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LitRPG / science fantasy
Series · science fiction
The Murderbot Diaries
The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells has 10 known books (10 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with All Systems Red (2017). Platform Decay is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date.
- Books
- 10 known books (3 novels + 5 novellas + 2 short stories)
- Published
- 10
- First published
- 2017
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Science Fiction
Start here: All Systems Red (2017)
— then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
All Systems Red
All Systems Red opened The Murderbot Diaries in May 2017, a 158-page novella by Martha Wells that began the sequence continued the following year by Artificial Condition. Alternative text for cover: Cover of All Systems Red - Book 2:
Artificial Condition
Artificial Condition, the second novella, appeared in May 2018 at 163 pages, arriving almost exactly a year after All Systems Red. Like the rest of the early novellas, it's a tight, fast read carried by Murderbot's dry sarcasm and deep discomfort with human attachment, meant to be read close together with its companion books. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Artificial Condition - Book 3:
Rogue Protocol
Rogue Protocol followed just three months later, in August 2018, a 158-page third entry that preceded Exit Strategy the same year. Wells kept the pace rapid-fire through this stretch, with Murderbot's reluctant, quietly growing care for the people around it continuing to build from novella to novella. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rogue Protocol - Book 4:
Exit Strategy
Exit Strategy closed out the first year of rapid-fire Murderbot novellas in October 2018, running 182 pages -- the longest of the initial four -- after Rogue Protocol. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Exit Strategy - Book 5:
Network Effect
Network Effect, published in May 2020, marks Martha Wells's shift to full novel length at 333 pages, roughly double any of the four novellas that preceded it. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Network Effect - Book 6:
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory is a 32-page short story published in April 2021, sitting outside the main numbered Murderbot sequence between Network Effect and Fugitive Telemetry. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory - Book 7:
Fugitive Telemetry
Fugitive Telemetry arrived just eight days after Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory in April 2021, a 176-page sixth numbered entry following Network Effect. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fugitive Telemetry - Book 8:
System Collapse
System Collapse, published in November 2023 at 203 pages, is the seventh numbered entry, arriving over two years after Fugitive Telemetry. It continues directly from Network Effect, part of Wells's shift from the original novellas into full novels with a growing ensemble around Murderbot's expanding found family. Alternative text for cover: Cover of System Collapse - Book 9:
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy is a 32-page short story from July 2025, matching the earlier Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory in length and falling outside the main numbered sequence. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy - Book 10:
Platform Decay
Platform Decay, published May 2026 at 256 pages, is the eighth numbered novel in The Murderbot Diaries, following System Collapse and the short story Rapport. Martha Wells has confirmed at least one further novel is contracted after it, with no title or date yet announced -- keeping the series ongoing rather than complete. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Platform Decay
The order the story's events happen in, novellas slotted where they belong.
- Book 1:
All Systems Red
All Systems Red opened The Murderbot Diaries in May 2017, a 158-page novella by Martha Wells that began the sequence continued the following year by Artificial Condition. Alternative text for cover: Cover of All Systems Red - Book 2:
Artificial Condition
Artificial Condition, the second novella, appeared in May 2018 at 163 pages, arriving almost exactly a year after All Systems Red. Like the rest of the early novellas, it's a tight, fast read carried by Murderbot's dry sarcasm and deep discomfort with human attachment, meant to be read close together with its companion books. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Artificial Condition - Book 3:
Rogue Protocol
Rogue Protocol followed just three months later, in August 2018, a 158-page third entry that preceded Exit Strategy the same year. Wells kept the pace rapid-fire through this stretch, with Murderbot's reluctant, quietly growing care for the people around it continuing to build from novella to novella. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rogue Protocol - Book 4:
Exit Strategy
Exit Strategy closed out the first year of rapid-fire Murderbot novellas in October 2018, running 182 pages -- the longest of the initial four -- after Rogue Protocol. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Exit Strategy - Book 5:
Fugitive Telemetry
Fugitive Telemetry arrived just eight days after Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory in April 2021, a 176-page sixth numbered entry following Network Effect. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fugitive Telemetry - Book 6:
Network Effect
Network Effect, published in May 2020, marks Martha Wells's shift to full novel length at 333 pages, roughly double any of the four novellas that preceded it. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Network Effect - Book 7:
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory is a 32-page short story published in April 2021, sitting outside the main numbered Murderbot sequence between Network Effect and Fugitive Telemetry. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory - Book 8:
System Collapse
System Collapse, published in November 2023 at 203 pages, is the seventh numbered entry, arriving over two years after Fugitive Telemetry. It continues directly from Network Effect, part of Wells's shift from the original novellas into full novels with a growing ensemble around Murderbot's expanding found family. Alternative text for cover: Cover of System Collapse - Book 9:
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy is a 32-page short story from July 2025, matching the earlier Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory in length and falling outside the main numbered sequence. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy - Book 10:
Platform Decay
Platform Decay, published May 2026 at 256 pages, is the eighth numbered novel in The Murderbot Diaries, following System Collapse and the short story Rapport. Martha Wells has confirmed at least one further novel is contracted after it, with no title or date yet announced -- keeping the series ongoing rather than complete. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Platform Decay
Key facts about The Murderbot Diaries series
The Murderbot Diaries series has 10 books on our list. Since all 10 are out now, you can read the whole list today. 3 are novels, while the rest are 5 novellas and 2 short stories.
