Apple TV+’s Streaming Charts-Topping 97% RT Sci-Fi Show Is Great, But I’m Still Disappointed As A Fan Of The Books

June 24, 2025

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Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Murderbot season 1, episode 7 & Artificial Condition.Apple TV+’s Murderbot has gained critical acclaim and topped the streamer’s charts for weeks now, but I’m still disappointed in the sci-fi show as a fan of the books it’s based on. Alexander Skarsgård plays the titular SecUnit in the cast of Murderbot, which is based on The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. It has also already proven to be a critical and popular darling: Murderbot has 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and has consistently ranked as the third most popular show on Apple TV+ for weeks. Murderbot is, by almost every metric, a resounding success.

As with any adaptation of a book into television, Murderbot has made some necessary changes to its source material. Some characters have been cut entirely, others have been tweaked, and parts of All Systems Red‘s story have been expanded to fill out a 10-episode season. There are a lot of changes Murderbot made that work tremendously well, such as the inclusion of The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon. There are others, however, that don’t work as well, and while Murderbot is a great show in its own right, I’m still a bit disappointed as a big fan of The Murderbot Diaries.

Apple TV+’s Murderbot Is Great On Its Own, But The Books Are Even Better

I Would Love Murderbot If I Hadn’t Read The Books, But The Show Isn’t As Good As Martha Wells’ Writing

To be clear: I like the Murderbot show. I think Alexander Skarsgård does a great job as SecUnit, a lot of the changes have helped the show succeed and added good lore, and it’s one of the funniest shows on TV right now. Murderbot the show is great, it’s just not as good as The Murderbot Diaries books. It’s hard for me to say that the show is a masterpiece when I can clearly see it’s not living up to its full potential. If certain parts of Murderbot were more faithful to the books, I’d be confident saying it’s one of the best sci-fi shows in years.

Take, for example, the pacing. One of my favorite parts of All Systems Red was its breakneck pace. In just a matter of pages, Wells introduces characters, locations, and basically immerses the reader in a completely foreign and incredibly well-developed sci-fi world. In Murderbot, each episode spends 20 minutes showing everyone sitting around and ends just as it’s getting good. Maybe it’s just a symptom of the weekly release schedule. Murderbot may be better when you can binge-watch it, but I just know the show would have been better paced if it adapted Artificial Condition as well and kept the books’ breakneck speed and urgency.

If certain parts of Murderbot were more faithful to the books, I’d be confident saying it’s one of the best sci-fi shows in years.

I also have a problem with Murderbot‘s action sequences. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great moments, like Murderbot’s predictive technology in the fight against DeltFall’s rogue SecUnit. Those cool moments aren’t enough to make up for the underwhelming feel in all the show’s fights, though. In the books, Murderbot is a one-person killing machine that flings itself into danger and emerges victorious through a hail of energy projectiles. In Murderbot, it’s basically a ragdoll that gets tossed around for a while until someone else, like Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) or one of the planet’s monsters, comes to its rescue.

Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) focused in Murderbot Season 1 Ep 1

Apple TV+’s Murderbot made its first major change to the books, and I’m not sure I like what it’s doing to David Dastmalchian’s Dr. Gurathin.

The general tone of Murderbot also seems off in comparison to the books. Polyamory, for example, is an entirely valid way of living a romantic life in The Murderbot Diaries. In Murderbot, polyamory is presented as a joke or a way to introduce artificial tension into Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu) and Arada’s (Tatiawna Jones) relationship. PreservationAux is also generally portrayed as naive hippies, while in the books, they’re the only moral characters in a world filled with corporate greed and insane human rights abuses. Even their relationship with Murderbot is off, and it doesn’t feel like Murderbot is setting up the beautiful friendships the later books rely on.

I Really Hope Murderbot Season 2 Can Be More Faithful To The Books

Murderbot Season 2’s Chances Look Great Due To Its Popularity, But I Hope It Can Be More Book Accurate

With the success of Murderbot season 1, both critically and among viewers, Murderbot season 2 looks very promising. The show clearly has enough viewers to justify its costs, and it’s clearly found its footing as its own thing, separate from the books. That being said, I still hope Murderbot season 2 proves more faithful to The Murderbot Diaries than season 1 has so far. I’d like to see the frenetic pacing and stellar action of Artificial Condition put to the screen, mostly because I think those things would elevate Murderbot from a great show into an iconic one.

Murderbot Release Schedule
Episode Title	Release Date
FreeCommerce	May 16
Eye Contact	May 16
Risk Assessment	May 23
Escape Velocity Protocol	May 30
Rogue War Tracker Infinite	June 6
Command Feed	June 13
Complementary Species	June 20
Foreign Object	June 27
All Systems Red	July 4
The Perimeter	July 11

Artificial Condition is also the perfect book to shift Murderbot back into being a more faithful adaptation. Murderbot goes to a far-off planet without any of the members of PreservationAux to investigate its past in Artificial Condition, which means Murderbot season 2 will basically have a fresh start. Murderbot season 2 – while it will likely feature a B-plot focused on PresAux – will have a new cast of characters and a more stable foundation after the first season’s success, which may make it less risky to do a more faithful adaptation. It should be a chance for Murderbot to finally realize its full potential.