Review: Platform Decay by Martha Wells

Devoted followers of Martha Wells’s Murderbot series will find the half-organic, half-robot, very lethal, extremely sarcastic security unit Murderbot (SecUnit) in her eighth book, Platform Decay, on a mission inside a massive, planetary, torus-shaped ring space station.

The novella’s plot involves rescuing members of Mensah’s family. Slipping through security challenges with fellow SecUnit Three, Murderbot finds a safe house holding not only the intended retrieval targets, but also a Corporate Rim supervisor who convinces Murderbot to also rescue members of her family too, from detention by Barish Estranza operatives.

The combat scenes, cynical commentary, and vivid descriptions of the ring’s varied landscapes keep the narrative exciting, even for devoted readers who have followed Murderbot from the very first book. However, fans of the Apple TV series who pick up this installment without having read the earlier books may find it difficult to parse some character relationships and background details mentioned only in passing. Murderbot’s challenges in dealing with the human children and the addition of a new “mental health module” add a fresh level of enjoyment and humor for both groups of fans.

It’s a fun, enjoyable read: an entertaining entry in the series not to be missed.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Platform Decay will be published by Tor in May 2026.