Christian’s Subsection of the Internet

Given how long it is, the Frontiers Saga series has been remarkably solid. There are peaks and valleys in the books, but I guess that’s the nature of a many-book series. In a way, that’s part of the fun, following the story along the crescendos, waiting for the peaks to be reached. I am Justice is very much a peak: it’s really, really, good. The previous book, Sanctuary, ended on quite the cliff-hanger, so I went straight into I am Justice, and it did not disappoint. There’s a bit of everything here: real feelings of peril, moral decisions where the outcomes don’t seem obvious, and some real emotional moments. While this series very occasionally falls into the trap of all good guys having plot-armour, some of that is torn away in I am Justice: introducing some situations of an absolute choice between two goods without “all of the above” being an option. Without going into exactly what happens (writing a review of book 25ish of a series without wanting to even spoil the first one is getting a bit tricky), there’s several added strands of family-drama which have been set up through the previous books, and that come into play in this one. The politics of the universe also deepen a little bit, and become a bit more complex. That’s a strand I hope really continues in this series. The Frontiers Saga does have great space battles, and fun action, but when a book like this comes along and adds some proper world-and-character building on top of it… then this series goes from good to being great.

I haven’t read many short stories from Stephen King, so this is me taking a jaunt into his short story universe with The Jaunt. With Stephen King being the author, you know what kind of thing you’re going to end up getting - but there is still considerable suspense connected to what particular flavour of Stephen King’ness will pop up. And while The Jaunt didn’t end up being surprising, or especially shocking (for Stephen King, anyway), it was very satisfying. The pacing of the story, from the seemingly innocent sci-fi beginning, through the implicit mystery, via the unsettling realisations, to the… well, Stephen King’y conclusion, is just right. Reading this has whetted my appetite to read more Stephen King sooner rather than later, and the short stories in particular.

Who Takes No Risk took an abrupt turn toward darkness, and Sanctuary sees our main characters deal with the aftermath. This represents a bit of a shift in the series, a very welcome and fun shift: what happens when our heroes have to put the good of millions up against the good of their family? Not an original trope, sure, but it’s used effectively in Sanctuary. When family matters are introduced, we see a level of vulnerability, bordering on desperation, that we haven’t seen that much of yet in the series. This book is a solid instalment of The Frontiers Saga, and takes the plot in a particularly interesting direction. I’m very much looking forward to what comes next.

System Collapse continues where Network Effect left off, and neither the action nor the peril lets off. Fortunately, System Collapse is a little bit easier to follow. Murderbot, along with their companions on ART, find themselves - somewhat incidentally - having to save a while bunch of people. Not wanting to spoil anything, but… things happen. Things not exactly according to plan. Murderbot isn’t quite operating as normal though. Something has happened to them. Something confusing, and almost human. Something making them doubt their ability to do what they need to do - what people expects them to do. There seems to be some characters development going on. How will this change Murderbot? I’m looking forward to finding out!

Fugitive Telemetry was a very fun pallet-cleanser between the more substantial drama going on in the other books in the series. Confusingly, this book isn’t in the order of the other books as they are released (I’m assuming it takes place some time before the previous book in the series) - but it’s a break from the, somewhat stressful, main story that I didn’t know I needed! It takes the form of a bit of a whodunit, in which out favourite Murderbot gets to apply it’s skills as a detective, as it tries to find out why Preservation Station suddenly has a dead body lying about. The book has all the enjoyable elements that make up a good Murderbot story - snark, sarcasm, dry humour, and a type of humanity that you can - oddly - only get from a being who is in the process of discovering, questioning, resenting, and holding on to their own humanity. There are a lot of funny books, even with this style of humour, but the way it works when combined with Murderbot as a character has something magical to it, and no less so in this book. And while the highlight of the book is definitely how the story is told, the story itself is solid. The Murderbot series has become a regular feature on my list when people ask me for general book-recommendations. Fugitive Telemetry does nothing to change that.