The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 3

The Murderbot Diaries #6-7

by Martha Wells

The adventures of Murderbot continue in the fifth and sixth novellas, collected in paperback for the first time!

“No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.”

In Fugitive Telemetry, when Murderbot discovers a body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

System Collapse follows the events of Network Effect, where Murderbot, ART, and the humans from Preservation are work to protect a human colony from being abducted by the Barish-Estranza Corporation. But with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Robots, Mystery, Space, Novella

432 pages, Paperback

Published January 7, 2025

About the author

Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, the Ile-Rien series, The Murderbot Diaries series, and other fantasy novels, most recently Witch King (Tordotcom, 2023). She has also written media tie-in fiction for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, Locus Awards, and a Dragon Award, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the British Science Fiction Association Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, the Sunday Times Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. She is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, and her books have been published in twenty-five languages.

She is also a consulting producer on The Murderbot Diaries series for Apple TV+.

Reviews

[♡ retrovvitches ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

super strong finisher to the series. esp the last story, a lot of character development and a startling amount of anxiety. loved it. this series was so addicting, well written, and easily one of my favs of all time. reading a robots diary is much more emotional than i thought it would be, but i wouldn’t change a thing

[Taylor-Lynn]

TO EVERYONE WHO IS READING THE NEW COMBINED VOLUME SETS: GO BACK AND READ NETWORK EFFECT AS SOON AS YOU FINISH FUGITIVE TELEMETRY OR ELSE SYSTEM COLLAPSE WILL BE VERY CONFUSING AND UNSATISFYING. THE PUBLISHER HAS FUCKED UP AND LEFT THE MAIN NOVEL OUT OF THESE AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO THE STORY.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, mixed feelings. 2 novellas in this volume, Fugitive Telemetry (a bit meh tbh) and System Collapse which was a cracker, classic Murderbot deadpan with a fun redacted plot that lets you know there is more on its way. And ART is back in and has an actual name. Honestly, I am loving this series, so fun to read and kind of needs concentration but not really, and you don’t even have to think about what to read next. BUT there’s clearly a story missing before System Collapse. Got my SecUnit to look it up in their feed - it’s called Network Effect and it’s a full length novel. So that’s a little trip to The Constant Reader right there.(Dymocks didn’t even have All Systems Red so no chance they will have Network Effect)(Also, Secy tells me that there are some short stories. One called Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory. This fits after volume 2 and is told from the perspective of Dr Mensah. Interesting. And one called Compulsory which is a prequel (!!!). So how are we going to access those?) (This is an actual question not just rhetorical)(And you are welcome, because I know you would have had to do all that research and now I’ve done it for you.)

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fugitive Telemetry: 3⭐️

System Collapse: 3.25⭐️

Let me start by saying, these are still Murderbot books, which means they’re not bad, by any stretch of the word. I just liked these the least.

Fugitive Telemety is essentially a closed room mystery, and I did enjoy MB’s interactions with Preservation security as they learn to be themselves as a rogue Sec-unit and not hide behind being an augmented human or a Sec-unit still controlled by the company. Also, I would die for Jellybaby and I won’t be taking questions at this time.

System Collapse essentially just feels like a very long epilogue to Network Effect, and I almost feel like it would have been better as such rather than another novella. ART is here and they’re always a good time, and Wells never fails to write a good action sequence, so the second half of this one was super fast paced and engaging.

But both of these were struggling a bit more with that technical writing slog, especially System Collapse. A lot of, “I did this, I did that, I then did this”, for a while and I feel like if that’s something I’m actively noticing, and find myself page-watching because of it, it’s not a great sign. I’ve said all along that MB excels in its character work but doesn’t always shine at the in between and I think these books suffered for it.

Also, something about the series when I finished it felt…unfinished? It wasn’t a cliffhanger, it wasn’t unsatisfying but it also wasn’t complete? I don’t think it’s its Wells intention to write any more of these but it almost just…ends…? I guess I would have liked something a little more poignant or powerful to bring the series to a close. I wasn’t disappointed per se but also I wasn’t like, wow !!!! Ya know? It kind of felt like Wells was like, tired of it?

