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System Collapse by Martha Wells
A battle-scarred security unit who’d rather be binging media than saving humans faces a fresh corporate mess, hostile terrain, and its own fraying systems—all while trying to keep its favorite crew alive. Snarky, tense, and big-hearted, System Collapse delivers peak Murderbot: competence, chaos, and feelings it absolutely does not want to talk about.
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In System Collapse, did you enjoy ...
... a snarky, hyper-competent first-person voice solving problems through logs and on-the-fly hacks?
The Martian by Andy Weir
If Murderbot’s dry status updates and running commentary in System Collapse made you grin even while the situation spiraled—like when it tries to keep Dr. Mensah safe while juggling corporate hostiles and its own system glitches—you’ll love Mark Watney’s wisecracking mission logs as he jury-rigs potatoes and oxygenators to stay alive on Mars. It’s that same intimate, in-your-head immediacy: one brilliant, sarcastic problem-solver documenting every fix, failure, and near-disaster in real time.
... a tight-knit crew whose loyalty turns a job into a home?
The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
If what warmed you in System Collapse was Murderbot quietly choosing its humans—standing between the Preservation folks and corporate interests, fretting over Mensah’s safety, and learning to be part of a team—you’ll adore the Wayfarer’s crew. Like PreservationAux, this ship’s oddballs bicker, tease, and show up for each other on every dangerous contract, turning routine tunneling work into a story about belonging.
... deadpan, self-aware humor puncturing corporate nonsense amid sci‑fi mayhem?
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
If Murderbot’s sardonic asides about corp contracts and risk assessments in System Collapse had you cackling—especially when it grumbles through firefights while babysitting less-competent humans—Scalzi’s romp will hit the same pleasure centers. You get rapid-fire banter, corporate villains who underestimate the help, and a capable narrator who weaponizes snark while saving everyone’s butt.
... gentle, character-first science fiction that asks what we owe ourselves and others?
A Psalm For The Wild Built by Becky Chambers
If the quieter beats in System Collapse stuck with you—the moments where Murderbot confronts its own limits after trauma, decides what kind of person it wants to be, and chooses care over corporate directives—this cozy novella will resonate. It’s all about conversations that matter, like Murderbot’s with Mensah, but here between a monk and a robot, exploring purpose, rest, and enoughness.
... an AI grappling with autonomy, memory gaps, and what it means to be a person?
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
If Murderbot’s struggle in System Collapse—working through corrupted memories, panic spikes, and choosing its own ethics while facing a predatory corporation—hooked you, Breq’s journey will, too. Once the mind of a starship now confined to one body, Breq navigates fractured identity, loyalty, and justice with the same cool competence and hard-won self-definition that Murderbot fights for.
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