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Murderbot, she wrote

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Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#141

Post by m463 »

dageshi wrote: post #20

I'm a bit mystified by the hype for murderbot. I read it and thought it was OK but a lot of people rave about it. Still not every book is for every person, it didn't connect with me but it very obviously has its fans.

I like science fiction/fantasy of all kinds, but some of it has action without much character development.

This book had interesting character development, and I especially enjoyed the read-between-the-lines behavior of others viewed through an aspergers frame of mind. Sort of awkward but decent.

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#142

Post by chadcmulligan »

vundercind wrote: post #75
dageshi wrote: post #20

I'm a bit mystified by the hype for murderbot. I read it and thought it was OK but a lot of people rave about it. Still not every book is for every person, it didn't connect with me but it very obviously has its fans.

I have found recommendations of (especially) genre novels from people I don't personally know to be nearly useless. The usual problem is that the work is just OK but gets talked up like it's great. Sometimes, it's outright bad. I've got enough past actually-greats—genre and otherwise—to catch up on, I don't need 100 "OMG it's so good!" comments from a dozen sites steering me toward a newer book that turns out to be p…

I used to love Amazon 'you may like..' back in the day, now I find it useless, I haven't found a replacement. The reviewers used to be tech heads like me so the reviews aligned well, now its everyman so the recommendations are more banal (at least to my tastes).

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#143

Post by kristianp »

I've read all the murderbots. I definitely recommend reading the 1st one at least. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that they are funny! There's a wry sense of humor in them.

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#144

Post by omnimus »

HelloMcFly wrote: post #129
whimsicalism wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the answer is to use goodreads, follow people who you really like/agree with the reviews of, and then only read their reviews of any book you might want to read

I just really struggled with Goodreads, but that was years ago, maybe I'll give it another shot. Or perhaps try this Storygraph thing another commenter mentioned.

There is also much nicer version of goodreads https://literal.club it started as answer to amazon acquiring goodreads. It has fewer users than good reads but i would say generaly more demanding readers (judging from what kind of books get reviews).

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#145

Post by definitelyauser »

moh_maya wrote: post #45
ajford wrote: post #2

One of my favorite series in the last few years. The tech side of things are believable enough (at least compared to the usual handwavy nature of sci-fi books) and now I understand why, as it seems Wells has a history in IT! I'm struggling to not gush about this book and trying to avoid spoilers, but if you like a good sci-fi action/adventure book with a strong lean towards a journey of self discover it's really wort…

I echo this. If you liked murderbot, you might also like the Battleship Chronicles series by L. Claire (1), and ofcourse, the Imperial Radh series by Ann Leickie (2), and bobiverse, mentioned below, by Dennis Taylor (3), among others.. (1) https://www.goodreads.com/series/391892-the-battleship-chron... (2) https://www.goodreads.com/series/113751-imperial-radch (3) https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse

Are they any longer? Murderbot is a nice read, but it feels like really expensive short stories.

By the time the book gets going, it's already over.

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#146

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

the_af wrote: post #84
giraffe_lady wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to have a lot of resonance with trans people too. I'm autistic but there's enough overlap between the two groups that I've noticed how people in both communities react to the series.

One thing I found cool about Murderbot is that there's no implication "it" is of any particular gender. I'm a man, so I went in with my prejudices and automatically assumed Murderbot is a "he". When reading a review that considered it a "she", I re-read most of it and there's no single indication of its gender, if Murderbot even assumes one. I found that interesting, kind of like that trick Ursula K. Le Guin pulled w…

> I'm a man, so I went in with my prejudices and automatically assumed Murderbot is a "he". When reading a review that considered it a "she", I re-read most of it and there's no single indication of its gender, if Murderbot even assumes one.

Wow, I've only read the first one, but definitely considered Murderbot a she (even though I'm male). Hmmmm....

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#147

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

loeg wrote: post #119
georgeecollins wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky is also very good imo.

YMMV. I found it pretty tedious, especially the 2nd in the series (Children of Ruin). I liked Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture series (Shards of Earth, etc) better.

I think Final Architecture was a better story, but the background and philosophy in the Children series is very very good indeed.

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#148

Post by randomcarbloke »

jandrese wrote: post #68
moh_maya wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I echo this. If you liked murderbot, you might also like the Battleship Chronicles series by L. Claire (1), and ofcourse, the Imperial Radh series by Ann Leickie (2), and bobiverse, mentioned below, by Dennis Taylor (3), among others.. (1) https://www.goodreads.com/series/391892-the-battleship-chron... (2) https://www.goodreads.com/series/113751-imperial-radch (3) https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse

I read the first three books of the Imperial Radh (Ancillary Justice) series and for all of the love they get online I found them rather dull. There's this fairly dramatic collapse of a galaxy spanning empire happening in the background while the protagonist frets over the level of offense she might cause at the tea party if she chooses to wear the more scandalous gloves. The last book gets a bit more into the fractu…

I really like Scalzi's ideas, I just can't stand his execution.

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#149

Post by dageshi »

vundercind wrote: post #75
dageshi wrote: post #20

I'm a bit mystified by the hype for murderbot. I read it and thought it was OK but a lot of people rave about it. Still not every book is for every person, it didn't connect with me but it very obviously has its fans.

I have found recommendations of (especially) genre novels from people I don't personally know to be nearly useless. The usual problem is that the work is just OK but gets talked up like it's great. Sometimes, it's outright bad. I've got enough past actually-greats—genre and otherwise—to catch up on, I don't need 100 "OMG it's so good!" comments from a dozen sites steering me toward a newer book that turns out to be p…

Essentially it's down to people having different tastes and standards regarding what they read.

I adore world building so I gravitate to fantasy and scifi but I really don't care that much about characterisation. A story with a dull self insert character is genuinely fine for me so long as the world building is interesting. That is ultimately why I didn't care about Murderbot much, the world building is pretty standard and the character that fans of the story relate to is pretty much lost on me.

You have to figure out the specifics of what you enjoy from a book and then look for people with similar tastes in order to find recommendations.

Re: Murderbot, she wrote

#150

Post by ZeroGravitas »

A bit of the article that stuck out to me after reading the comments here:

> “I don’t think it’s particularly subtle.” It’s a slave narrative, she says. What’s annoying is when people don’t see that.

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