Anyway, after reading all 7, I think the series as whole gets a strong 4⭐️ and a definite recommendation to anyone who wants a fun action-packed space series with surprisingly lovable characters that doesn’t take itself too seriously, anyone who cries at displays of humanity by robots, and/or people who really liked Legion in Mass Effect. Bitch, I’m all three.

[Arseni Kritchever · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Murderbot is always good but this volume was a bit of a hit and miss for me. It comprises two books but there is actually an entire novel that is supposed to go in between them. If you start reading the second novel in this volume right away you will be spoiled on Murderbot "Network Effect". The first novel in this volume was also a bit weak in my opinion. It's a murder mystery that Murderbot is determined to solve but due to a number of contrivances it can't do so easily; I personally didnt buy those reasons. Secondly I just didn't care a great deal about the mystery itself (which had a fairly easy solution I saw coming a mile away).

The second novel in the volume - "System Collapse" - is much more fun and action packed with some truly tense and emotional moments. However, it functions as a direct continuation to "Network Effect" novel and doesn't quite stand as well on its own, plot-wise. It does offer up some significant character growth for Murderbot and several other characters, and offers up some tantalizing lore about the past of the setting, so overall I enjoyed this part of the volume very much.

[Pascal Spronk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fugitive Telemetry was great, same as the first four novellas in the series. I thought System Collapse got off to a rockier start and felt more slow-paced, like Martha Wells was trying out more of a horror thing. I’m realizing now that the novel, Network Effect, which I haven’t read yet, is meant to take place between the two novellas in this volume, which is just confusing. I think System Collapse would have made more sense if I’d already read Network Effect, but even still I do think it’s slightly weaker than the others so far. Still rounding it up to four stars.

[Jennys Bücherkiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

That got pretty dark.

[Christian Brumm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the series!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

fugitive telemetry is a great stand alone from the main story and gives a lot more depth to the world building. system collapse is fantastic as the second part of system collapse, I just don't know why they published it in the volumes and not system collapse, a bit confusing

[Sam Reads Books *Just the Highlights* · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023: 4.5 (Audio)
2025: 5.0 (Paperback)
Average: 4.75

[Colin Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st story: 5 stars. Love a murder mystery, love when something that isn't a murder mystery briefly explores said genre. Whether it's Skyrim, the outer worlds DLC, or this, a piece of speculative fiction that dips it's toe in the murky waters of murder mystery is a bit of me. I thought sec unit's development up to this point was brilliant.
Then the next story... Oh wait nope, first chapter makes no sense. Oh there's a book I need to read between them? Ok fine I'll go do that then... Ah, sec unit appears to have regressed in that time. Which is fine, but it made the growth prior to then feel cheapened. Like oh that all happened before we knew there was going to be a book so it doesn't count. 
I also felt like there was some real editing issues within this. Spelling and grammar mistakes that should have been caught, and one section where the flashback didn't end but rather suddenly became present day again. Also, I kinda don't care about the planet or the colonists. I care enough for one story, but not two. I think I liked the format we had, and then suddenly I had to accept that this whole story was a way of setting up future stories with ARTs crew, even though I was quite attached to the preservation crew. I like ART a lot, great character. Love the interaction with sec unit and Iris, like it's not bad. None of this bad, it's just not quite what I was getting out of the first 5 novellas. 
Still loved my time with murderbot and if any more stories come out I will be on them. 

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book was fun murder mystery, and built on the previous ones nicely. Easily 4 or 5 out of 5 and I really felt it carving out a life.
The second book, Systems Collapse, was frustrating, and I'd put it at 3.

I don't think it's unreasonable for a new reader to the series to assume that the novellas within Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3 follow sequentially. And yet within the first two pages of Systems Collapse, it felt like I'd missed 2-3 other stories in between. Or more. I kept thinking this might be a narrative choice, trying to start the reader in the middle of the action. Or to keep the reader trying to put things together with some later given hints ?

But it just continually referenced things in short hand that I didn't understand, or remember. For that reason, I think a lot of the emotional payoffs were lost on me, and while the story was good, it left me feeling frustrated to read the 'epilogue' of an unwritten book.

It was only after I finished the book that I discovered an extra story, 'Network Effect,' published separately. This is actually unfortunate; as much as I've wished repeatedly some of the murderbot stories were given more depth and detail, I just don't feel interested in reading a story I've already read the final chapter of.

