I'll be interested to see how the show brings forth all of the internal thought processes that make the book shine. Will we have Arrested Development style quips to provide us the details of the...
I'll be interested to see how the show brings forth all of the internal thought processes that make the book shine. Will we have Arrested Development style quips to provide us the details of the inner workings of the titular character? Will they try to convey the character's orthogonal motivations via spoken dialogue (I can imagine murderbot constantly grumbling about being distracted from watching its media)? I'm genuinely curious how they'll convey the austism-adjacent inner narration that makes the books work so well via the screen.
The world in the book is a sort of under-developed (by the author) hyper-capitalistic seen-it-all-before backdrop to the murderbot's adventures. Technology is frequently hand-wavy magic plot devices to drive character interactions (which can be a fine thing!). So I hope the show doesn't try to turn the world into a character, but instead keeps an almost star-trek like "things in this universe just work, and here is how our cast of lovable characters interacts with it" vibe.
Not to be that guy, but I hadn’t heard of the books until today, saw it had gotten picked up earlier and said “maybe I’ll remember that when it comes out”, and now with Skarsgård attached, I’m...
I know casting an A-lister is important to get eyes on screens, but damn.
Not to be that guy, but I hadn’t heard of the books until today, saw it had gotten picked up earlier and said “maybe I’ll remember that when it comes out”, and now with Skarsgård attached, I’m waaay more likely to get pay attention to the release. So, I guess it worked?
Should probably see if I can find the books at the library!
I never read these books, but I always thought Murderbot was actually an old-school robot like the ones on covers for Asimov books, just wearing a suit over the metal. I'm slightly disappointed...
I never read these books, but I always thought Murderbot was actually an old-school robot like the ones on covers for Asimov books, just wearing a suit over the metal. I'm slightly disappointed because it seems he's more of an android from your comment.
That said, Alexander Skarsgård conveyed the non-human aspects of a vampire very well in True Blood.
Sorry for calling Murderbot a "he", it's just a habit coming from a language with grammatical gender where the word for "robot" is "masculine" :P Still disappointed it's not an old-school robot,...
Sorry for calling Murderbot a "he", it's just a habit coming from a language with grammatical gender where the word for "robot" is "masculine" :P
Still disappointed it's not an old-school robot, but I still plan on reading it.
Murderbot is more a cyborg than anything, outwardly human passing but with a lot of internal augmentations. In universe though the general public assumes they are more like robots due to almost...
Murderbot is more a cyborg than anything, outwardly human passing but with a lot of internal augmentations. In universe though the general public assumes they are more like robots due to almost always having their body covered with battle armour.
I just finished the latest book, "System Collapse" last night. I enjoyed it but felt like it is somehow predictable, and not really exciting or challenging. The series doesn't seem to be building...
I just finished the latest book, "System Collapse" last night.
I enjoyed it but felt like it is somehow predictable, and not really exciting or challenging. The series doesn't seem to be building to anything. When/If another one comes out I am still looking forward to reading it though. I realized the books are serialized comfort reads for me. Like watching 'The Office" or like "The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon", the fictional show in the books, is to Murderbot. I'm not sure how purposeful that is and if I should have realized the symmetry several books ago. The books are each these little encapsulated stories, there is always action, violence, greed and drama. In the end, Murderbot always comes out ok and nothing really changes in the wider universe. They are almost willfully not epic. The characters and stories feel like small insignificant drops in an ocean of humanity and monolithic corporate greed.
I wonder if the show will be that too. I hope they don't try to make it epic.
Also, I always picture a more feminine form for Murderbot, but Skarsgård can probably pull it off as long as they de-gender him a bit with make-up/effects.
I enjoy the psychological aspect to the stories. Also I enjoy the old fashioned serial adventures. Murderbot reminds me of heroes I watched on television as a child.
I enjoy the psychological aspect to the stories. Also I enjoy the old fashioned serial adventures. Murderbot reminds me of heroes I watched on television as a child.
I feel like, especially if you treat the 1st 4 novellas like 1 book, the story is progressing towards the possibility of the corporation rim collapse and equality/freedom for sentient...
