Martha Wells’ bestselling Murderbot works are justly famous. Given their instant popularity, it’s possible that some fans, new to her works, may have assumed that the first Murderbot book, All Systems Red, must have been the author’s publishing debut. Not so.
In fact, Wells’ debut novel, The Element of Fire, appeared in 1993. To put that in terms grognards might better understand, by this point in their careers, Poul Anderson had just published A Knight of Ghost and Shadows, while Lois McMaster Bujold was about to publish Penric’s Demon.
This is, of course, good news! If you are only familiar with Well’s Murderbot books, know that there are plenty more Wells books to read. Allow me to suggest five Martha Wells books that Murderbot fans might like.
The Element of Fire (1993)
Old King Fulstan of Il-Rien died little mourned and was succeeded by his legitimate heir, Roland. While not as unpleasant as Fulstan, King Roland is a disappointment. Roland is all too easily swayed, in particular by his toxic favourite Denzil, Duke of Alsene. The weak, foolish king does nothing to defend the realm against threats military and magical; indeed, he’s a weak point in the defenses. Defense falls to the court: the dowager queen, the queen, various ministers, and gentleman adventurer Thomas Boniface.
The pressing threat: Urbain Grandier, late of theocratic Bisra. He has a very bold plan and heads an alliance composed of traitors and compulsive backstabbers. His primary targets are those who wronged him in Bisra. However, a side-effect of his plan will be the immiseration of Il-Rien. His scheme must be stopped.
The king’s bastard sister, princess Katherine Fontainon, now known as Kade Carrion, could play a central role in the effort to confound Grandier. However, Kade has grudges of her own; whether she values Il-Rien more than her resentment against the crown is a very interesting question. Boniface must discover the answer.
City of Bones (1995)
Had he any choice in the matter, guide Khat would not accept employment from a scholar like Elen, since Khat suspects Elen will kill him as soon as Khat’s usefulness is ended. However, a despised non-human krisman like Khat, living in a desolate post-apocalyptic world, has a hard time finding jobs. Elen’s offer is unpalatable but irresistible.
Their party is ambushed by bandits; Elen’s guards perish. Elen and Khat must rely on each other to reach the abandoned ancient citadel and solve its archaeological mysteries. Neither Elen nor Khat is comfortable with this forced trust. Elen is an archaeologist and determined to delve into ancient (dangerous!) mysteries. Khat has been drawn, willy-nilly, into a quest that may well reprise the apocalypse that scoured the ancient world.
The Death of the Necromancer (1998)
The rules of the aristocrat Nicholas Valiarde’s game are simple. Assisted by a diverse team of criminals, Valiarde (also known as master thief Donatien) will do his best to punish Count Montesq for orchestrating the trumped-up conviction and execution of Valiarde’s beloved godfather Edouarde. Brilliant master-detective Inspector Ronsarde and his faithful assistant Doctor Halle will do their best to capture Donatien. Montesq will no doubt do his best to avoid justice, formal or informal. All that remains is to determine which of the three will be most successful.
A fourth party is nowhere on Valiarde’s menu. The new player has a name—Doctor Octave!—but what skills Doctor Octave brings to the board are unclear, as are his goals. If Octave is not a necromancer himself, one of his allies definitely is. Whoever the necromancer is, they know that Valiarde is aware of their necromantic dabbling. Valiarde therefore finds himself in a brand-new game: staying alive long enough to deal with the sorcerer who has targeted Valiarde for death.
The Wheel of the Infinite (2000)
The Celestial Empire believes itself the centre of the universe (as have many real-world empires). In this case, the claim is true. The fate of the world depends on the empire’s sacred mountain. Rituals performed there reshape the universe. Thus, when the Hundred Year Rite, in which the Wheel of the Infinite is redrawn and harmony ensured, repeatedly goes wrong, it is not merely embarrassing. It is potentially catastrophic.
The Celestial One turns to Maskelle, the former Voice of the Adversary, for succor. Years ago, Maskelle blotted her copybook rather badly, thus the exile from which she must be summoned home to Duvalpore. However, she has a unique and useful set of skills, skills that may reveal the malefactors behind the sabotaged rite and thus save the empire and its world. Or, if she repeats the errors of the past, doom everything.
The Cloud Roads (2011)
There are several intelligent species in the Three Worlds. Orphaned Moon never learned what kind of person he is. What he does know is that he is a shapeshifter, and that his winged form bears a passing resemblance to a Fell. The Fell are aggressive and ravenous; they have driven several civilizations into collapse; they are universally hated.
When Moon shapeshifts, he is tagged as Fell and driven out of whatever tribe he has joined. It doesn’t matter that he has done nothing wrong; he is seen as a threat.
So it is with his latest attempt at joining a tribe. His neighbors spy his winged form and are ready to drive him out…perhaps even kill him.
Enter Stone, who saves Moon. Stone knows exactly what Moon is—not a Fell, but a Raksura—and Stone has a use for Moon. Raksura are divided into castes and Moon, a consort-caste Raksura, would fill a valuable niche in Indigo Cloud Court. Moon could finally find an accepting community and a useful role…but there are a few problems. Not only is the court is divided against itself, the Fell are poised to attack and destroy it.
***
Martha Wells has written more than five non-Murderbot books, from standalones like City of Bones and Wheel of the Infinite to the Books of the Raksura series and other works set in The Death of the Necromancer’s world of Ile-Rien. As I am limited to the canonical five, I can’t discuss them all here. If any Wells fans have Wells books and stories they want to recommend, the comments are below.
