📚心得【Murderbot #6: Fugitive Telemetry】 by Martha Wells, 2021

#中短篇 #軟科幻 #偵探? #Cyborg主角 #半人半機

剛開頭看這集時一頭霧水，怎麼與《Murderbot #5: Network Effect》接不上？才知道原來第5集當初是standalone，不應該和其他集混在一起看，所以閱讀順序應該是1~4、6、把5當外傳。老實說這集感覺在系列中可有可無啊。

第6集《Fugitive Telemetry》中，殺人機仍留在保留地的軌道太空站上，犯罪率通常極低的保留地購物區突然出現了一具屍體。在對GrayCris的疑心病作用下，殺人機決定調查兇手。對，這次是偵探劇。

這集比較特別是，喜劇成分有增加，動作劇情不多，大多是推理成分；重點也遠離了殺人機半人半機的身分。偵探劇情方面，我看的當下是沒猜到兇手是誰，但劇情走向還算蠻好預測的；這次沒太多動作部分，所以也沒特別開主角光環的感覺，比較不突兀了，但第5集看完之後接這集應該會覺得劇情精彩度差很多，事件規模實在差太多了。

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IMO總分：61分，主線劇情基本沒有進展，可有可無的普通續作。

核心思想：★★☆☆☆ 核心討論議題是否有趣*5

劇情細節：★★★☆☆ 綜觀整體劇情的質與量*4

角色刻畫：★★★★☆ 角色群的必要性與深度*3

科學軟硬：★★★☆☆ 是否符合現實物理現象*3

結局滿意：★★★★☆ 結局滿意度與有無餘韻*3

易讀程度：★★★☆☆ 閱讀時章節是否難消化*2

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#Novella #Soft_Scifi #Detective #Cyborg_Protagonist

When I first started reading this one, I was completely confused about how it didn't connect with 《Murderbot #5: Network Effect》. Turns out, the fifth book was meant to be a standalone and shouldn't be read alongside the others. So the proper reading order is books 1-4, then 6, treating 5 as more of a side story. Honestly, this one feels pretty unnecessary in the series.

In 《Fugitive Telemetry》, Murderbot is still stuck on the orbital station above the habitat. The usually crime-free shopping district of the habitat suddenly turns up a corpse. Driven by some paranoia towards GrayCris company, Murderbot decides to investigate the killer. Yeah, this one leans more into detective mystery territory.

This one feels a bit different with more comedy elements and less action; the focus is mostly on investigation and inference rather than anything else. It also takes a step back from exploring Murderbot's half-human, half-machine identity. For the mystery aspect, I didn't guess correctly who the culprit is before the revelation, but the plot developments were pretty predictable. Since there wasn't much action, there wasn't that usual "Murderbot plot armor", which actually made it less jarring — but if you read 《Network Effect》 before this one, you'll definitely notice a big drop in the scale and quality of events.

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IMO Rating: 61. The main storyline isn't advancing much. TBH it's an average follow-up that could easily be skipped.

Core Theme: ★★☆☆☆ (*5)

Plot Quality: ★★★☆☆ (*4)

Character Development: ★★★★☆ (*3)

Science Validity: ★★★☆☆ (*3)

Ending Satisfaction: ★★★★☆ (*3)

Readability: ★★★☆☆ (*2)