I feel like, especially if you treat the 1st 4 novellas like 1 book, the story is progressing towards the possibility of the corporation rim collapse and equality/freedom for sentient AIs/constructs.
You're right in that it's incremental but I don't think the interest is in epic world changing drama, but in the smaller story of Murderbot and its humans.
One of the best parts of reading is that our brain creates whatever it wants, even if the it doesn't match the description. I fell in love with HP novels as I was growing up and when they cast...
One of the best parts of reading is that our brain creates whatever it wants, even if the it doesn't match the description. I fell in love with HP novels as I was growing up and when they cast characters as close to the book as possible, I was so thrown off, because I had completely different pictures in my head.
I'll be interested to see how the show brings forth all of the internal thought processes that make the book shine. Will we have Arrested Development style quips to provide us the details of the inner workings of the titular character? Will they try to convey the character's orthogonal motivations via spoken dialogue (I can imagine murderbot constantly grumbling about being distracted from watching its media)? I'm genuinely curious how they'll convey the austism-adjacent inner narration that makes the books work so well via the screen.
The world in the book is a sort of under-developed (by the author) hyper-capitalistic seen-it-all-before backdrop to the murderbot's adventures. Technology is frequently hand-wavy magic plot devices to drive character interactions (which can be a fine thing!). So I hope the show doesn't try to turn the world into a character, but instead keeps an almost star-trek like "things in this universe just work, and here is how our cast of lovable characters interacts with it" vibe.
Not to be that guy, but I hadn’t heard of the books until today, saw it had gotten picked up earlier and said “maybe I’ll remember that when it comes out”, and now with Skarsgård attached, I’m waaay more likely to get pay attention to the release. So, I guess it worked?
Should probably see if I can find the books at the library!
I have now read four of the series and I am hooked. I'm spacing it out with other books in between, but they are a lot of fun.
I never read these books, but I always thought Murderbot was actually an old-school robot like the ones on covers for Asimov books, just wearing a suit over the metal. I'm slightly disappointed because it seems he's more of an android from your comment.
That said, Alexander Skarsgård conveyed the non-human aspects of a vampire very well in True Blood.
Sorry for calling Murderbot a "he", it's just a habit coming from a language with grammatical gender where the word for "robot" is "masculine" :P
Still disappointed it's not an old-school robot, but I still plan on reading it.
Murderbot is more a cyborg than anything, outwardly human passing but with a lot of internal augmentations. In universe though the general public assumes they are more like robots due to almost always having their body covered with battle armour.
I just finished the latest book, "System Collapse" last night.
I enjoyed it but felt like it is somehow predictable, and not really exciting or challenging. The series doesn't seem to be building to anything. When/If another one comes out I am still looking forward to reading it though. I realized the books are serialized comfort reads for me. Like watching 'The Office" or like "The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon", the fictional show in the books, is to Murderbot. I'm not sure how purposeful that is and if I should have realized the symmetry several books ago. The books are each these little encapsulated stories, there is always action, violence, greed and drama. In the end, Murderbot always comes out ok and nothing really changes in the wider universe. They are almost willfully not epic. The characters and stories feel like small insignificant drops in an ocean of humanity and monolithic corporate greed.
I wonder if the show will be that too. I hope they don't try to make it epic.
Also, I always picture a more feminine form for Murderbot, but Skarsgård can probably pull it off as long as they de-gender him a bit with make-up/effects.
I enjoy the psychological aspect to the stories. Also I enjoy the old fashioned serial adventures. Murderbot reminds me of heroes I watched on television as a child.
I feel like, especially if you treat the 1st 4 novellas like 1 book, the story is progressing towards the possibility of the corporation rim collapse and equality/freedom for sentient AIs/constructs.
You're right in that it's incremental but I don't think the interest is in epic world changing drama, but in the smaller story of Murderbot and its humans.
Oh this will be interesting... I'm still on Book 2 of this series. For some reason, I've always pictured Murderbot as female.
One of the best parts of reading is that our brain creates whatever it wants, even if the it doesn't match the description. I fell in love with HP novels as I was growing up and when they cast characters as close to the book as possible, I was so thrown off, because I had completely different pictures in my head.
Completely agree! I just couldn't get into the HP movies, but I love the books. Our brains are pretty amazing organs...