This review was first published by Booklist on October 15, 2023.

**STARRED REVIEW** After the events of Fugitive Telemetry (2021), Murderbot, ART, and their colleagues remain on the alien-infected planet on the other side of the wormhole, combating the infection and trying to convince the planetary colonists to leave their world for their own safety. But corporate interests oppose their efforts, and it turns out there are more people on the planet than they realized. Meanwhile, Murderbot is having some issues and isn’t operating at full capacity. How are they supposed to successfully navigate everyone through a potentially hair-trigger standoff when they’re not sure they even know what they’re doing? This installment of the Murderbot Diaries is more a tale of political intrigue than violent action. Not that there aren’t pulse-pounding fights aplenty, but the balance has shifted. While Murderbot remains the main character, narrating their snarky take on every situation, Wells continues to build this universe. It’s a compelling setting, both in the conflicts that arise from the culture of the Corporation Rim and the deep history Wells has established. At the same time, she continues to evolve Murderbot in interesting directions. Readers won’t miss the wall-to-wall action that defined the series from its beginning. The characters and the world building remain engrossing and rewarding.

This review was first published by Booklist in August 2023.

Whitta, best known as the screenwriter of The Book of Eli and developing the story for Rogue One, gives us his take on a mecha story. The Mek, an advanced machine civilization, came to Earth seeking natural resources, and war broke out between them and humanity. Humanity lost, and the Mek enslaved them. Now, a young woman named Dakota learns of a last hope that could liberate mankind. To do so, she must escape her slave camp and learn more about her family’s past. While there’s nothing much original in this tale, Whitta clearly has a blast telling it, and his joy in storytelling will win readers over. He’s a practiced craftsman and delivers a satisfying yarn. The greatest strength of the story is its pacing: a propulsive, frenetic adventure with well-staged action pieces that readers will inhale. Whitta originally developed this story as an episodic podcast which had some success. Fans have been eager for a novelization, and it’s a good entry point for new readers as well.

This review was first published by Booklist in July 2023.

In the near future, Qbito, a San Francisco tech start-up, launches SavePoint, quantum technology that allows users to skip back in time five seconds, giving people the ability to undo social faux pas and damaging, hurtful behaviors. Now, SavePoint 2.0 promises to revolutionize the world yet again with a massive upgrade. But when head programmer Nev finalizes the code for it, something goes horribly wrong, and she starts living her life backwards, waking up each day one day earlier. She must figure out what went awry and fix it before the same fate befalls more than 150 million users. It’s a fascinating premise, and Nev is a compelling character. The mechanics of how she interacts with the forward-time world provide tension and propulsion for the plot. Mixed in are criticisms of fundamentalist religion, critiques of tech culture, and send-ups of “tech bros” and income-focused careerists. But Sinn goes deeper, exploring how the past and future are inextricably interconnected, the ways our actions reverberate in other people’s lives, purpose, and responsibility, ultimately leading to compassion, forgiveness, and sacrifice.