A review by philantrop
System Collapse by Martha Wells

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was so looking forward to reading this and I really wanted to love it… I didn’t, though, since I was dropped right into the middle of the action - of the aftermath of “Network Effect”, an earlier novel in the series, which I don’t remember at all.

I felt confused for a long time because there were lots of references to the earlier book that I simply didn’t get. I finally got somewhat into the flimsy excuse for a story at around the half-way mark - and still felt let down by Murderbot's anti-climatic “redacted” event and a story that felt like an “extension”, an add-on.

“System Collapse” should have been published as part of “Network Effect” because as it is, it’s just like Wells recovered the “missing chapters”.

Yes, I knew part of that before even starting to read this one but I don’t re-read and an author should make an effort to get me up to speed.

Three out of five stars - and even those feel slightly generous. Meh.