Compulsory

The Murderbot Diaries #0.5

by Martha Wells

Murderbot—the sardonic, almost-homicidal, media-loving android created by Martha Wells—has proven to be one of the most popular characters in 21 st century science fiction. Everything that makes this protagonist (it would be wrong to call Murderbot a hero) beloved of fans is on display in Compulsory.

While trying to watch episode 44 of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, Murderbot is—again, what is it with humans?—distracted by something that is technically outside its purview. A miner is suddenly in danger following a pointless (to Murderbot’s way of thinking) argument, and the choice is to risk discovery and leap into action, which would require hitting the pause button during a very exciting part of SanctuaryMoon, or to follow orders and stay still.

This is a tougher choice than it seems. But then, when has Murderbot ever been faced with an easy choice?

A shorter version of this story originally appeared in Wired magazine.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Space, Adventure

8 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2018

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

[Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Since I hacked my governor module, it’s not like I haven’t thought about killing the humans. But once I started exploring the company servers and found hundreds of hours of downloadable entertainment media, I just thought, there’s no hurry. I can always kill the humans later, after the next series drops.”

So apparently this is an illustrated version of a teeny-tiny blink-and-you-miss-it prequel for Murderbot series that was published in Wired magazine a few years ago, and this version is fully worth the dollar it’s priced at because Murderbot. (And because it’s published separately for a price, Amazon/GR no longer need to wage the “not-a-book” battle here, so there!)

“My risk assessment module indicated that there was at least a 53% chance of a human on human massacre before the end of the contract.”

For established fans of a certain anxiously shy and cynically grumpy media-obsessed SecUnit with the hacked governor module, with hard armor on the outside and soft marshmallow on the inside. (And please never let Murderbot find out I’ve made this joke).

“Nobody likes SecUnits. I am one, and even I don’t like us. We’re part human, part bot constructs, rented out as part of the company safety bond, and we’re creepy and we make everybody nervous and uncomfortable, and if we didn’t have governor modules to flashfry our brains if we refuse an order, we’d rampage and kill all the humans and augmented humans. Or maybe we’d just watch entertainment media for the rest of our hellish existence. Personally I could go either way.”

4 stars. I need “Sanctuary Moon” to become a real show like yesterday.

——————

Also posted on my blog.

[Susan Atherly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am 100% a Murderbot fan girl and am incapable of an unbiased opinion. Of course I loved it. I loved it so much I read it twice back to back. Do not expect critical thinking from me regarding anything Murderbot. 💘

[carol. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost a fragment. A hint of what Murderbot's conditions are under a not-so-nice team.


"Even the humans think about killing the humans, especially here."

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I generally avoid both very long and very short stories, I will always make an exception for the "missing scene" tropes. In this case: a small glimpse into a freshly-hacked Murderbot's state of mind. And it truly is all sorts of funny and heart-breaking. And that's with four casual death threats in what is a less than a 10-minute-long stream of consciousness.



To be clear, my excitement for these types of stories only happens when I'm already a big fan of the main series... or of one of the characters, at least. Any YA trilogy I've wishy-washily thrown a "meh" rating, is unlikely to squeeze out some more dough for yet another short story.

So if you're new to The Murderbot Diaries series, come back after reading the first four books (which would put you in publication order). Trust me, the whole thing will hit differently.

Score: 4/5 stars

... we're creepy and we make everybody nervous and uncomfortable, and if we didn’t have governor modules to flashfry our brains if we refuse an order, we’d rampage and kill all the humans and augmented humans. Or maybe we’d just watch entertainment media for the rest of our hellish existence. Personally I could go either way.

=============
Review of book 1: All Systems Red
Review of book 2: Artificial Condition
Review of book 3: Rogue Protocol
Review of book 4: Exit Strategy
Review of book 4.5: Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
Review of book 5: Network Effect
Review of book 6: Fugitive Telemetry
Review of book 7: System Collapse

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would read Murderbot’s grocery list. Loved it, of course.

[JasonReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I spent 99 cents on an eight page short story? Yes. Was it silly to spend almost a dollar on an eight page short story? Yes. Would I do it again in a heartbeat? Yes. Would I buy Martha Wells's grocery list if she wrote "The Murderbot Diaries" on it? Yes.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look what I found! A Murderbot short story I haven’t read! Yay. It’s very very very very very short – but it works splendidly when you are still wondering what to read after having finished two longer Murderbot books.

Life is not easy for a SecUnit with a hacked governor module – free will is doing strange things to you, while you have to pretend to be a cyborg without free will.

“Nobody likes SecUnits. I am one, and even I don’t like us. […] and if we didn’t have governor modules to flashfry our brains if we refuse an order, we’d rampage and kill all the humans and augmented humans. Or maybe we’d just watch entertainment media for the rest of our hellish existence. Personally I could go either way.”

Murderbot rescues a human in a mine: “Sekai made an “eep” noise. I wanted to make an “eep” noise too but I was busy.” Then it can go back to episode 44 of Sanctuary Moon...

[Carrot :3 (on a hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's about time I shifted the review to this edition:

Oh, how I miss Murderbot! I always love how Murderbot is so cool under pressure but is instantly nervous while interacting with others. I wanna read the final book but I don’t want this series to end. This is a very short read but I loved reading Murderbot’s pov again.

[Krishel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Compulsory, a prequel short story that provides a look at Murderbot's life prior to the events of All Systems Red. Martha Wells paints a bleak picture of a universe where corporate greed strips away the humanity of workers and even supposedly autonomous AIs like Murderbot.

📍 Science Fiction - Adventure, Cyberpunk
📍 Snarky Protagonist
📍 Reluctant Hero
📍 Found Family
📍 Cyborg with Emotions

The story is tightly written, with every word contributing to building tension and developing characters. The worldbuilding provides hints of a much larger universe waiting to be explored.

My only complaint is that the story ended too quickly, but I suppose that's to be expected from a prequel - it's a teaser of the greatness to come.

[Suhailah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“IT’S NOT LIKE I haven’t thought about killing the humans since I hacked my governor module.”

□ A very short prequel Story for The Murderbot Diaries □

This short story is free to read
here

This story fills us in on the mining incident (I believe this may have been mentioned in All Systems Red) that occurred in Murderbot’s past after it hacked its own governor module.

Murderbot is doing what it does best (binging TV shows) when a miner accidentally falls into danger, and Murderbot must decide whether or not to save her and risk exposing its inert governor module.

“With my governor module inert, I sometimes do things and I’m not entirely sure why. (Apparently getting free will after having 93 percent of your behavior controlled for your entire existence will do weird things to your impulse control.)”

This very moment sets the stage for Murderbot’s future actions and definitely explains why Murderbot does what it does in the first novella. It’s a perfect snippet of what to expect in the diaries and could be perfectly and comfortably read before or after the first novella, All Systems Red.

☆☆☆☆☆

5 stars always for Murderbot!

2024 Monster Mash Challenge:
|Pennywise Category|
◇ Read a book that the cover is white. ✔️

[Mwanamali · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is it about Murderbot that makes me want to hang out with it all the time?

[Henrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compulsory
4⭐+❤️


Livro prequel da série The Murderbot Diaries que tem apenas 8 páginas e com isso posso dizer que foi a leitura mais rápida que eu já fiz na vida levei apenas 5 minutos kkkkkk mas apesar de ser rápido foi bem divertido e vemos um pouquinho mais do nosso robô favorito em uma missão de resgate eu particularmente gostei bastante pra que leu só o primeiro livro traduzido ou pra quem leu só os principais sem ler esses curtos recomendo esse demais é uma leitura rápida divertida e te faz gostar ainda mais desse universo e desses personagens realmente muito bom.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Origin Story

This is part of Murderbot’s origin story from back before he was an actual Murderbot.

