I received this book for free from the publisher.
This did not affect my opinion or the content of this review.
Summary
When Murderbot discovers a dead 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?)
Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!
My thoughts
Murderbot is back in a new adventure, just as anxious, just as reluctant to work and speak with humans, and just as entertaining with its struggles.
When I start reading a Murderbot story, I always expect two thing: to laugh a lot, and to read from a POV that’s highly relatable, no matter the situation. And Fugitive Telemetry once again, did not disappoint. Just reading the first page immediately made me start laughing. Murderbot’s judgy narration of typical human behaviour will just never not crack me up.
Murderbot’s unwillingness to interact with humans but being forced to anyway is always highly entertaining when it voices its annoyance.
I do love that we see some character growth throughout this series, with Murderbot becoming more open, less anxious towards humans and it shows a lot in Fugitive Telemetry. It’s interest in jobs and maybe doing what that other human’s job is!? Just adorable.
I’ve wholeheartedly loved every single one of Murderbot’s stories, but this might maybe be my new favorite. I just have a soft spot for murder investigations, and Murderbot becoming a murder investigator whose knowledge is entirely based on the shows it has watched, that is A+ entertainment.
As is always the case with the Murderbot novellas, this is one is just as inclusive. While Murderbot is the only main character and in itself not representative of any minority, there are many present in the side characters, and this being a world where polyamorous relationships are normal, and strangers addressed with they/them.
Fugitive Telemetry is another fun addition to an overall entertaining series, and I hope we get to read many more stories such as this one. If it were up to me, we would get at least another dozen stories, just Murderbot turning MurderInvestibot.
(While this is story that in itself could be considered standalone, there are still references to events from previous stories and while you might not need to understand those, I still recommend reading the previous novellas as well)
