Rogue Protocol is the third installment in The Murderbot Diaries series. It picks up following the events of Artificial Condition as we follow Murderbot on a new quest to find evidence against GrayCris Corp in order to help Dr. Mensah, its former guardian and the person responsible for its freedom.

This chapter of the story is still full of the same humor and wit as previous stories. It also brings a new thrilling mystery to bear as Murderbot has to search through an abandoned terraforming station. It continues to be enjoyable to watch Murderbot grow and change in subtle ways as it interacts with new humans and bots in its capacity as a rogue and free SecUnit.

The audiobook, narrated by Kevin R. Free, maintains the high levels of performance and production that were evident in the previous two Murderbot entries. Free brings all the antisocial traits and reluctance to get involved in situations not directly related to its goals to bear. He also gives the other human and bot characters their own personalities and voices, which really helps with the immersion.

The only negative would be that these stories are so short. They are enjoyable, but it does make me wish that the stories could have taken more space to explore more of the worlds and characters before moving on to the next story.

In the end, Rogue Protocol is a must-read for fans of the previous books and continues the quality of Wells’ writing and storytelling. I don’t think this would be a good standalone, but given the shorter length of these books, it does bolster my recommendation that anyone looking for a fun SciFi thrill-ride should pick up this series.

Alchemised is a story of trauma, survival, and the strange ways love can exist in even the worst of circumstances. SenLinYu has written a story that will leave you as a reader deep in your own feelings and simultaneously pulled inexorably to keep turning the page to see what happens next.

The story follows, primarily, Helena Marino, who was a healer during the Necromancy War. Helena finds herself in the hands of the Necromancers following the loss of the Eternal Flame, of which Helena was a part. She ends up as a prisoner of Kaine Ferron, a high-ranking member of the Necromancers’ government, as he is tasked with extracting her hidden memories from her shattered mind.

The novel itself is quite long, clocking in at a whopping 1024 pages. It is divided into three parts. I found that part I was perhaps the hardest read. The combination of the difficult subject matter, trauma being visited upon our characters, and the large volume of world-building that all has to take place is quite daunting. I found myself on multiple occasions needing to take breaks in order to try and absorb all the lore. However, by the time part II started, I was locked in and felt better acquainted with the world, characters, and magic system.

The magic system SenLinYu has developed for Alchemised is deep and fascinating. While it did take a little bit to fully wrap my mind around, the different varieties of magics and their applications were well structured. Once the reader has a good grasp on how everything works, it allows the author to really expand the boundaries of what you would expect can be done with the various disciplines.

The audiobook narration is quite good as well. Saskia Maarleveld does an excellent job bringing all the emotion and trauma on the page to life. Each character feels distinct.

The main downside that I can point to is the length. While I enjoyed this book quite a bit, it did feel all of it’s over 1000 pages. It does feel like there likely was some level of editing that could have maintained the overall impact of the story while having it come in at a shorter page count.

Overall, this book is very good and I would recommend it to any fans of the romantasy genre. Alchemised is a dark story, so definitely make sure to check the trigger warnings before diving into it. But if you are down for a unique world and a story that once it gets going will keep you turning the page until the very end, it is worth giving it a try.