System Collapse by Martha Wells – That’s What I’m Talking About…

Audiobook review: System Collapse by Martha Wells

Picking up directly after the events in book 5, Network Effect, System Collapse continues the story of Murderbot and ART along with their respective crews as they try to save colonists on an alien remnant-contaminated planet. I was very confused at first because the series release order is not the chronological order of events. Book 6 (Fugitive Telemetry) follows the events of book 4 (Exit Strategy), followed by books 5 and 7.

After my initial confusion over the order of events, it took me a while to get situated within the setting and remember all of the various characters from Network Effect. Also, Murderbot has experienced something that it redacts from its diary (and therefore the story). I felt like I was constantly missing or forgetting something and was lost. 

Putting these issues aside, the book picks up when a subgroup which includes Murderbot goes to a remote site to investigate the rumors of a separatist group of colonists that have been living there for nearly 40 years. The story kept me on edge between the fear of additional alien contamination, the unknown status of the colonists, and the time constraints to save the older colonists from the new corporation who will conscript them into slave labor. 

Murderbot finally shares the redacted information about 40% into the story. The fact that it wanted to hide it just adds to the growing complexity of its emotions and anxiety. I love watching Murderbot learn how to adapt to each situation now that it has these emotions and its growing fondness of “its humans.” Add to that its dry humor, often self-deprecating or at the expense of its best friend, ART, and I am so hooked!

Narration: The story is shared via the first person POV of Murderbot. Free does an amazing job portraying the non-human Murderbot by utilizing a somewhat bland, masculine voice for the narrator and character; however, Free’s performance of Murderbot has been adjusted over the series as it becomes more human-like. Free successfully alters dialogue based on gender, age, and accent, creating unique characters, which have also been refined as the series moves forward.

With the conclusion of System Collapse, I am caught up on the Murderbot Diaries (with the exception of shorts and novellas). I have grown rather fond of Murderbot, and I am so excited that Wells has a new installment scheduled to release in May 2026.

My Ratings
Story: B+
Narration: A-

Jen

About the Book:

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, 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.