The Murderbot Diaries 2-4

 Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy by Martha Wells, 479 pages.

These three novella feature Murderbot out on its own for the first time. In Artificial Condition it goes back to the scene of the massacre that caused it to name itself "Murderbot" and in the process gets way to invested in helping some humans being hunted by corporate powers. In Rogue Protocol it decides that it is maybe more invested in helping Dr. Mensah than it wanted to admit and goes to gather evidence of corporate maleficence, once again immediately getting very invested in protecting another group of humans. In Exit Strategy it is not another group of random humans it has to protect, but rather Dr. Mensah herself, who has been kidnapped. 

These little novellas are extremely readable, and I find something about them very compelling. I am especially liking them better as Murderbot becomes more capable of being honest with itself about the fact that it cares about more than media, which is a gradual development up through these books. I do think, that with very minor structural tweaks, these books might work better as one longer novel. The slow periods would feel less noticeable in a larger book, and it feels like in many ways these book complete a single arc. I would recommend them as fun, quick sci-fi reads with a solid sense of humor.