Book Review: Network Effect
Good Morning Everyone!
I hope you’re having a great start to the week. I’m still adjusting to my new job and all the training inherent, but am still staying optimistic about things.
Anywho, I’m back with another book review. This time around it’s Network Effect, the 5th book in the Murderbot series by Martha Wells.
I pre-ordered this book when I heard it was coming out.
After the first four books being pretty darn solid, I couldn’t pass this up!
I’ve been putting it off for a while, but was excited to continue the journey. All right, on to the review!
Blurb:
Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel.
You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you’re a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you’re Murderbot.
Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century.
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I’m usually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are.
When Murderbot’s human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
Drastic action it is, then.
GoodReads
The Review:
I gave this novel four stars!
I love Murderbot, that’s a fact. The great scifi battles (pew, pew!), mystery, and intrigue have captivated me thus far, so I was super excited to read this. I have to say, I’m pretty happy with my experience this time around.
Murderbot is living on Dr. Mensah’s world with their crew now. But when they go on a fairly routine mission and are intercepted by a strange yet familiar ship, everything spins out of control. Stuck in yet another confusing situation, Murderbot and team have to figure out how to get back home at all costs.
Overall, this was a good, strong read.
I loved Murderbot’s character as always. Wells always seems to pull off some great character progression, and I think this time around it’s even more important. We continue to understand what it is to be Murderbot, and I really enjoyed that part of the journey. The other familiar characters kept in character and were entertaining in their own way as well.
We are also introduced to even more characters along the way that appear to be a permanent addition. I have to say, I think we’re getting to a point where there are simply too many characters to keep track of. Hopefully in the next book Wells can keep the character list down a bit. There are just points where I am like “Which one is that again? Oh, right.”
The plot started out really great. I’d say the first third of the book was extremely strong and the rest wasn’t quite as strong, but was still enjoyable. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say that certain things are fleshed out more from previous books that I really enjoyed.
That being said, for me there were great chapters where the pacing was great, then others where I was a bit underwhelmed. The great part about the novellas was that we got a condensed, action-packed story. Expanding to a full blown novel is great, but I wanted things to move along a bit faster in places.
Like always, Wells Murderbot universe is rich with detail. It’s like biting into the thickest slice of cheesecake you’ve ever had. At first it’s great, but sometimes it can be too much. In places there’s just so much detail in both the dialogue and surroundings that I kind of skimmed over or had to re-read to fully picture what was being said. I’ve come to expect this from the novels, but it’s still a minor deterrent for me, and honestly I think that’s why I stalled in reading this since May.
Regardless of my quips, this was another great installment of the Murderbot series, and I can’t wait to read the next book when it comes out!
That’s a Wrap!
Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!
Have you read this book before? What did you think? Do you have a book recommendation similar to this one? Feel free to share in the comments!
If you’d like to see other reviews of mine, feel free to check out the book review section of my blog or my GoodReads. You can also follow my GoodReads reviews here. There are some great binge-worthy books on there!
Have a great day!
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I was a little hesitant to read your review. “Oh no, what if it’s not as good as the previous books?” I’m glad to see it’s a solid 4. It doesn’t have to be a perfect book to still be a fun read. Yeah, “drastic action” seems about right for our Murderbot hero.:-)
I totally understand. This book was a big shift in the series since it’s the first novel. But yeah, still some solid Murderbot fun and im definitely going to keep reading this series. I wonder when the next book will be out, hmmm…
Ah, too many characters can sometimes get confusing or make things bloated when they don’t need to be. Definitely still looking forward to this one, hopefully can get to it soon!