Rogue Protocol Audiobook by Martha Wells (Review)

Posted by on Dec 17, 2018 in Reviews | 14 comments

Review of: Rogue Protocol Audiobook
Audiobook:
Martha Wells

Reviewed by:
Rating:
4
On December 17, 2018
Last modified:August 24, 2022

Summary:

Rogue Protocol Audiobook

By: Martha Wells

Narrated by: Kevin R. Free

Published by Recorded Books 8/7/2018

Rogue Protocol Audiobook

4 Hearts rating image Hot Listens

Murderbot Diaries #3

3 hrs and 46 mins

genre: Sci-Fi

Rogue Protocol Audiobook Sample

Rogue Protocol Audiobook

4.0 Hearts

Moving into the third leg of Murderbot’s adventures, I was eager for more of his wry humor, confusion and interest in human behavior and interactions along with the trouble he can find without even trying.

Rogue Protocol is the third novella in the Murderbot Diaries series. Each is an installment in one ongoing story so must be read in order.

Murderbot has been slowly assimilating into the futuristic world in the stars where his kind, a security robot or, sec unit as they are called, is not supposed to be loose and enjoying the ‘freedom’ of a human. For one, he may have been part of a mass slaughter at a mine which earned him the name Murderbot and he may have removed the controls that force him to obey commands and protocols. And, he most definitely may be addicted to entertainment vids. First, he just wanted to explore freedom and not belong to anyone even a kindhearted scientist who wouldn’t exploit him, but he also feels a need to take it to the GrayCris Corporation who use up and kill both humans and bots in their greedy quest for more.

Murderbot is still being talked about on the news channels so he must keep a low profile. This involves pretending to be human and a security expert fooling other artificial intelligence and bots as well as the humans. He constantly gets into trouble and forced to fall back on his original programing which inclines him to protect and save humans. This recent quest to dig up more dirt on GrayCris to help his scientist friend leads him into a new bad situation and an intriguing encounter with another bot who seems to like and want to be human.

As I said before, I enjoy the humor, but I also enjoy Murderbot’s thoughts on who and what he is and how he interacts with those around him. The suspense and action scenes don’t hurt. My only niggle is how short each book is. Though, yes, it is fully developed and self-contained (and, though I didn’t purchase this Whoa is the price steep).

I am eager to move on to the final segment of this story arc and look forward to more adventures with Murderbot. Those who enjoy sci-fi set in future space should give these a go.

Rogue Protocol Audiobook Narration

4 Hearts

While I read the first two installments of the series, I had the chance to get Rogue Protocol in audio. It was my first experience with Kevin Free’s narration. I enjoyed his voice and the distinction of character voices. His cadence threw me off a little in the beginning, but I adjusted and ended up liking his narration work by the end. He conveyed well the distinction between human voices and bot voices without a cliché robotic voice.

Martha WellsMartha Wells has written many fantasy novels, including The Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads), the Ile-Rien series (including The Death of the Necromancer) as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, media tie-ins (for Star Wars and Stargate: Atlantis), and non-fiction. Her most recent fantasy novel is The Harbors of the Sun in 2017, the final novel in The Books of the Raksura series. She has a new series of SF novellas, The Murderbot Diaries, published by Tor.com in 2017 and 2018. She was also the lead writer for the story team of Magic: the Gathering’s Dominaria expansion in 2018. She has won a Nebula Award, a Hugo Award, an ALA/YALSA Alex Award, a Locus Award, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. Her books have been published in eleven languages.

She has had short stories in the magazines Black Gate, Realms of Fantasy, Lone Star Stories, Lightspeed Magazine, and Stargate Magazine, and in the Tsunami Relief anthology Elemental, The Other Half of the Sky, Tales of the Emerald Serpent, Mech: Age of Steel, and The Gods of Lovecraft.

She has essays in the nonfiction anthologies Farscape Forever, Mapping the World of Harry Potter, Chicks Unravel Time, and The Kobold Guide to Magic.

Twitter logo

Kevin R. FreeKevin R. Free has appeared on national television in commercials and on NBC’s Law & Orderand Law & Order: SVU. New York audiences have seen Mr. Free Off-Broadway, creating the role of Memphis in From My Hometown both for Amas Musical Theatre and at the Gramercy Theatre, for which he was nominated for an Audelco Award. He was also seen Off-Broadway at the York Theatre in Taking A Chance On Love, and as Bubber Brown in The New Federal Theatre’s acclaimed The Conjure Man Dies. He has been featured in concerts with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and with the education department of Symphony Space. Mr. Free has performed regionally in many places, including his home state of North Carolina at Charlotte Repertory Theatre (Belize in Angels in America, Paul in Six Degrees of Separation) and at the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival (Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ariel in The Tempest). Other favorite roles in the musical theatre include Dromio of Ephesus in The Boys From Syracuse at CENTERSTAGE, Nemur in Chasing Nicolette at Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia,Milton in Avenue X at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Gift Guy in Adventures In Love at the Ordway in St. Paul, MN, and Flick in Violet at Stage One in Wichita, KS and at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, for which he was nominated for.

Twitter logo

My thanks to Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by

Sophia Rose Signature

  • 4
    editor rating
Sophia Rose
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.