Review - The Future of Work: Compulsory

The Future of Work: Compulsory (The Murderbot Diaries #0.5)
by Martha Wells
Date: 2018
Publisher: Wired.com
Reading level: A
Book type: short story
Pages: 4
Format: e-book
Source: Wired.com

Martha Wells is a New York Times best-selling author of 23 works of science fiction and fantasy. This story is a prequel to The Murderbot Diaries, her Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning novella series.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I still have a soft spot for Murderbot, even though the series of novellas got progressively more disappointing for me. This short story--well, more of just a scene, really--is a nice little treat for fans. It features Murderbot's amusing quips and displays parts of the world that Wells has built in the main series.

But it's just so short. As such, it's not really suitable except for anyone other than existing fans. Newcomers would have so many questions, and although they might get a glimpse of what makes Murderbot's character so special, it's not a complete picture. So, despite this being a prequel to the main series, I would highly recommend reading at least the first novella, All Systems Red, before this story.

Quotable moment:

It’s not like I haven’t thought about killing the humans since I hacked my governor module. But then I started exploring the company servers and discovered hundreds of hours of downloadable entertainment media, and I figured, what’s the hurry? I can always kill the humans after the next series ends.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing & Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.14 out of 5 ladybugs