System Collapse (Murderbot, volume 7)

By Martha Wells

15 Jan, 2026

Talking to the Sun

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2023’s System Collapse is the seventh volume in Martha Wells’ series of Murderbot Diaries.

Good news for the remnants of the Adamantine colony! They have been rediscovered. Preservation Station’s representatives, Murderbot included, are here to help.

Bad news for the remnants of the Adamantine colony! They have been rediscovered. Barish-Estranza corporation’s representatives are here to help… themselves.

On the one hand, Preservation has the colony’s best interests in mind, whereas the Corporation Rim, from which Barish-Estranza hails, has corporate profits in mind, uninhibited by ethical concerns. On the other, the colonists have been out of touch for a long time (thus the pre-Rim media files Murderbot stumbles over) and truth may fail in the face of glib PR.

Complicating matters: the colony split some time before rediscovery. Whether the off-shoot community survives is unclear, a matter for Murderbot and its Preservation allies to determine. Thus, an unofficial race with Barish-Estranza to locate the second group.

Even if the second group survived and even if Murderbot wins the race, the great corporations of the Rim didn’t get where they are by playing fair. Violence is always an option. Preservation’s envoys include combat-ready members — Murderbot being only one — but who can say what the corporation brought?

At least the crisis is a distraction from Murder Bot’s recent malfunction. Or would be, if Murderbot weren’t concerned that the malfunction would recur at the perfect wrong moment.

Just as well for Murder Bot’s peace of mind that it does not know that Barish-Stanza’s team cannot afford to lose.

_oOo

In previous Murderbot reviews, I commented that the Corporation Rim system didn’t seem all that sustainable. This book provides further evidence of that. However, knowing that something will collapse of its own weight is little comfort if you’re dealing with it right now1.

A patron wants me to review Platform Decay, the eighth book in this series. It seems only sensible to review the seventh volume first.

It’s been half a decade since I last reviewed a Murderbot. That’s enough time to forget details. Long enough that I forgot volume six, Fugitive Telemetry, and thought the previous book was Network Effect.

This was a perfectly fine Murderbot story that delivered pretty much what one wants, yet I had a hard time getting into it and maintaining focus. I don’t think it was the book. Perhaps there are external distractions2.

System Collapse is available here (Tor), here (Barnes & Noble), here (Bookshop US), here (Bookshop UK), here (Chapters-Indigo), and here (Words Worth Books).

1: USA delenda est.

2: At least mine aren’t in the form of door-to-door murder squads. Not yet, anyway.

On an unrelated note, if you live in a country that still has a functioning democracy, and there’s an upcoming election you’re thinking of sitting out because none of the candidates are magical sparkle ponies, don’t.