A review by crafalsk264
Activation Degradation by Marina J. Lostetter

adventurous challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

Unit Four awakes in the middle of an alien attack . It has been activated early with some last minute additions to its programming which can make it more aggressive and violent. Its physical body is teeming with adrenaline and other such chemicals to enhance its defensive and offensive abilities. But the station it is protecting is a mining platform from what it believes is an attack. Unit Four is launched immediately in a ship to counterattack the alien ship. In its attack, it is taken prisoner by a group of humans on a salvage ship. In the process of getting to know him, the humans find that it is not fully a robot but is a unique creation using the best of human, AI, robotic and other technology to create a specialized individual. Unit Four and its “sisters” are actually “grown” in an incubation chamber to produce a fully formed warrior unit with a mandate to protect what its “handlers” identify.

I am stopping here to avoid spoilers and will add my opinion and responses to the work. The marketing for the book compares the book to the Murderbot Series. This is a disservice to this book—because Murderbot it is not and should not set itself up for comparison. It comes out a distant second. I am a serious Murderbot fan and I felt it was setting itself up for failure. 

If I am being kind and evaluating it on it’s own merit, I would note that the premise is a good one, the characters are interesting, the world building was well done and not distracting from the story. The story is well set up for a sequel with an opening for a continuation of the story line. I do have to compliment the author on a sensitive treatment of LGBT issues. I enjoyed this book as is—just don’t call it Murderbot. I recommend to readers of science fiction, LGBT characters, space, robots, Artificial Intelligence, and aliens.