The Murderbot Diaries – What's It About?

Why to be excited for the adaptation, premiering May 16th

Zero Spoilers Introduction

I'm trying a different approach to spoilers today, where each successive heading will mark slightly more spoilers and so you can choose how far you wish to proceed. Let me know what you think!

Today will also be focused on introducing the world of the books and speculating about the adaptation. If you're interested in a deeper look at the character of our eponymous Murderbot in the books, look no further than this short article from last year!

So, what are The Murderbot Diaries? Well, they're a seven-book (though the first four are novellas) science fiction series so far, with contracted plans for at least two more entries. You can read more about the origins of the series in this Wired article, which also goes a little into author Martha Wells' battle with breast cancer last year and how Murderbot helped get her through it.

In tone and content, the books explore deadly serious themes and action through the quirky and sarcastic lens of protagonist Murderbot (pronouns it/its). But just as important is how this setup leaves room for Murderbot to grow and learn to care for its chosen humans, who are perpetually endangered by the predatory world they inhabit. My initial impression, based on the trailer, is that the adaptation has managed to capture at least those first two elements and has set itself up well to reach the third, but only time will tell.

What else? If you choose to read the first book, you can expect one of the most inclusive casts in fiction today. The cast is diverse, queer and poly beyond your wildest imagining – I don't believe there are any characters who are explicitly trans, but gender itself is such a nonissue that half of them may as well be. Murderbot itself is completely aromantic/asexual and reads as highly neurodivergent – only adding to its lovability in my humble opinion.

While I doubt the adaptation will match or surpass the books' on this front, I'm hopeful that it'll still do better than most of what's on TV. I had my doubts about Skarsgård's casting as Murderbot, but I can't deny the guy has range.

Murderbot (Apple TV+)

All Too Relatable

I suppose it's a light spoiler to reveal that the overarching theme of the Murderbot series is a struggle against capitalism and its corrupt, apathetic systems. Murderbot itself is a corporate product, a SecUnit, created and outfitted as cheaply as possible to generate profit for the Company. (That's the only name we have in the books; I'm curious whether the show will do the same!)

The galaxy in which the series takes place is dominated by the 'Corporation Rim', where rampant capitalism has transformed life into the bleakest dystopia. Contract Law and certain other spoilery things are supposed to be attended to with absolute honesty, but a large enough bribe (and confidence that you won't get caught) will see even those standards ignored. (I recently wrote about similar explorations of capitalism through dark humour in this post.)

Each book sees Murderbot dropped into a new situation where Corporate interests have made life miserable (if not highly endangered) for ordinary people, and it does what it can to improve their situation in one way or another. For the first book, All Systems Red, those people are a team from the non-Corporate, scientific entity PreservationAux. Promotional pictures make it look like two characters have been cut/merged for the adaptation, but the rest can be seen below:

Left to right: Arada, Ratthi, Pin-Lee, Gurathin, Mensah and Bharadwaj (Apple TV+)

What I'm Expecting From the Adaptation

I think it's fair to assume that the first season will cover the first book, though it will be interesting to see what's added to turn a 160-page novella with a lot of internal narration into ten ~25 minute episodes. My greatest hope is that Apple goes at least as far as the book in terms of a darkly humourous tone. Something along the lines of Severance would be great – as long as they avoid the massive pitfalls of their Foundation adaptation.

The trailer showed off a couple looks at Murderbot's favourite show (-within-the-show), The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon, and I think this could easily be another make-or-break factor. The books depict this show as the epitome of soap opera satire, so I need the adaptation to go at least halfway to batshit insane. I suppose my worry is that they just included the pretty colours and strange outfits to make the trailer pop. Again, time will tell.

Gurathin hesitated. “It’s downloaded seven hundred hours of entertainment programming since we landed. Mostly serials. Mostly something called Sanctuary Moon.” He shook his head, dismissing it [...] Ratthi said, “The one where the colony’s solicitor killed the terraforming supervisor who was the secondary donor for her implanted baby?” Again, I couldn’t help it. I said, “She didn’t kill him, that’s a fucking lie.” Ratthi turned to Mensah. “It’s watching it.” - All Systems Red, Martha Wells

If there's a season 2, I wonder whether the show will be willing to get a new cast for an adaptation of Artificial Condition, or choose a later book that returns to the Preservation crew. I've seen some speculation online about whether this season will end with a cliff-hanger introduction of fan-favourite character ART; I personally think they'll go with the simple but emotional ending of All Systems Red, but it also partly depends on how confident they are of getting renewed.

Title Card of The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon (Apple TV+)

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Highest spoiler level here to say that I think we'll see Murderbot's backstory explored to a much greater degree in this season than we do in the first book. Author Martha Wells is great at doling out small details of history and worldbuilding while keeping the pace of her novels going, but I imagine the show will want to demonstrate Murderbot's virtuous (if tragic) nature pretty quickly so as not to potentially alienate viewers.

And speaking of alienation... that's a fascinating direction the show might go in its spare time – maybe we'll get a closer look at the GrayCris operation? I'd be surprised if we spent many episodes solely at the Hub, so maybe we'll see an added outing or two.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful whether you're new, returning or as actively interested in Murderbot as I am! What are your feelings going into the show? Are you planning to watch as soon as the first two episodes are up tomorrow, or wait for the whole season?

Thanks for reading and until next time <3