Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
Review
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory, by , is a short story from The Murderbot Diaries, set between Exit Strategy and Network Effect. It shows us Murderbot and Mensah adjusting to their new situation after the GrayCris storyline.
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory1 takes place immediately after Exit Strategy, and is told from the perspective of Dr. Ayda Mensah as she gets back to life on Preservation Station. She’s grappling with her own PTSD—stemming from her near-murder by GrayCris in All Systems Red and kidnapping in Exit Strategy—while trying to navigate politics, deal with pestering reporters, and support Murderbot and her team.
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory dives deeper into themes of mental health and identity than any previous entry in The Murderbot Diaries. It raises the question: “Can you separate who you are from what you are and what you’ve experienced?” In exploring this, it draws a parallel between Murderbot—created as a weapon and shaped by that—and Mensah, whose trauma has reshaped her as well.
It also more directly confronts the horror of the Corporation Rim, especially their system of slavery. The story highlights how both their human workers—enslaved physically—and their constructs—enslaved in both body and mind—are trapped. It made me realize that SecUnits are basically Warhammer 40,000 servitors, just deceptively less grimdark.
What I love about The Murderbot Diaries is the perfect mix of action and emotional, thought-provoking insight. But doesn’t quite manage to balance those elements in Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory’s 14 pages as well as in the longer installments. Still, I appreciated seeing the world from a different angle.
Next up is ’s Shards of Earth for my book club—then I’m heading back into Network Effect.
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Available for free on Tor’s website: Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory ↩