I'm sure that 'System Collapse' won't remain the final 'Murderbot' story but it is thus far, at least at book length. And, while I've seen this one listed as a sixth novella, it's actually after the novel, 'Network Effect', it seems a bit long not to count as a novel itself; at a breath under two-hundred and fifty pages. Whatever it counts as, it's a peach because it's relatively straightforward, all the more so after the novel, but unfolding on the same territory and with just as much depth. I liked it a lot more than 'Network Effect'.

As a direct sequel to that book, it's set back on that alien contaminated planet, where our heroes from Preservation Station are nominally fixing their routers. However, Barish-Estranza are there too, with our annoying friend from 'Network Effect', Supervisor Leonide, still in charge. They hide their true intentions in courting the locals, but they're effectively trying to talk them into signing away their rights and becoming, effectively, corporate slave labour. So this boils down to good guys versus bad guys for the future of the colonists on this planet, both claiming to be on their side.

This is complicated somewhat by the discovery that a group of colonists split off to avoid the alien contamination that was becoming apparent twenty-some years ago and they may still be up there by the terraforming stations at the pole. However, when we head up there to find out, it actually simplifies the story because this bunch haven't been privy to anything that's happened thus far so are even more in the dark about how they should decide their future. The most fun scenes for me were the ones where one side got one over on the other without violence, merely through clever manipulation of a moment.

Well, until we hit a particular pivot point that makes up their mind for them and turns the rest of the book into an action extravaganza. This is all the more effective because Murderbot is the only SecUnit on the side of the University of Mihira and New Tideland, while Barish-Estranza have a lot of them, three to start with, each of them horribly beweaponed. Not only is Murderbot without a majority of her drones, she has no heavy artillery at all and she's broken, one of the reasons why this book feels as deep as any of the others and often much deeper.

When we notice is up to us, but Murderbot is very hesitant to travel north to find the potentially still alive group of separatist colonists. It's weird and Iris notices, even if the others don't. ART, on the other end of a monitoring collection from orbit, notices too and keeps a close eye on her. We also see the word "redacted" in a lot of moments in Murderbot's traditionally snarky narration. I do like that there are three asides in a row by page five, with a fourth in the next paragraph, but there are a lot of signs that something is wrong.

The question is why. Are they panic attacks? Is it memory loss? Given where they are, could it just be alien contamination finally taking hold on her human parts? One neat hint suggests it may be bleedover from media. Another suggests flashbacks and there's always the possibility that it's an array of false memories that might be clashing with real ones. We know her memory has suffered before, because she still doesn't know everything about what she did before it was wiped, back in the days when she had a functional governance module. I won't spoil where this goes but there is an entirely appropriate ending to wrap up this thread of the story.

And that could be it, because the thrust of the story follows the trip to the poles, the discovery of the separatists—like you were thinking that there weren't going to be any?—and the subsequent back and forth with Barish-Estranza for the trust of the colonists. And then the battle to get the heck out of there in one piece once it all goes horribly pear shaped. With a damaged Murderbot up against at least three B-E SecUnits that outgun her to a ridiculous degree. Of course, our hero and yours has independence on her side and that's a tool that she's learning to share.

The only other note I'd throw out is that there's a bunch of human interaction here; Martha Wells taking full advantage of the additional page count to explore actual humans, not just the SecUnit doing it for her. They're still very much second-fiddle to Murderbot herself, but they have a lot of moments here, arguably more in this one book than in the other six combined. It feels that much more substantial on that front.

Oh, and there's a special moment I'd like to tap into. When the exploratory party tracks down the separatist colonists in a Pre-Corporation Rim facility, Murderbot establishes a connection with its AI and naturally offers a trove of media to swap. I'm in on that, please. Just let me hook up. I don't just need 'The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon' but the teasing promise of a cache of older shows that predate the corporations taking over this segment of space. I very much look forward to the next book when I can watch Murderbot watch them. ~~ Hal C F Astell

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