In the words of Wikipedia editor TexasAndroid, prolific book reviewer and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll is of “questionable notability.” His work has appeared in Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites, James Nicoll Reviews and the Aurora finalist Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis). He is a four-time finalist for the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award, is eligible to be nominated again this year, and is surprisingly flammable.
Urbain Grandier?
Earlier books are all well and good, and eventually I’ll check them out but the most pressing question most of Murderbot fans have is whether there going to be anymore Murderbot books?!
For ‘several’ read ‘thousands, if not tens of thousands’. Certainly lots and lots.
About a year ago, Tor dropped this article just one day before the publication of Fugitive Telemetry, the (still) latest Murderbot novella.
I suppose that this deal is still on (why shouldn’t it?) so we can expect at least three more Murderbot books.
I’ve liked everything she’s written, but I especially recommend Wheel of the Infinite. Though the Raksura books probably come closest to scratching the Murderbot itch, in the sense of a well-meaning but often baffled protagonist in a diverse world.
The well-known phenomenon of the overnight success who has been plugging away for two decades prior.
The Raksura books remind me of Norton’s space: lots of cultures, and civilizations come and go quickly, and without proper records.
As soon as I ran out of Muderbot books I went and searched for all her earlier books! I loved the Raksura series and Wheel of the infinite, and I plan to read City of Bones, and whatever Wells publishes next, but sadly I’m unable to read the early Il-Rein books beyond a few pages. Every time I try the writing frustrates me!
Even if you go to the Raksura series after reading just the first Murderbot book you can see a few traces of where the author’s writing skills have improved, so going back to the early work is very difficult for me. And from what I searched there are also certain tropes I dislike.
From this experience I learned that you can still have an author as a favourite even if you don’t like or read their early work. And also, if you don’t like an author’s debut you can still give them a chance a few years later when their new books seem appealing.
I would have mentioned the two Emilie books but they seem to be out of print and I didn’t want to tease people.
Oh, those Emilie books look like YA. That could be useful around here. Thanks!
Out of print, yes; available at the library, no; but they do appear to be available used for reasonable prices, yay!
My 1st Martha Wells was her Star Wars book Razor’s Edge. I don’t read all of the SW spinoffs, but I can recommend.Razor’s Edge. Then I read the 1st Murderbot book and was hooked.
If you’re okay with audiobooks, Recorded Books has released both Emilie books.
I’ve been following her work since ‘City of Bones’ was published, and have enjoyed each twist in her publishing pathway. As the Ile-Rien stories were released it was fun to see the world development and connections, sometimes quite subtle, between the various books. The Raksura books were also great at establishing a non-human culture that felt simultaneously alien and understandable.
I am in this situation currently, and am reading Death of a Necromancer, having finished Elements, and stand-alone City of Bones. In a way, it’s not fair to Martha to read her earliest published works and expect the same style and clarity as MurderBot. However, for authors learning the craft, we can see how Martha improves from book to book. Primarily, she has improved her brevity and clarity, honing it with short stories. She’s a great teacher and writer. Thanks
You’re underselling The Death of the Necromancer by not mentioning that it’s a Sherlock Holmes story where Moriarty is the hero. And The Fall of Il-Rien trilogy is also excellent.
As a Murderbot fan, but not a Halo gamer, I was surprised how Halo seemed very similar to Murderbot (at least the first episode).
definitely add the fall of ile-rien books to your book list!
Wasn’t Thomas Boniface Captain of the Dowager Queen’s guard ?
In addition to being widely considered subhuman, Khat is also a) disinterested in romance b) totally not deeply traumatized at all what are you talking about shut up, and c) 1000% done with everyone.
So if you miss Murderbot specifically, City of Bones is not a bad substitute.
Well, this explains a lot! There’s no way I would read these earlier works. They sound so different from the Murderbots – like so much fantasy and paranormal. I am a science fiction fan. That is all.
P.S. Thanks for the heads-up!
It will be fascinating to see in what style her first fantasy books after the long Murderbot spell are written: will they be more like her earlier fantasy work or more like Murderbot?
City of Bones is SO GOOD. I love the world she created and want more in that setting, with those characters. I enjoyed the Raksura stuff even though I generally don’t like YA. Very fun.
I agree with #15 and #17
i love the Il-Rien books
I’m with #15 & #19. Both of those books are occasional rereads for me.
I consider ‘The Death of the Necromancer’ something close to a masterpiece in its pacing and its use of overlapping action arcs, which is part of what makes the Murderbot books so compulsively readable; every time the heroes escape one desperate situation, there’s something left to do or something turns up that they must take care of, and before long they’re rapidly into another one.
‘City of Bones’ is also brilliant, as mentioned above, and I enjoy how it’s thoroughly ambiguous whether it’s fantasy or science fiction, depending on your interpretation of what caused the world’s apocalypse and where the threat is coming from.
I like the later Ile-Rien books too – though not as much as ‘Necromancer’ for various reasons – and also like all the Raksura books, but those two are probably my favorites of her earlier books. I think James Nicoll’s comparison of the Raksura setting to some of Andre Norton’s books is quite apt.
I think I read ‘Wheel of the Infinite’ but it’s been so long I don’t remember it at all, and I might be mixing it up with a different book.