Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Condición artificial

Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Condición artificial by Martha Wells

25 reviews

myrtle_floof's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A fun read as a palate cleanser/in betweener. Short and sweet with a very much on character end.

We dive deeper in Murderbots ‘’psyche’’ and discover what happened on the assignment where they became Murderbot. As a now free SecUnit they take on new clients to get to the planet where they were ‘’born’’. On the way there they make reluctant ‘’friends’’ with ART. I absolutely loved the snark between them. Murderbot is slowly becoming more human and even developed coping mechanisms. Escaping from reality by watching TV shows is very much a human thing to do. Murderbot is growing on me a lot and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

I’m still very much confused how sentience and bots/constructs work in this universe so that’s maybe the only thing that is pulling me out of the story. Mostly at the start tho. Once Murderbot lands on the planet it’s all a wild ride.

CAWPILE - 8 7 7 7 9 4 8 - 4 stars

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ritabriar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I adore Murderbot and its diaries. This is the book that introduces ART to the Murderbot Diaries series. ART is to Murderbot what Murderbot is to its humans. So that's terrifying and good for Murderbot. It also meets a whole new group of humans it also wants to protect, which is annoying. Mostly because they insist on walking right into danger.

Artificial Condition is the second in the series. It has a succinct plot with elements of the series story line plus a stand-alone story for this book. For escapist literature, it's incredibly kind and also thoughtful about big questions like, What makes one a person? What is a person's responsibility to other people around them?

This book contains characters who appreciate the prickly and socially-inept person for its non-social skills. (And obvious caring, in spite of its inability to people right now. Or ever.) Murderbot continues to be snarky and wonderful. We love an asshole with a heart of gold. Oh! This is also the book that establishes Murderbot as explicitly Aro-Ace. While there are issues with that, in the Aro-Ace robot trope, Murderbot is also a fully developed and realized person.

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blandrew's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The book is of high quality, and I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to peruse the remainder of its contents.

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katebella's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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pacifickat's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This series is delightful. Buddying Murderbot up with a sassy and sarcastic transport ship was brilliant. I enjoyed how their interactions contrasted how two non-human beings might relate, as opposed to how humans relate to robots, AI, constructs, and each other. Clever and humorous, an excellent second installment to the Muderbot Diaries.

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demented_delights9448's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The second installment of the Murderbot Diaries is just as wonderful as the first. The mystery surrounding how our "Murderbot" came to be named that (mentioned in the first book) continues and reaches a very poignant stage (I was rendered to tears—it was very emotional). Much like the TV show Monk's overarching theme of trying to solve his wife's murder, Murderbot's overarching theme is discovering why it became Murderbot.

Mixed in with the continuation of the key mystery is another client job, murder, murder attempts, ART (you figure out what the A stands for pretty quickly), ~~sexbots~~ ComfortBots, & more episodic adventures of Sanctuary Moon. Murderbot is still the ever-lovable introvert and there is a delightful exchange between Murderbot & ART regarding a new series called Worldhoppers on page 29n that had me laughing myself into stitches.

Martha Wells never lets up on the witticisms, the thrill, the mystery, or the analysis of human frailties, stupidities, and intricacies as experienced by an introverted yet "terrifying Murderbot" (Murderbot's description, not mine).

I still recommend this series to pretty much everyone. Every book is a novella and can be read to completion in one to two sittings, so it's great when you need a break between studying or working or heavier reads. Even if science fiction isn't your thing, you'll probably enjoy this because it's just so human and relatable. I hate scifi and I ADORE Murderbot.

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syinhui's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The systems of constructs are inherently inferior to advanced bots, but you aren’t stupid.
Yeah, well, fuck you, too, I thought, and initiated a shutdown sequence.

I enjoyed this second novella for the most part. Murderbot and ART's interactions are fascinating and honestly super adorable.

Murderbot calls it 'asshole' because, aside from being extremely introverted and painfully awkward, they can be surprisingly petty and ill-tempered too. Thus, the occasional f-bombs and voiced-out sarcasm. Hooray for free will!

I particularly liked the first half, but then again when the humans got involved, it all fell a bit flat for me. The conclusion was a tad underwhelming, though dear Murderbot managed to kick some ass, which was pretty cool of them.

It's a little disappointing that the human characters seem to take a step back, allowing Murderbot's endearing personality to shine even more. I'm not sure if that's intentional, but this could've been a lot better were the human characters not as averagely written and portrayed as stupid (suicidal and irrational) as Murderbot often thinks they are. Still, I'm following. It's short and fun, a sci-fi series easy enough to digest in one sitting.

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bickleyhouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

All Systems Red, the first Murderbot book, was a five-star read for me. This one, the second installment, while enjoyable, wasn't quite as good for me as the first one. It was still good, though, and I definitely plan on continuing the series, as well as checking out some of Martha Wells's other work.

In Artificial Condition, Murderbot, who went AWOL at the end of book one, is trying to figure out how to get to RaviHyral, which is the "scene of the crime" that resulted in Murderbot's governor module being hacked. Allegedly, Murderbot sort of lost its mind and killed a bunch of people in the mine. Murderbot wants to go back there to try to find out what really happened.

It manages to convince a bot to let it on a transport ship, where it plans to watch hundreds of hours of its favorite serial media programs. But the bot that is piloting that ship turns out to be more than expected. At the beginning, Murderbot is threatened by the transport bot, but they wind up watching the shows together. The bot winds up being referred to as ART (Asshole Research Transport), and Murderbot and ART develop quite the relationship as the story progresses.

If you aren't familiar with the series, Murderbot is an extreme introvert and doesn't enjoy contact with other beings, especially humans. It gets quite upset when it makes eye contact with people, and simply doesn't enjoy being around them. It's not a hostility at all. Murderbot simply doesn't like it.

The plot moves on as Murderbot hooks up with a group of people who are also going to RaviHyral. It becomes their "security consultant," which gives it an excuse to be there. And that's as far as I will go in revealing plot.

I still enjoyed Ms. Wells's writing style in this book. It seems to move along pretty quickly and doesn't get boring, and I'm not sure I can quite identify why I didn't enjoy this one as much. I think it may have to do with the story, itself, more than the writing. Once everyone gets to RaviHyral, though, and we get into the real essence of the plot, it's much better. So the second half of the book was as enjoyable as the first book. And, since it is a very short book, just over 150 pages, that doesn't seem that long.

There is plenty of the sarcastic/sardonic humor that I love in this series, with giggles and chuckles on almost every page. There is plenty of action, as well, as the story progresses. And I really love Murderbot's mental struggles, as the story is written in first person, from the perspective of Murderbot, so we get a first-hand glimpse of everything it is feeling. We also get introduced to one of the "Comfort Units" (aka SexBot) in this story. But there is no sexual content at all, as this particular Comfort Unit has a different purpose in the plot.

I look forward to reading more Murderbot stories.

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ekcd_'s review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I love ART, it reminds me of another ship bound AI character I love. I think Murderbot calling it an asshole is in character, but probably not an accurate assessment. I'm not convinced we've seen the last of ART. I enjoyed seeing Murderbot realize it still enjoys helping clients, I wonder if we'll see more conflict over what it thinks it wants versus what it thinks its been trained for. Is it what it *really* wants?

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