Fugitive Telemetry: Book Review

Today, we will be reviewing Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells, the sixth book in the Murderbot Diaries. Keep reading to find out if you should read this sci-fi novella and what we thought of it!

Fugitive Telemetry Summary 

A murder has taken place on Preservation Station and Murderbot has been assigned to help the station security to solve it. Senior Station Security Officer Indah doesn’t get along with Murderbot which leads to Murderbot doings its own investigation and following the rules placed on it. 

Unable to access the security systems, Murderbot has to follow up on clues and hints and that leads to finding the victim’s room and the ship that the victim traveled on.

That leads to a bigger mystery of who the victim was and what he was trying to do. And who hacked the system to edit the security film? All of this means that Murderbot must interact with humans instead of being able to watch her favorite shows!

Commentary

Fugitive Telemetry is the sixth book in the Murderbot Diaries and was released in 2021. It takes place before the fifth book Network Effect, the first full length novel in the series. 

Wells turned down nominations for both the Hugo and Nebula in 2022 for this novel, wanting to give other authors a chance to win the award, saying “someone else could use this nomination better than I could.”

Seeing Murderbot playing detective was fun and I would love to read more novellas like this. Murderbot is unable to use its typical methods and must leave its comfort zone. If you want to follow the series as the events are taking place, you should read it before Network Effect but it doesn’t make a big difference in my opinion.

Wells shows that she can write a detective novel and I was unable to solve the mystery. I didn’t know how much I would enjoy a sci-fi detective novel before reading this novel. But I think I would enjoy anything written by Wells. 

Conclusion

Book six in the Murderbot Diaries continues the adventures of Murderbot. With each new novel, we see Murderbot in new and difficult situations. It feels like Martha Wells is enjoying writing this series and having a lot of fun with it. 

Fugitive Telemetry is a great addition to this amazing series and one that fans of Murderbot need to read as soon as possible. Happy reading!

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