Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“I didn’t need any help getting angry, I was great at that on my own.”

Platform Decay by Martha Wells

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Monthly Keyword 26: Decay Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book is out on May 5th, 2026. Murderbot (who has installed a mental health module now, and keeps doing Emotion checks on itself) is on a rescue mission on a large artificial planet controlled mostly by Barish-Estranza. What starts out as needing to find and escort three people from the hostile territory becomes a lot more complicated when Murderbot is forced to agree to locate […]

Who Doesn’t Love a Killer Robot?

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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Despite having heard good things about Martha Wells’ award-winning Murderbot Diaries, I had never managed to pick up one of the books. Then Alexander Skarsgard decided to star as the aforementioned killer robot for the Apple TV show based on the series, and while desperately waiting each week for a new episode to drop decided I had to spoil myself a bit and read the first book. Oh. My. God. What a delightfully unhinged little story this was! SecUnit is a company-issued security robot that […]

The Murderbot Diaries – the novellas and the short stories. Some were re-reads, some were new to me

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy by Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol by Matha Wells

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

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My original reviews and ratings for the first four novellas can be found here. CBR17 Bingo: Favourite (goes for the whole series, and the protagonist) All Systems Red Nowhere Book Bingo 25: First in a series   It’s been five years since I first read The Murderbot Diaries, and it was interesting to revisit the original novella. This was selected as the January selection for my real-life book club (with the option to read the other three if people had time). While a lot of the members really enjoyed […]

The hope of space

Arca by Van Jensen, Jesse Lonergan (Illustrator)

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) by Martha Wells

Ark (Forward) by Veronica Roth

How It Unfolds (The Far Reaches, #1) by James S.A. Corey

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I often don’t have time for full epic novels, so often turn to science fiction short stories and graphic novels. They can blow my mind with intriguing premises and characters. Unintentionally I kept turning to space stories that explored future possibilities for humanity. I like how novellas and short stories allow dipping my toes into the works of some heavy hitters of sci-fi. Arca is a graphic novel written by Van Jensen and illustrated by Jesse Lonergan. In this story, we meet teenage workers who […]

“It’s about being treated as a thing, isn’t it. You’re a thing, and there is no safety.”

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory (The Murderbot Diaries #4.5) by Martha Wells

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Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory is the last new-to-me Murderbot other than the most recent novel last year’s System Collapse (I’m planning on getting to it before the year is out, but we’ll see how I do). I knew very little going in, just that it was Mensah’s POV, occurred immediately after the events of Exit Strategy, that it was initially given free to people who pre-ordered Network Effect (its now free online), and that it was a short story.   Knowing that, I still don’t […]

“I hate having emotions about real humans instead of fake ones, it just leads to stupid moments like this.”

Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells

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I have many grudges against the New York Times, dating back many years (even while acknowledging the amazing work its staffers can do), but I think the Times review of Exit Strategy almost perfectly describes who and what Murderbot is, “”a beautiful blend of exhausted cynicism and deep, helpless love”, because while Murderbot hates having feelings and would likely try to argue that it can’t love, it is the only explanation for the choices it makes throughout this book.   In Rogue Protocol Murderbot goes […]



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