Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time.
To fix the world they must first break it, further.
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service.
When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away.
Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.
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Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time.
To fix the world they must first break it, further.
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service.
When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away.
Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.
I have way too much time on my hands and read nearly 70,000 pages per year of SciFi. Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite authors. He has around 50 works, of which I have finished 10 and am currently working on number 11.
Sometimes a little slow and dry, but everything he writes matters. There isn't an opportunity where another word would add to the story or where the deletion of the word wouldn't detract from the story.
His characters are mostly multifaceted and have a combination of traits that are expressed vs. being mono-characteristic in motivation and action.
Actions have weight and consequences. I never feel like someone or something survives because of plot armor. I never feel like someone or something dies as a trope. The continuation or cessation of characters always makes sense to me.
His world building is, for me, the example of what perfect world building should be. With no better demonstration of this than The Doors of Eden where as an intro to every few chapters, he writes and describes the evolution of an entirely different Earth. And they all make sense. The physical and environmental factors meaningfully impact cultural norms.
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4d ago
Jun 13, 2025 10:50 PM
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank snydertalon
I have way too much time on my hands and read nearly 70,000 pages per year of SciFi. Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite authors. He has around 50 works, of which I have finished 10 and am currently working on number 11.
Sometimes a little slow and dry, but everything he writes matters. There isn't an opportunity where another word would add to the story or where the deletion of the word wouldn't detract from the story.
His characters are mostly multifaceted and have a combination of traits that are expressed vs. being mono-characteristic in motivation and action.
Actions have weight and consequences. I never feel like someone or something survives because of plot armor. I never feel like someone or something dies as a trope. The continuation or cessation of characters always makes sense to me.
His world building is, for me, the example of what perfect world building should be. With no better demonstration of this than The Doors of Eden where as an intro to every few chapters, he writes and describes the evolution of an entirely different Earth. And they all make sense. The physical and environmental factors meaningfully impact cultural norms.
A fun, unique book. Sci-fi but each of the 5 parts is a different sub-genre. The novel feels a bit longer than it needs to be probably because of the genre bending, and some of the jokes get a bit repetitive, but overall very clever and funny. Tchaikovsky is head and shoulders above any comparison to Murderbot and Redshirts.
Always glad to read Tchaikovsky. Sometimes he can be a little wordy and technical, and takes on some weird ideas that he doesn't pull off as well as Mieville or Stephenson, but still a top shelf Sci fi author.
Top Comments
Sometimes a little slow and dry, but everything he writes matters. There isn't an opportunity where another word would add to the story or where the deletion of the word wouldn't detract from the story.
His characters are mostly multifaceted and have a combination of traits that are expressed vs. being mono-characteristic in motivation and action.
Actions have weight and consequences. I never feel like someone or something survives because of plot armor. I never feel like someone or something dies as a trope. The continuation or cessation of characters always makes sense to me.
His world building is, for me, the example of what perfect world building should be. With no better demonstration of this than The Doors of Eden where as an intro to every few chapters, he writes and describes the evolution of an entirely different Earth. And they all make sense. The physical and environmental factors meaningfully impact cultural norms.
7 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank snydertalon
Sometimes a little slow and dry, but everything he writes matters. There isn't an opportunity where another word would add to the story or where the deletion of the word wouldn't detract from the story.
His characters are mostly multifaceted and have a combination of traits that are expressed vs. being mono-characteristic in motivation and action.
Actions have weight and consequences. I never feel like someone or something survives because of plot armor. I never feel like someone or something dies as a trope. The continuation or cessation of characters always makes sense to me.
His world building is, for me, the example of what perfect world building should be. With no better demonstration of this than The Doors of Eden where as an intro to every few chapters, he writes and describes the evolution of an entirely different Earth. And they all make sense. The physical and environmental factors meaningfully impact cultural norms.
For me, Murderbot is so much more engaging and relatable.