Five stars of a brief and telling story that is worth reading. But maybe I just really like Murderbot?

[Alex Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read to get me hyped for the upcoming new release later this month. Can’t wait!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

short-short murderbot thing

[aria ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

WE LOVE YOU MURDERBOT!

[Agnieszka na grzbietowisku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zdecydowanie za krótkie to opowiadanie!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprint of a Murderbot snippet originally posted in Wired magazine in 2018, set before the first novella. Supposedly longer than the original. I read both version and could not tell a difference in length. Slice of life in one of the earlier Murderbot days.

“Since I hacked my governor module, it’s not like I haven’t thought about killing the humans. But once I started exploring the company servers and found hundreds of hours of downloadable entertainment media, I just thought, there’s no hurry. I can always kill the humans later, after the next series drops.“

The ebook version has some illustrations, which was my main motivation for getting it.

For fans. I recommend that all others start with the first novella.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick read of an event in the life of our favorite cyborg before the journey that changed them forever. They could kill everyone or just decide to watch a lot of media.

Murderbot saying murderbotty things while going against their governor module to actually save someone.

Fun with Murderbot!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was it long enough to give it 5 stars? No. Am I giving it 5 stars anyway? Absolutely! Murderbot has my heart ❤️

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the Murderbot series - a combination of snappy dialogue and almost constant action certainly demonstrates why this is such a fan favourite. And so we come to one of the 2 short eBooks from the series. Now these were originally published for special editions and as such were never really intended to impact the main stories - in other words you can read these or not - your enjoyment of the books will not be deminished.
However for the fans out there - who are eager for the next installment it could no be better. So what you have here is a small episode which for me demonstrates Martha Wells's understanding of her character and the dialogue to demonstrate this. A fun short episode which I enjoyed while it last - which sadly was all too short.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murderbot putting 98% of its brain into watch the TV show it's me putting 98% of my brain into audiobooks while at work.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐
A nice little short story from the 15,000 hours when Murderbot was still passing as a normal, totally-not-hacked Sec Unit.
He has to make a choice whether to save a stupid, annoying human, possibly blow his cover and get memory wiped and/or recycled.
We all know what he does.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love a little Murderbot story!

[Becci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story available from Wired.com. I don’t think it added much to the series but it stars Murderbot, so of course I liked it anyway.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love MurderBot. That is all.

5, never less, stars.

[York · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for what it is...very short story, but good outline of what Murderbot stories are about...

[Lis Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short story, about an early and critical incident in the life of Murderbot, well before it meets those humans who will, unexpectedly, become its friends. Even The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon is still a relatively recent discovery.

Murderbot is under contract as security in a mine, and its duty is to protect, not the workers, but the equipment. Well, unless death or injury to an employee will negatively affect production.

Murderbot is on duty, but watching a Sanctuary Moon episode rather than truly paying attention to what's going on nearby, when a fairly foolish argument breaks out between two humans, and results in a stupid accident which sends one of them falling down the mineshaft. When she catches herself on a piece of the equipment, fall halted temporarily, Murderbot has to decide what to do.

Save the fallen miner, and expose itself as no longer under the control of its governor module? Keep (outwardly) following orders, while (inwardly) watching Sanctuary Moon? Which means, letting the miner die for no good reason?

Is there a third alternative?

This is an important turning point for Murderbot, and a formative moment for the Murderbot we come to know and appreciate in its later adventures.

I bought this book.

[Martin Doychinov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Кратък разказ - предистория на поредицата, който ми попадна, преведох и спуснах в 1-2 групи в лицевата книга :).
Мисля, че е най-доброто от поредицата до момента - кратко и много добре написано уводно произведение, което е перфектно да помогне на колебаещ се читател в решението дали да зачете поредицата или не.

[Genna · Rating 5 out of 5]

SecU can never do wrong 💪