The Murderbot Diaries

The Murderbot Diaries is a series of science fiction novels by American author Martha Wells, published by Tor Books beginning in 2017. Its protagonist is an unusual and reluctant hero: a SecUnit, a security construct that blends machine and organic parts, built by a megacorporation to protect its human clients. Like others of its kind, it wears a "governor" module that punishes any action the company has not approved. The narrator, who has ironically named itself Murderbot, has disabled that module but pretends to remain an obedient unit. While doing its job, it fights boredom by watching television and space operas, and its first-person voice makes its reflections on autonomy, identity and affection both funny and moving.

The setting is a future society shaped by hyper-capitalism and space expansion. Stable wormhole technology makes travel between star systems routine, and lost colonies are being rediscovered. People live connected to constant data feeds, and many tasks are carried out by artificial intelligences of varying complexity. In the so-called Corporation Rim, companies indulge in espionage, indentured servitude and ruthless exploitation of resources, while independent colonies such as Preservation, which defend their right to exist on their own terms, are regarded with suspicion by the great corporations.

The first novel, All Systems Red, follows a scientific expedition to an alien planet that goes wrong when one of its members is attacked by a giant native creature. The protagonist saves her, but then faces a mystery: someone has deleted data about dangerous wildlife and altered the maps. The story moves toward the discovery of a second, hostile expedition and an improvised alliance between the SecUnit and the scientists, which ends with the protagonist fleeing, determined not to let others decide its fate. Later installments, such as Artificial Condition and Rogue Protocol, continue the story of corporate conspiracy and delve deeper into Murderbot's past, its inner conflict between loyalty to others and its longing for freedom.

The series has become a publishing and reader phenomenon, admired for its blend of space action, dry humor and tender exploration of belonging and friendship. Its success led to a television adaptation, Murderbot, based on Wells's novels.