Martha Wells: Exit Strategy Review

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?
 

Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.
 

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?
 

And what will become of it when it’s caught?

Entry #4 in Martha Well’s Murderbot Diaries series, by this point you’re likely a devoted fan of the series and should have a pretty good idea of what to expect; Murderbot’s sarcastically dry and witty humor, a healthy balance of thriller and political scheming plot, and good ol’ high sci-fi goodness. While the abbreviated novella format continues to limit the amount of worldbuilding and concurrent storylines Wells can run with simultaneously, Exit Strategy is by far the most serialized story yet and one of the most cohesive.

Referencing and tying together all of the first three novella’s narratives, Exit Strategy is easily the most balanced entry that finds a happy medium between Artificial Condition’s undercover stealth movements and Rogue Protocol’s more action thriller flavor. Additionally, this novella also utilizes every narrative plot thread featured in the past three stories, filling in the previous gaps and question marks Murderbot and the reader experiences as the scope of the series and bigger picture takes to shape. Exit Strategy’s story feels like a direct sequel to the first novella All Systems Red while the other two novella’s stories add context and larger ramifications for Dr. Mensah and Murderbot’s ongoing survival. However, with only 163 pages to work with, this novella is incredibly dense and forgoes past entries’ introductory recaps, requiring the reader’s familiarity with the series to keep up. I’ve been reading this series on and off over the course of the last year largely determined by when my library waitlist holds for each book comes up, and while I take notes and pay close attention while reading for when I write my reviews, even I felt the need to refresh myself with the series’ background. Particularly in the first half of the novel, I felt like I was potentially missing certain details having forgotten the exact contract arrangements between the different companies, firms, stations/colonies, etc. I’m not faulting Wells for this as this is not an issue for readers marathoning each entry back to back, but it’s something to be aware of for casual readers that take breaks when reading long series.

“Possibly I was overthinking this. I do that; it’s the anxiety that comes with being a part-organic murderbot. The upside was paranoid attention to detail. The downside was also paranoid attention to detail.”

Continuing Murderbot’s growing self-awareness and AI character development, Exit Strategy again puts a different spin on the development of human emotions and attachment. While all entries have featured Murderbot’s increasing anxiety (what a mood to be honest) with different aspects such as Artificial Condition’s teamwork camaraderie and Rogue Protocol’s robot-human dynamics with Miki, this one covers Murderbot’s attachment to humans as friends vs contract holders / clients. With the return of Dr. Mensah and her Preservation research team, Exit Strategy also picks up all the unresolved questions regarding her feelings toward Murderbot’s autonomy, the team’s intentions, and the contractual fallout of the GrayCris Corporation’s assault. 

In the shows, I saw humans comfort each other all the time at moments like this. I had never wanted that and I still didn’t. (Touching while rendering assistance, shielding humans from explosions, etc., is different.) But I was the only one here, so I braced myself and made the ultimate sacrifice. “Uh, you can hug me if you need to.”

The story is easily the most compelling and tightly paced entry since the series debut and is the perfect display of all Murderbot’s best features. I previously noted in my review of All Systems Red, the ending was simultaneously satisfying as both a standalone read as well as a sign there’s more to come. Exist Strategy has the same strength as it feels like a decisive conclusion to the series’ current arc while also opening many new doors to where the story can go (both Artificial Condition and Rogue Protocol ended on cliffhanger “to be continued” notes). Unlike All Systems Red however, there’s a much clearer picture and insight into Murderbot’s humanized frame of mind and if you’re not interested in completing the series, this is likely as good of a place as any to bow out.

But why you would do that is beyond me as Martha Wells delivers time and time again a perfect sci-fi space colony popcorn entertainment. Exit Strategy does just about everything right and its biggest issue if any is its limited page counts. How Exit Strategy’s entire combat-heavy escape sequence is condensed within less than 40 pages is a marvel and I can’t wait to read Network Effect next which is the first of two full length novels in the series. With over double the number of pages as most of the novellas, I can only imagine what Wells cooked up with the luxury of additional time and pages.