Don't let the name fool you. The murderbot of Martha Wells' multi-award-winning series of sci-fi novellas doesn't have much interest in killing humans. The murderbot is a cyborg security unit who is hired by those looking to explore alien planets. It's programmed to act as security, but unbeknownst to its owners, this bot has hacked his module and gained sentience. Now, all it wants to do is watch TV all day and ignore humans, but a series of missions and a growing sense of attachment to others keep getting in the way.
The Murderbot Diaries series has won so many Hugo Awards that she now turns down many nominations. Readers love Wells's hilarious, moving, and thrilling tales of a snarky robot forced to survive in a universe of corporate sleaze. They’re funny, weird, political, and fascinated with ideas of what it means to be human (or not.) Now, it's been adapted into a TV show on Apple TV+, with Alexander Skarsgård as Murderbot.
In preparation for the show's release, here’s the reading order of the entire Murderbot Diaries series and what to expect in each addition.
All Systems Red
The universe has been colonized and turned into a series of corporate properties dominated by The Company. All planetary missions must be approved by them, and all exploratory teams must be accompanied by a Company-approved security android. On a distant planet, a team of scientists led by Dr. Mensah is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their own SecUnit. What they don't know is that their bot has hacked its controls and is now completely autonomous. Nicknaming itself Murderbot, it wants nothing more than to get away from human nonsense and watch thousands of hours of space soap operas. But when its team's mission goes haywire, it must intervene while trying to hide its newfound independence.
Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries
After slipping away from its bosses, Murderbot travels across the galaxy toward the mining facility where it once malfunctioned in the hopes of finding out about its past. After hacking itis way into an unmanned cargo ship, it befriends the powerful bot that pilots a research transport traveling to RaviHyral. Murderbot nicknames the ship ART (Asshole Research Transport) and forms a tentative partnership with its fellow sardonic bot. On RaviHyral, many secrets lay hidden, and whether Murderbot likes it or not, it'll have to uncover them.
Rogue Protocol: The Murderbot Diaries
In its next adventure, Murderbot makes its way towards a recently abandoned terraforming facility orbiting the planet Milu, eager to find more evidence of The Company's crimes. Its latest reluctant friend is a humanoid bot named Miki, who acts as a handy way for it to keep its cyborg nature hidden. But more and more questions are being asked about the location of Dr. Mensah's SecUnit.
The Company is getting suspicious too, and the sheer extent of their crimes remains unknown, for now. Murderbot must avoid being uncovered, even if it means aligning himself with even more humans whose emotions and agendas bother and confuse it.
Exit Strategy: The Murderbot Diaries
Dr. Mensah has been accused of corporate espionage by GrayCris and has gone missing. Murderbot discovers that she has been abducted and taken to the corporate hub at TranRollinHyfa. While it no longer has any mandated loyalty to its owners, Murderbot still feels a sense of responsibility towards one of the few humans who respected it. Even though it might be a trap to capture Murderbot, it makes the decision to reunite with three of the original expedition's team members and go after Mensah.
Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel
This one is the first full-length novel in the series. Murderbot has been sent by Dr. Mensah on a new research expedition alongside a team that includes Mensah's adolescent daughter Amena. Their ship is taken over by a hostile transport vessel whose crew has mysteriously disappeared. The ship, Murderbot notices, is the one that was previously home to its old friend ART. But ART is nowhere to be found, and now the ship is full of grey-skinned hostile aliens who are trying to kill Murderbot. It must find out what happened to the ship’s crew and confront just how loyal it’s become to the humans in its life.
Fugitive Telemetry: The Murderbot Diaries
Nobody believes that Murderbot didn't kill the human whose dead body was found dumped in the middle of the mall of the Preservation Station. Such is the conundrum of calling yourself Murderbot. Mr. Mensah tasks Murderbot with finding the real killer, much to the fury of the other humans. Without access to security systems, Murderbot turns detective to answer some key questions. Who was this mysterious traveler who arrived on the Station then quickly died? Who killed them? And why? It'll clear its name, but it also means it will have to voluntarily talk to humans.
System Collapse
The Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet, ostensibly to bring peace. Murderbot doesn't buy it. There's no such thing as an ethical corporation in this galaxy, but it and the crew of the Perihelion (home of ART) have been hired to do a job. Barish-Estranza wants to persuade the colonists to sign up to what amounts to a racketeering scam where they pay the corporation for "protection."
But there are various colonist groups on this planet and their loyalties are divided. Murderbot is growing more independent, but with that comes the inconvenience of becoming more human, complete with trauma and panic attacks that are a real hindrance to its desired life of no drama and lots of TV.
