Platform Decay

All humaning at it. Plus the worst whirlwind tourist visit ever. You just wanna give it a hug (but don't, because it would not like that).

“Platform Decay” is the eighth installment in Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries series. Like many of the previous installments, this is a novella.

Our favorite SecUnit has been living with its humans from Preservation. Here, it is more than property. People keep acting as if it is an actual person, and this is beginning to be more and more the case. Interacting with people cause it all kinds of emotions. Emotions aren’t its strong suit, but it is learning to deal with them. What’s new is that it has installed a mental health module. This leads to all sorts of humorous self reflection and enhanced sarcastic internal monologue.

In this novel, Murderbot and the new rouge SecUnit, Three, are setting off to extract some humans from Preservation who are being held on a huge corporate station that actually forms a ring around a planet they are strip mining for resources. This station is a multi-corporate jurisdiction, and will be challenging to get into much less get out of with humans intact.

This novella was sort of a self contained adventure. It involves some of the cast of characters from the novel “Network Effect” which preceded it. As always, the story is another great installment in the Murderbot Diaries.

The author admits the pressure in the post script - they must crank out one of these one per year. The entire book here is a slog. The amount of action would be two chapters in an earlier work. No action. No new tech. Old characters used boringly. It’s a planes and trains chase that feels like a slow hike in the mud. The bloom is off the rose for this IP. Perhaps let someone start ghost-writing it going. forward? It’s such a wonderful character - it’s a shame to see it dying by boring the reader to death.