Dr Mensah for her kindness, especially in not outing it as a rogue SecUnit at the time. It wants to give something back and decides to go to Milu to get the evidence about the alien artefact mining. After all, it believes that ‘Getting proof wouldn’t be hard… Humans always think they’ve covered their tracks and deleted their data, but they’re wrong a lot.’
Except, as it turns out, getting that data involves dealing with humans, which it hates, and dealing with a pet robot called Miki, which it likes. Miki is perhaps naïve or maybe not so. Murderbot can’t quite work out its quirky ways.
Like any entertainment show it enjoys, ‘Rogue Protocol’ turns into a super-unbelievable adventure with all the mayhem and chaos to get the adrenaline going. The comedic elements intertwine with the grimness, nearly transforming it into a farce. It’s a laugh a second, well, every few seconds actually. I suspect being on this borderline is what makes ‘Rogue Protocol’ such a satisfying read.
This is not more of the same from its predecessor novellas, ‘All Systems Red’ and ‘Artificial Condition’. There is noticeable development in Murderbot’s character as well as expected plot extension. This includes his comedy portrayal getting more nuanced. I especially appreciated its ‘Ow!’s.
All in all, an enjoyable, fun, light-hearted science fiction read.
Rosie Oliver
May 2025
(pub: TOR, 2018. 158 page hardback. Price: varies ISBN: 978-1-250-19178-6).
check out website: https://torpublishinggroup.com/rogue-protocol/
