Rogue Protocol, by Martha Wells

The Murderbot Diaries novellas just get better and better (this one is #3). Murderbot’s narrative voice is a work of art – it feels emotions but doesn’t want to admit to them, or talk about them, so we get beautiful, terse little notes like “I don’t know, everything was annoying right now and I had no idea why.” But we all know why; it’s because someone is trying to treat Murderbot as worthy of friendship and respect, and Murderbot absolutely cannot deal. The characterization was great, especially that of Miki, a friendly little bot whose sweetness would have been saccharine except for how it was presented through Murderbot’s annoyed eyes. Wonderfully condensed piece, where mystery and sci-fi action and those emotions that Murderbot hate so much combine and build towards a beautiful and poignant conclusion, propelling Murderbot unwillingly towards further character growth and plot development.

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