The Murderbot Diaries

The Murderbot Diaries came up a surprising number of times recently across several conversations among different people on non-consecutive occasions. One person cited it in the course of a debate. Much like with anime, there's always a reason when people keep talking about a work.

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid -- a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is watch Netflix.

This isn't a single novel but a series of works. We're both reading them in chronological order, and will keep you appraised of how far we've gotten as GeekNights goes on. So far there's quite a bit to recommend it.

• Purchase "The Murderbot Diaries"