[Ida Jagaric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok phew System Collapse got better! The first half was kinda painfully boring. Like there were so many descriptions of empty hangars and other spaces! The author loves a casual writing style (kinda like how we would talk in posts or emails) but I feel it went too far in the System Collapse novella. Like Murderbot listed possibility (a) and possiblity (b) AND then had to babble that b should've been before a. And the long lists using "and/or" or "/" ... oyeh! :(

But then stuff started happening and not just action sequences (which I love! :) but even negotiation excitement etc. And I didn't quite get what Murderbot's issue was during the novella until it got spelled out at the end that it was a traumatic memory that had killed it's confidence. That one might be on me and not the author! haha!

And Fugitive Telemetry was fun! And all the books have such a perfect antagonist! Corporations! The cheating and abuse never ends with fictional or real corporations! Although this is more of a government issue, but in Canada the way we treat migrant workers is terrible and reminds me a little of the indentured labor she talks about in these books. :/

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve split this into two separate reviews, one for Fugitive Telemetry and one for System Collapse, because it’s just easier that way.

Fugitive Telemetry:

Okay, I’d totally be down for a series centering on Detective Murderbot solving crime with ridiculous humans it barely tolerates. lol This was so fun. (CW: violence, murder, slavery, bigotry)

System Collapse:

Witnessing Murderbot learn how to cope with… everything is just so moving. It doesn’t want to deal with being a person, but ART and the humans aren’t having that. They love it too much to let it ignore what it needs, and it’s just the sweetest thing. 🥹♥️ Also, Murderbot and ART are still everything to me. I love them so much. 🥰🥰 (CW: violence/gore, murder, discussion of mind control/loss of autonomy, slavery, trauma response in the form of altered flashbacks)

[Hannah Sorensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like the rest of the series, this volume has a huge amount of comedic relief through the main character which I really enjoy, but overall this is probably my least favorite of the books. It is essentially a murder mystery in space which is a cool concept but I found it a little flat all things considered. It felt like more of the same. I rate this book 3⭐️ because ultimately I found it okay, but the series overall is a 4⭐️ because of everything it offers. Go into this series being prepared to not take it too seriously, because the main character doesn’t take himself seriously at least half of the time. The characters are lovable but not very fleshed out. There is not a whole ton of world (or space) building, it is definitely more of a character driven series.

[Dragos · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book I was reading had written on the cover “Murderbot diaries vol 3” I read it after vol 1 and vol 2. I was about 200 pages into it when the first part of the story “fugitive telemetry” finished and the second part (still in the same book btw) started, called “system collapse”. And that is where I was totally lost to how they got there, who the new characters were and how the old characters got back together with Murderbot.
Did a bit of research and turns out there is another full length novel between the first 200 pages of this book and the next, that you have to read separately to know what is going on in the second part of the book.
This is why I am giving this book a 2 start review.
Maybe I will come back to it if I ever get to read network effect

[Psychophant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two short stories, the first one takes place before Network Effect, that was published earlier, but it does not affect anything in it, nor there are spoilers for it in the previous book, except maybe that some people are bound to survive.

Fugitive telemetry is a quite good mystery, with the limits of a closed orbital station and some shipboard action. Murderbot interacts with many more humans than he is used to, so a good preparation for Network Effect.

System Collapse, the second story, continues a short time after the end of Network Effect, and actually requires you to have read it. It complicated the ending without adding much of interest, except getting some background on the corporates. Weakest story in the series so far.

[David Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both novellas were very well executed in what they wanted to do. Fugutive Telemetry was an intriguing and compelling mystery that further expanded on the world while still within Preservation, best of both worlds. The reveal was also enjoyable, but overall it didn't feel like it changed much in the series plot-wise - 4/5.
System Collapse was a great continuation of Network Effect with complicating the conflict with more stuff, but I wanted more alien stuff which I didn't get. However, the conflicts, obstacles, and antagonists encountered here were very enjoyable and I loved watching Murderbot struggle with limited resources. It was kinda stupid but still fun to have a big problem resolved by making a documentary lol - 4.5/5

[Mystic Forest Crafts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pros:

Somehow each addition to this world seems to get better. It isn’t just knowing the characters better or that more of the world is being revealed, I don’t know that it’s even that the groups are really solidifying into strong foundations families. Part of me thinks that it is Murderbot understanding more of its emotions and becoming more human for them.

