Network Effect (novel)
Network Effect is a 2020 science fiction fantasy novel written by Martha Wells. It is the fifth work in the Murderbot Diaries series and the first full-length novel. Network Effect won the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 2020 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 2021 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Premise
Murderbot has been sent by Dr. Mensah on a research expedition that includes her daughter Amena, her brother-in-law Thiago, and Drs. Arada, Overse, and Ratthi. Their ship is set upon by a hostile transport vessel, which Murderbot and Amena are compelled to board as the others flee in an escape pod. As the transport moves into a nearby wormhole, Murderbot hunts the grey-skinned humanoids in control of the ship, isolates Amena and the human captives Ras and Eletra in a safe zone, and begins to realize that the transport is the same one once controlled by its robot pilot friend ART.
Arada and the others, who have followed the ship into the wormhole, are able to board as Murderbot finishes off the hostiles and manages to reload a deleted ART with a code phrase left for it. As Murderbot guessed, after being invaded by the grey raiders, ART sent them after the SecUnit ostensibly for use as a weapon, but really because ART determined that Murderbot could overcome them. Murderbot is enraged that ART would endanger the SecUnit's humans this way, and is further annoyed when ART insists that Murderbot and its human crew help find and recover the transport vessel's missing crew.
Murderbot and its team descend to the planetary colony that seems to be at the center of the situation, and find that the colonists have been exposed to alien remnant contamination. They have developed the grey skin condition to varying degrees, and have separated into warring factions representing the least contaminated versus the most, who seem controlled by an alien hive mind. The missing crew have effected their own escape, and while Arada and her people help them, Murderbot is captured. ART begins firing missiles at the colony, demanding its release. Murderbot is rescued with the help of another SecUnit whose governor module it disabled, as well as a software version of itself set loose on the colony's defenses. The group returns to Preservation, and Murderbot decides to accompany ART and its crew on their next mission.
Reviews
It was said that "...if the first books were episodes in a four-part TV miniseries, then 'Network Effect' is the feature-length movie with the bigger budget and scope, and it is no less enjoyable."[1] and a "wonderful continuation of the series".[1] It was also described as "a perfectly paced space opera adventure novel, one in which Murderbot continues to grow as a person."[2]
References
- ^ a b Mullis, Steve (2020-05-10). "Murderbot Makes A Triumphant (And Cranky) Return In 'Network Effect'". NPR. Archived from the original on 2022-09-10. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
- ^ "Liz Bourke & Adrienne Martini Review Network Effect by Martha Wells". Locus Online. 2020-07-26. Archived from the original on 2022-09-10. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
- v
- t
- e
- The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White (1939)
- Slan by A. E. van Vogt (1941)
- Beyond This Horizon by Anson MacDonald (1943)
- Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber (1944)
- Shadow Over Mars by Leigh Brackett (1945)
- The Mule by Isaac Asimov (1946)
- Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein (1951)
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1954)
- The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1953)
- They'd Rather Be Right (aka: The Forever Machine) by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley (1955)
- Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956)
- The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (1958)
- A Case of Conscience by James Blish (1959)
- Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1960)
- A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1961)
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (1962)
- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1963)
- Here Gather the Stars (aka: Way Station) by Clifford D. Simak (1964)
- The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber (1965)
- Dune by Frank Herbert / ...And Call Me Conrad (aka: This Immortal) by Roger Zelazny (1966)
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (1967)
- Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (1968)
- Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner (1969)
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1970)
- Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971)
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer (1972)
- The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973)
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974)
- The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975)
- The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976)
- Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1977)
- Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978)
- Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979)
- The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1980)
- The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1981)
- Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh (1982)
- Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov (1983)
- Startide Rising by David Brin (1984)
- Neuromancer by William Gibson (1985)
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1986)
- Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987)
- The Uplift War by David Brin (1988)
- Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh (1989)
- Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1990)
- The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (1991)
- Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (1992)
- A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge / Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993)
- Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994)
- Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (1995)
- The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (1996)
- Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997)
- Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1998)
- To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1999)
- A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (2000)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (2001)
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002)
- Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer (2003)
- Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004)
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2005)
- Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2006)
- Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2007)
- The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008)
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009)
- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi / The City & the City by China Miéville (2010)
- Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011)
- Among Others by Jo Walton (2012)
- Redshirts by John Scalzi (2013)
- Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2014)
- The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (2015)
- The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (2016)
- The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (2017)
- The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018)
- The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)
- A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (2020)
- Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021)
- A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (2022)
- Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (2023)