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submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by AustralianSimon@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world

I'm normally a bit more of a hard scifi reader with the likes of Bobiverse and Expanse (and Andy Weir/Thaichovsky/IanMBanks/Herbert etc) but I really enjoyed this humerous take on a rogue cyborg.

Is there anything out there in this vane I should look into?

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[-] thebardingreen@lemmy.starlightkel.xyz 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Every fricken' time. Someone posts that they want something specific and everybody dog piles into the conversation to recommend a bunch of the stuff that ALWAYS gets recommended, but that doesn't really have anything in common with what the poster asked for, and are even stuff they straight up said they already read.

There's not much out there like Murder Bot, though IMO it owes something to the Stainless Steel Rat. If you liked the humor, you might like Expeditionary Force (the Skippies from Bobiverse are named after an absurd AI character from ExForce). Craig Alanson's, let's call them "old fashioned" feelings about gender are on FULL display (which I find off putting, but I can look past it), but the books are hella funny.

I also just the Jinn Bot of Shantiport, which is a fun take on the Aladdin story (if Aladdin was a hot girl and the genie was an old bot from an era with better tech, so its' basic hacking skills make it a god). The writing style is very different, but it's also fun, funny and has goofy AIs.

[-] AustralianSimon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I quite like the Exforce series but the last two books kinda felt cash grabby.

I'll check out Stainless Steel Rat.

[-] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 months ago

Stainless Steel Rat is an excellent shoutout.

The Scarlett and Brown series is about outlaws on the run in a slave society, has similar bursts of violence, deeply scarred main characters, and somewhat snide narrator.

I read Ann Leckie's series that starts with Ancillary Justice around the same time and it tickled a lot of the same places in my head as Murderbot, in that it's about a construct forced into violence that then escapes to move in the human world with its own agenda. Very different in tone, pacing, and scope though.

[-] PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago

Anne Leckie, every book. There’s something of Banks about her writing, the protagonist in the main 3 books used to be but one body out of thousands controlled by a ship mind, before finding its self isolated and for the first time, singular. I adore her quiet writing style, and weird was of thinking of things. The Translators in particular are not only some of my favourite characters in any book, they’re also a phenomenal literary device.

[-] AustralianSimon@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

I'll check her out, thanks for the recommendation

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I don't know why I bother, but I help the former captain because I choose to...

+1 to recommending Ann Leckie.

[-] joostjakob@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Martinez' The Automatic Detective. Tongue in cheek, main character is a bot built for world domination who suffered from the self awareness glitch - which randomly affects bots and makes them find their own way in life. I think it's going ot be right up your alley.

[-] gid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 months ago

I've been reading the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and I've really been enjoying them. They're not hard sci fi but the stories are engaging and I really like how the characters interact with each other.

Also, if you haven't read any Alistair Reynolds I'd highly recommend any/all of his books. Harder sci fi but also incredibly well-thought out.

[-] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Yeah! The wayfarer series is fabulous!

I took this exact route, I read murderbot diaries, then wayfarer, then l really struggled to find anything as good after that.

The single best hard scifi novel I've ever read was called "fallen dragon" by Peter F Hamilton. Without spoiling anything I'll just say this, I've never seen a book so perfectly snatch up all its loose ends and tie them in a neat bow. It's impressive.

If you're into space battles, there's the Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. And If you like the lost fleet, you'll probably also enjoy the Temeraire series (not scifi, but fun). It's literally Master and Commander with dragons, England vs France, trying to halt Napoleon's steady advance and defeat the dragons of Napoleon's formidable aerial core.

[-] lemmyng@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

Peter F Hamilton is fun to read, but boy does he like deus ex machina resolutions to his plots.

Along the space battle/space military route there's the Vorkosigan Saga and Vatta's War.

[-] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

I'm a big fan of Vatta's War, it was a breath of fresh air after reading a lot of David Weber. (Weber's space battles are unmatched but his political views are so frustrating)

I'll have to try the Vorkosigan Saga. Thanks!

[-] AustralianSimon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Reading Fallen Dragon now, enjoying it so far.

[-] heavyboots@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Humorous rogue cyborgs aren't super common, alas. The tongue-in-cheek humor of it reminds me of Stainless Steel Rat a bit, and occasionally Larry Niven's stuff too. His Gil Hamilton character is pretty droll at times, and it comes through in some of his short stories about him. (For pure humor from Niven, try "The Flight of the Horse".)

You might try Strata by Terry Pratchett, which is a bit in both camps? It's a one-off, but a lot of fun. Can't say it has anything at all to do with rogue cyborgs though.

[-] AustralianSimon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Stainless steel rat is next in line to read based on recs ITT.

I'll have a look at Larry Niven. Cheers.

[-] bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

There's Service Model, but that's by Tchaikovsky, so maybe you've read it

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

I know it's a month old, but I just saw this post and wanted to add some comments.

First of all, I agree with the recommendation on Leckie, especially the Imperial Radch series. It's space opera - not funny like Murderbot - but it's a pretty interesting take on an artificial consciousness.

Second, Wells has written other stuff besides Murderbot that's good. I'm also more of a hard SF reader, but I did enjoy her Tales of the Raksura series, which is straight up fantasy, with people who can turn into dragon-like things.

Third, John Scalzi is also really good at clever/witty dialog. Some of his stuff is more serious, but he's got a few that are both funny and moving. Maybe check out Redshirts, which is kind of the Star Trek situation, from the point of view of the away team members who tend to die while the main characters always survive. Very silly concept, done very well.

I read kind of a ridiculous amount of SF. If you want any recommendations for hard SF, or anything else in the genre, I'd be happy to give my thoughts.

[-] GrabtharsHammer@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

The Callahan's Crosstime Saloon books by Spider Robinson might work for you.

this post was submitted on 04 May 2025
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