Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory

eBook, 32 pages

English language

Published April 18, 2021 by Tom Doherty Associates.

(5 reviews)

“Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory” is a short story set in the world of Martha Well's Murderbot Diaries. This story was originally given free to readers who pre-ordered Network Effect, the fifth entry in the series. The events of “Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory” occur just after the fourth novella, Exit Strategy.

3 editions

reviewed Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #4.5)

Home

This is a short story that can be read online. The most notable part about this for me is that it was the first story not from Murderbot's point of view, but from Mensah's instead.

This viewpoint shift works for me because Mensah's trauma around being abducted on TranRollinHyfa comes through much more clearly in her own voice. It functions similarly to Rapport in that getting to see the other side of a relationship strengthens your understanding of both sides.

Her feed notifies her of a message packet, addressed to her and Bharadwaj. It’s a link to some sort of catalog weapons supply service. Ayda sighs, mostly amused. “It’s listening to us right now.” It must be hard to respect other people’s privacy when you’ve had to fight and scheme for every minute of your own. Hard not to be paranoid when you remember all the times your paranoia …

Packs a lot into a short story

Short story set just after Exit Strategy, showing a tiny slice of Ayda Mensah’s life as she struggles with the traumatic events she’d just lived through.

In a break from the rest of the series so far it’s seen from Mensah’s point-of-view, with Murderbot’s interactions mostly, but not exclusively, via the feed.

Though succinct, it brings added depth to the burgeoning friendship between Mensah and Murderbot. I really liked it.

Good

A short, interesting look into the mind of Dr. Mensah who's understandably struggling with all the things that happened to her in the 4 previous novellas. We also get a tiny look into the inner workings of Preservation station and the alliance. Should best be read right after "Exit Strategy" as it's more of an epilogue. Could have been longer and explored some of the themes a bit more but I assume that'll happen in "Network Effect".

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Subjects

  • Fiction
  • Science fiction
  • Short story