★★★★☆ Platform Decay, by Martha Wells

Murderbot gets in touch with its emotions

Platform Decay

Martha Wells

Murderbot gets in touch with its emotions

Platform Decay, novella 8 in Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries begins in media res . Well, no, technically it doesn't. What I mean is that when the book starts, shit is already goin down. Murderbot is glommed onto the outside of a shuttle coming in to a Barish-Estranza habitat along with Three, the SecUnit it liberated in one of the previous books (Network Effect, I think). They have a plan to get into that BE habitat for unexplained reasons. [spoiler¹]

I say, "They have a plan," but do you think the mission is going to go according to plan? Do you truly believe that Murderbot's actions are governed by anything that truly deserves to be called a "plan," any idea more evolved than "get in, grab 'em, and fight our way out?" The question answers itself. So Murderbot gets in, and complications ensue.

That said, Platform Decay felt less chaotic, more linear, to me than the typical Murderbot story. It is true that there are lots of complications, but they mostly happen one after another. It's not as simple as each problem being solved before the next pokes up its head, but I never felt like we had more than three complications being dealt with simultaneously. Of course, we do have those trademark complicated, fast-moving battle scenes that happen because Murderbot can pay attention to three things at a time, including remote action it knows about because of its drones or because it has infiltrated the local security system, and can respond to events in milliseconds.

The most interesting thing about any Murderbot story is not the ostensible story, but Murderbot's personal growth. You may remember that in System Collapse Murderbot suffered from a mental health issue (a failure of self-confidence). In consequence it has, with reluctance, installed a "mental health module." It's very simple: it monitors its organic neural tissue and pings it to check its emotional state whenever its brain appears to be behaving oddly. Throughout the book we have parenthetical "emotion checks." These are pretty funny.

Also, as intimated by the publishers, Murderbot ends up having to deal with humans it doesn't know well, or who are not "my humans," as it expresses it. Three of these are children. Thus, after Murderbot was called "third Mom" by Mensah's daughter Amena in Network Effect, it has to behave in a nurturing way to several more. (I am really struggling to stick with "it," but if I slip and call Murderbot "she, " you know why.)

It's good. It has the usual exciting action plot of a Murderbot story, along with the continued evolution of Murderbot's character to full personhood. That is the real story of the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for an advance reader copy of Platform Decay. Release date 8-May-2026.

Platform Decay on Amazon

Goodreads review

1. Well, we soon find out that out it’s an extraction. That’s not really a spoiler, because the publisher’s blurb says, “Having volunteered to run a rescue mission, ...” So, if you read the blurb, you already know.