Exit Strategy: Somehow Still Good Sci-Fi
Exit Strategy Shouldn’t Work As A Sci-Fi Book
I don’t understand how Murderbot (the book series) keeps getting away with this. Exit Strategy is a slog to read for so long, with exposition being thrown at you with a density I am unsure how anyone is expected to navigate. But, by the end of it, I was yet again invested in SecUnit’s emotional journey. I want SecUnit to just be happy.
If it were possible, I would suggest you just skip the first chunk of Exit Strategy during your read-through. Let the continuous churn of various locations and company names—most of them multi-syllable word salad—pass by without a care, and wait for SecUnit to get involved in whatever the adventure is this time. But there are nuggets of context you need sprinkled throughout, and so it traps the reader for a while.
But, then, on the other side is a cool little adventure. SecUnit gets to outplan and outforce a bunch of evil corporate types. We get sly commentary and intricate worldbuilding dolled out without it dragging the plot down as soon as SecUnit has to deal with other people. It’s good, fun, sci-fi writing, and I, yet freaking again, understand why people like the books.
But, I feel redundant now. I am being repetitive. I just have the same complaints and the same joys. This series has an overarching plot, but each book plays everything off as little, isolated moments that slowly shift something in the universe. It’s not fancy or exciting—it’s mostly in the background and shockingly bureaucratic. And on the more moment-to-moment side, you can say that SecUnit has gone through a barebones character growth. But it’s so slow. SecUnit has learned that SecUnit likes being around some people sometimes, and does, indeed, want to live. And that’s nice, but after literally hundreds of pages, is that really all we have going?
It Doesn’t Feel Like That Much Plot Has Happened
Frankly, I am baffled. What magic is holding me in this series? Sure, I committed to reviewing each of these books because I am a bit of a completionist, but I do go into each reading excited for more Murderbot Diaries. I somehow forget that I find only half of these books interesting. Even the “joke” of SecUnit just wanting to watch TV has lost its luster since All Systems Red, but I keep waiting for more little moments like that.
Being a critic is partially trying to learn the mechanics of things. It’s taking apart why you like something; isolating those data points so that you can recommend media to others with similar tastes. And I have been doing this job a long time. But Exit Strategy defies my understanding. The emotional attachment to SecUnit, the small moments of sarcastic quipping, and the feeling of an ultra-dense, lived-in world, are all selling points, yes. They all might engender someone to enjoy the series. But it’s also such a slog, for so many pages. Can core strengths really overcome that much? Apparently! But it baffles me, all the same. I do not understand how Murderbot Diaries, how Exit Strategy, gets away with this, but I’m going to read the next book. I want to read the next book.
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