The use of propaganda to influence people is so beautifully illustrated here.

Cons:

I am so bummed that there isn’t another story already waiting. I’m hoping rumors that the author has at least three more contracted for might just be true.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐ - I just... This series is unexpectedly excellent. It's so human, for all it's about a sentient robot and its sci-fi space missions. There's so much depth here, themes on trauma and anxiety and mental health and empathy and it makes me emotional but also has me on the edge of my metaphorical seat with all the action. I've never encountered this combo before and it's really just fantastic. Neither story here is a favorite of the series but still wholly engaging, particularly System Collapse and the way it explores Murderbot's changes and growth (only way I can think to describe it). I'll absolutely be rereading this series sooner than later.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fugitive Telemetry: A generic murder mystery, pointless side quest story that actually takes place before the events of the last book even though there’s no mention of this fact anywhere so you’re left feeling confused for the first little bit and wondering where the hell ART is and why is this book so bland?

System Collapse: This book was just more of the same. The characters are all so one-dimensional, and the overuse of robot names and terms makes it really unenjoyable to read. I made it through but had a really hard time concentrating on this one and I also feel like Murderbot has officially become a caricature of itself.

[Melissa Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

System Collapse continues everything I love about The Murderbot Diaries. Emotional depth, sharp humor, and the complicated yet oddly touching relationship between Murderbot and ART (who is so petty toward another ship). I loved that they’re traveling together again, but the open ended conclusion left me feeling like I was still waiting for one more chapter or maybe I’m just not ready to say goodbye. The world remains effortlessly inclusive, and Murderbot’s internal journey is just as compelling as the external action. A strong, satisfying entry that left me hoping for more.

[Justin Glaittli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have read the reviews first. This is a volume with two books inside of it but the two books in this volume have a book between them? Wtf? I spent all of system collapse waiting for the missing details to get filled in only to realize that I missed a whole book that is now spoiled. Poor execution on the republish in my opinion. That aside, still really enjoyed murderbot, however the pace of system collapse did not match what I was used to and expecting. I might be done for awhile now that I’ve missed a book and spoiled it.

[Darren Brisbane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the continued stories of the Murderbot!

The only thing I will say about Volume 3 is that the two stories occur either side of Network Effect - which I didn’t realise until I was part way through the second story in this volume.

It felt like I’d missed an important part of the story, and as Murderbot in book 2 is experiencing something it wasn’t able to talk about … it kind of worked, but wasn’t immediately obvious that I’d missed a book.

So, make sure you get Network Effect while you’re reading this book!

[Kenneth Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is two novellas published together, as was volume 1 & 2. One would think that after volume 2, you would read volume 3 next. Apparently not. The novel "Network Effect" seems to come in between. No wonder the second novella of volume 3 felt like it had plot holes / started in the middle of the story. Left me with questions which I hope will be answered when I go back and read the story I missed. This is the only reason I docked it a star. I love murderbot's adventures!

[Max Faass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the progression of a construct with a hacked governor module struggling to separate its identity with its intended function, a murderbot. To a sentient being struggling with trauma and grief and anxiety and realizing it is a unique being in the galaxy with agency was so wonderful. Also shoutout ART we love a sassy king

[Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the two novellas in this — Fugitive Telemtry was a fun read, 4 or 5 stars. Read like a TV crime procedural or murder mystery. System Collapse was a slog. There were too many character names to keep track of. 3/5 for that one.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this volume bring to a resolution of the second major plot line in the Murderbot series. And, a very cute/clever resolution it is. I am really enjoyed jumping into the world of everyone's favorite SecUnit and will look forward to what comes next.

[Kenny Ketner · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a little annoying that Network Effect takes place between the two novellas in this volume -- you'd think the publisher could have worked out a less confusing way to release this material. Otherwise really good!

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average of 2.5 stars. Fugitive Telemetry gets 4, System Collapse gets 3, and 1 star for the fact there's a whole-ass book (Network Effect) set between these two that I didn't know about until I was 10% or so into SC and realized I don't dnt know what the @#$& was going on.