 Hey folks, today we're talking about Rogue Protocol, the third novella in the Murderbot Diaries series by Marta Wells and I don't know about you, but I'm quite frustrated because I've been trying to record this review on and off for the last two days and things keep going wrong. First it was that the review wasn't great and then I had terrible audio issues, so the third time is the charm, we hope. Anyway, let's get into Rogue Protocol. First I shall read you a very short summary, which goes a little like this. Murderbot continues its investigation against the wrongdoings of the Great Chris Corporation, which tried to dispose of its human friends back in old systems red. Trying to cover up some horrific corporate kerfuffle, shall we call it? Of course Murderbot will not let this stand because for all its superported dislike of human beings, it actually likes them. That is the secret that you will inevitably reach as soon as you begin to read these novellas. That Murderbot enjoys human beings, even though it doesn't want anyone to know it, it doesn't even want to admit it to itself. Murderbot, of course, is our point of view character in this one, as always, but it is not the only character of note in this novella. Another character of note would be Mickey, who is also a bot, but a much different bot than a second unit is. Mickey is childlike and earnest, small and cuddly and incredibly loyal. Never talking about how horrible humans are, but rather seeing them as friends that it needs to protect. And friends is the important word here because Murderbot, and any second unit really, doesn't necessarily have any friends. Murderbot and all the other second units are seen as these massive killing machines. Mickey, by contrast, has a very fine human-like body. I'm not actually sure if it's human-like, but it's not at all as threatening as these space marine-like figures that just put the fear of God in the hearts of men. And of course, the humans treat Mickey in a very different way than Murderbot has ever been treated by humans for that very reason. They treat it partly as pet, at least Murderbot at first perceives it that way. They also treat Mickey as part of a family, which Murderbot just cannot comprehend at first, it literally thinks. That's wrong, that's weird. But there's a lot there because, as you might have figured out by now, Mickey and Murderbot, they are the antithesis of one another. Very, very different viewpoints. And when you have these two competing viewpoints of humanity and how bots are treated and what bots can be to humans, you get a very interesting conversation happening between these two bots. And of course, a lot of perspective shifting on the part of Murderbot. Then we have the humans themselves. A pair of augmented security consultants along with a group of scientists, both clueless about the kind of situation they're walking into, cuts it lismically unprepared to handle what this great Chris Corp facility is going to have in store for all of them. You might imagine that if Murderbot wasn't there, they might be in trouble. And since Murderbot is in there with them, they're still in trouble, but at least they've got a sarcastic bot with them. In Murderbot, we can very, very well see this contrast between what's going on in here and what actions tell us. Because Murderbot at every single point in time nearly so far over the stream of errors has helped humans with only the greatest reluctance. But whenever we see it take to action, it will always place itself in front of the coming bullets or laser weapons or whatever it is that is trying to turn humans into minced meat. And that, I think, is at the heart of what makes Murderbot so appealing once more. I'm sure I've said something to that same extent in one of the previous reviews, but it bears repeating every single time, because the biggest draw to the Murderbot diaries is Murderbot itself. I found the extent to which our adorable reluctant protagonist goes to protect the humans, nothing short of admirable. There is one issue I had with Murderbot's turd-outing, and that has to do with the pacing at the very beginning. The first two chapters, 50 pages or so out of the 158 in here, are a bit of a slow start. What we would call a slow burn, I suppose. Not much is happening. It's a lot of setting up, and speaking of setting up, this whole novella doesn't feel as autonomous as artificial condition did. It feels much more like a transitory piece, a setup for the Murderbot's greater arc. Which is fine. It's alright. But I wasn't as enthralled with this as I was with artificial condition. One of my favourite quotes is I hate caring about things, but apparently, once you start, you can't just stop. It captures Murderbot perfectly, its sensibilities and its internal conflict. Do I recommend Rogue Protocol? Absolutely I do. It is more of the same, and you couldn't possibly read it without the context of the previous two works. But it's an enjoyable turd-outing for the Murderbot, and I think it has done a lot to set up the next few steps out of this overarching plot that we've got going on. I'm looking forward to digging into the Fort Novella. And if you enjoyed this review, please like it, share it with your friends, smash that subscribe button and don't forget to ring that bell notification. It helps. Every bit helps. Let me know in the comments have you read Murderbot anything, any of the diaries? Yet have I managed to persuade you to give it a chance? I sure hope that I have. I'll see you next time. Bye!