Though Martha Wells hinted that Platform Decay was coming—it’s mentioned in a June New Yorker profile of the best-selling author that ran alongside Murderbot‘s first season on Apple TV—we now know when the eighth Murderbot Diaries book will arrive. Get ready to read more disgruntled AI adventures starting May 5, 2026.
The Murderbot Diaries kicked off with the novella All Systems Red back in 2017; Apple TV’s adaptation starring Alexander Skarsgård as the awkward yet deadly security unit that decides protecting humans isn’t entirely awful—as long as it can keep up with its favorite trashy TV shows—hewed closely to the events of that story across season one.
Platform Decay is the eighth entry in the series, which is mostly novellas but also includes a full-length novel, Network Effect.
Platform Decay is 256 pages, so it’s sort of midway between novella and novel. Here’s the official description:
“Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.
Having volunteered to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn’t know.
Including human children. Ugh.
This may well call for… eye contact!
(Emotion check: Oh, for f—)“
A press release from Tor Books gives us a little more detail, plus another emotion check:
“Murderbot is on a mission to rescue Mensah’s family in corporate territory. But when it runs into an old enemy, the mission gets much more complicated. With hostiles on their trail and traumatized juvenile humans to look after, Murderbot has its hand full – and that’s before they run into pirate raiders, an insurrection, and (more) rogue SecUnits.
(Emotion check: Not calm.)“
Fans of the TV show will recognize Mensah (the mission leader played by Noma Dumezweni, also known as Murderbot’s favorite human) and the idea of “rogue SecUnits,” since Murderbot itself has disabled the module that’s supposed to make it obey all commands. Just don’t give any of them nicknames (like, say, “Seccy”) or force them to make eye contact. They really don’t like that!
You can preorder Platform Decay now ahead of its release next spring; Murderbot season two is coming but does not yet have a release date.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Original Source: https://gizmodo.com/murderbot-platform-decay-release-date-2000678919
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