Start with All Systems Red, since it opens the publication order in 2017. Artificial Condition is book 2, from 2018. Rogue Protocol is book 3, from 2018.
Exit Strategy is book 4, from 2018. Network Effect is book 5, from 2020. Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory is book 6, from 2021.
Fugitive Telemetry is book 7, from 2021, while System Collapse is book 8, from 2023. Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy is book 9, from 2025. Platform Decay is book 10, from 2026.
Each title links to its own page, while the list keeps them in date order. Each book page shows its dates and editions.
Platform Decay is the latest book with a full release date, out on 5 May 2026. The catalogue marks it as ongoing, yet no next book has a date so far.
The books came out between 2017 and 2026, while their length runs from 32 to 333 pages. That is a run of 9 years.
Martha Wells has 26 books on our list. Additionally, they write The Books of Ile-Rien, The Books of the Raksura and The Rising World. We shelve the books under science fiction.
About The Murderbot Diaries
A self-aware security android has hacked its own governor module so it can no longer be forced to follow orders — and it uses that freedom mostly to hide in its allotted crate and watch downloaded soap operas, because dealing with the humans it's supposed to protect is exhausting. It calls itself Murderbot. When a corporate survey mission it's guarding goes wrong, Murderbot's competence, dry sarcasm and deep discomfort with human attachment drag it into a string of conspiracies it would much rather avoid — while quietly, reluctantly, starting to care about the people around it.
Martha Wells built the series around a genuinely fresh voice: a first-person narrator who is powerful, socially anxious, allergic to being thanked, and funnier than almost anything else in modern SF. The early books are tight, fast novellas that read in a sitting; later entries expand into full novels with a growing ensemble as Murderbot's found family (human, AI and otherwise) gets larger and more complicated. It's corporate-dystopia science fiction with real teeth — indentured contracts, killer bots, hostile AIs — carried by a lead character readers fall for immediately, and it swept the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards for its first entry, All Systems Red.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in The Murderbot Diaries?
Eight main installments — four novellas (All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy), a fifth novella (Fugitive Telemetry), and three novels (Network Effect, System Collapse, Platform Decay) — plus three short stories published online rather than as standalone books (Compulsory, Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory, and Rapport).
What order should I read The Murderbot Diaries in?
Publication order works well: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect, Fugitive Telemetry, System Collapse, Platform Decay. Readers who want strict story chronology can move Fugitive Telemetry to just before Network Effect instead.
Is Murderbot a novella series or a novel series?
Both. It started as four short novellas in 2017-2018, added a fifth novella (Fugitive Telemetry) in 2021, and has since become primarily full-length novels starting with Network Effect (2020).
Is the Murderbot Diaries series finished?
No, it's ongoing. Martha Wells has contracted to write at least one more novel after Platform Decay (2026); no title or release date has been announced yet.
Is the Murderbot Diaries TV show based on the books?
Yes. Apple TV+'s Murderbot (2025), starring Alexander Skarsgård, adapts All Systems Red and the early novellas as its first season.
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