‘The Murderbot Diaries’ by Martha Wells, Book Series, (2017-2023)

All Murderbot Diaries book coversI did an earlier Short Take on the first book in the series.  This week in a marathon I read the last four books in the series. Only one was over 250 pages so you don’t have to be impressed.

I thought the last book, System Collapse, was intriguing. There was a crucial plot point that ‘Murderbot’ came up with that I  wouldn’t expect from someone who doesn’t consider himself human.

I can see this series going on for a long time, and I am really interested to see how the Murderbot TV show coming out in mid-May on AppleTV gets interpreted.  I was trying to catch up on the series before the TV debut and I met my goal a couple of weeks early.

Daredevil: Born Again Season One Disney+ (2025)

Daredevil Born Again Season 1 posterFirst off, this really should be listed as Season Four as it’s not a reboot and it contains all of the key principal actors reprising their roles. Disney+ has certainly made peace with graphic violence in their adult fare as the show doesn’t have any real difference between Netflix and its current home.

The show is very much interested in comparing the arcs between Kingpin and Matt Murdock.  Several times throughout this season there are lengthy cuts back and forth between the two showing us how they are going through similar things.

In the end, does motivation matter? I hope so. Otherwise we are stuck with a girlfriend character that’s not very interesting, a work life for Matt that even he doesn’t care about, and very little time in the red suit.  I really liked the Netflix run but I hope the first ep of “Season Two” finds a good priest to give Matt some absolution so we can make the show more interesting and a little bit more of a faster pace.

The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal (2025)

The Martian Contingency cover artI have one friend in particular who tells me about good SF, and I am always laughably behind in picking up new authors to read.  The original short story “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” was published in 2012 and the three prior books in the series were published in 2018 and 2020.  I read them all in 2024 and this fourth book I read within a month of its release! (I also have read a standalone book not in this series by the author.)

This series takes place as an alternate history where women were not originally disqualified as astronauts.  The alternate timeline extends as the story does, with this book taking place in 1970.  I really liked this latest entry and devoured the book in less than two days.  I highly recommend it. If you haven’t read the series yet go back and start with the original short story, which you can find free at what is now reactormag.com.