Platform Decay opens with Three and SecUnit, and an extraction in progress. Members of Dr. Mensah’s family were kidnapped on their way to visit her, and the person behind it is Director Leonides of Barrish-Estranza. Director Leonides is still experiencing the fallout of her failed mission. (Which was a success for the anti-capitalist hellhole team.)
She wants help getting her family off the torus (like a space station, only much bigger, and completely surrounding the planet) and as far away from anywhere her company has influence as she can manage. SecUnit’s main concern is for its clients, and had to struggle deciding what’s right, and what’s right for the mission. Mensah’s family members meanwhile a) become better acquainted with SecUnit and all its tics and tocs b) decide to help it with extracting Director Leonides family members.
Platform Decay had an excellent ratio of action to tension, with lots of humor sprinkled throughout. Three is working on ‘learning to think for oneself.’ This has some repercussions. (Repercussions in which SecUnit is sent its own “disable your governing module” packet.) SecUnit meanwhile has an “emotion check” installed so that it can keep track of Feelings It Would Otherwise Try to Ignore. This this has been a success for SecUnit’s mental health, as you can imagine! (This is a lie we know SecUnit is terrible at this kind of thing.)
This was another great installment of the Murderbot Diaries. I have been impressed throughout the series with the way Martha Wells handles SecUnit’s emotional growth and sense of self. The action is always engaging, and plots are always entertaining, but I am hear for the recovery from trauma and the found family vibes.
This review is based off of a galley received from NetGalley!
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