Exit Strategy

I can honestly say that this 4th novella was, in my opinion, the very best of the Murderbot installments. It went quickly – just like the preceding three. It was fast paced and fun – just like the preceding three. It’s hard not to fall in love a bit with Murderbot in this novella – just like the preceding three. What made this one so fun was the fact that it brought the original group of characters back together, particularly Mensah. I may be the only one who feels this way but I actually found her to be the most intriguing character in the book – more so even than Murderbot. She is calm. She is mature. She is decisive. She always does the right thing. She is THE ONLY human that knows how to interact with Murderbot in a way that forces him to acknowledge the quality of her thought processes and he is THE ONE human character that Murderbot actually respects.

Now I’m going to paint outside the lines a bit and I have no doubt that some of you are just going to think that what I’m about to say is a bit silly. I just finished the book and the following thoughts are my first and strongest impressions – things that can often prove to be unreliable when you step back and reconsider after a day of two. Alternatively, many of you might just say duh – why did it take you so long to figure this out. Either way, if so, please comment and tell me. I’d welcome someone else’s perspective.

Here’s what I think. The minute I finished this book – after the final chapter – which consisted of two conversations – one with Mensah’s daughter and one with Mensah herself – this odd thought popped into my head. Wells is actually writing about a teenager. Murderbot is a smart, capable, totally frustrating, thoroughly conflicted teenager.

He’s doing all the cliche things that we all too often equate with teenage behavior. He’s rebelling. He’s running away from home. He’s trying to figure out his place in the world. He’s pre-occupied with his media. He argues. He thinks all humans / adults are stupid. He always thinks he’s right. He doesn’t do what he’s told to do. Most importantly, he’s growing up and defining himself in a very complicated world.

I loved that final conversation with Mensah’s daughter. She handled Murderbot better than almost any other adult he met in any of the 4 novellas and Murderbot responded to her in a pretty open and honest way – almost like he was dealing with a peer. That one conversation was one of the most enjoyable moments in the 4 books for me – it was really endearing – for lack of a better word – it was just too cute.

Mensah is unique in the book. She is the one human character to which Murderbot is willing to defer. She’s the one character Murderbot respects enough to confer with – to ask for and take advice from – his one human truly ADULT presence. Mensah is Mom.

During the final combat sequence, in a life and death situation, Murderbot steps back from what he’s doing to actually ask for Mensah’s opinion regarding the motives of their attackers. At the point when Murderbot had decided to try and capture the Bond Company gunship and was about to act – Mensah suspected what he was about to do without being told – she stopped him cold with one word a – a simple no – and then engaged him in the way a concerned and very capable parent would their own child – making him understand what was driving his behavior and forcing him to stand down – making him realize that there was a more rational, less confrontational way to achieve his objective. She provided the adult perspective. It was classic parenting.

I know Wells is married but I don’t know for sure that she has children. If so, I would bet my bottom dollar that she was drawing on her parenting experience as she wrote this book. I’ve been processing all of this, reviewing all of this, through the lens of a serious and dedicated science fiction fan and – while I’ve always been really positive overall – there were parts of the story that I quibbled with a bit – quibbles that I’ve written into my first three reviews.

With this new perspective, the story transforms a bit. Now that I’m reading it more as a family drama and a mother / son story, I fell in love with the books in a different and totally unconditional way. I enjoyed all of these books but I enjoyed this 4th and final installment the most – by far. As a parent myself – one that’s done the work of helping my son make the transition from boy to teenager to young adult, I now think I know why! 🙂

If you haven’t read these books, please do so. They’re just flat out wonderful!