A review by syinhui
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.25

Old habits die hard. Apparently, that’s also true for our favorite rogue killing machine SecUnit. 

Once again, Murderbot is back, saving a bunch of stupid humans from either offing each other or being taken out by hostile entities. Nothing new or remarkable about the plot. In fact, it’s a bit dry and felt a little more lackluster compared to the previous novellas. As usual, the human characters are bland and incompetent, which is also why I find Murderbot’s interaction with other intelligent bots/AI like Miki and ART far more engaging. 

The world-building also leaves much to be desired. I mean, we are left to imagine what the places look like most of the time. But then again, Murderbot has never been big on describing settings or delving into the world’s lore, especially when it’s more concerned on hacking systems and evading detection everywhere it goes. That, and alone time binge-watching TV shows. Non-human protagonist. Different priorities. Putting it that way, I guess it’s sort of makes sense why the world-building suffers. 

That said, I still adore the series. I’m still fully onboard with Murderbot’s adventures and self-discovery. I just hope the next installments tighten up the plot and give characters a bit more depth. Though, with three books done, I won’t be holding my breath.