The novella “This is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone was published for the first time in 2019. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and BSFA Awards as the best novella of the year.

When Red, an agent of the Commandant’s team, finds a message from Blue, a rival in the Time War, she gets intrigued despite knowing that it might be hiding a trap. She decides to respond and this leads to an exchange of messages that begins with mutual teasing and challenges and becomes something else.

Red and Blue find a mutual understanding that deepens their bond even though the Agency and the Garden are enemies. This prevents them from meeting in person and actually makes even exchanging messages dangerous, yet this doesn’t stop their feelings.

The novella “Rogue Protocol” by Martha Wells was published for the first time in 2018. It’s the third work of “The Murderbot Diaries” series and follows “Artificial Condition”.

Murderbot sees an interview with Dr. Mensah connected to GrayCris’ possible illegal activities and thinks it might find evidence in the terraforming installation around the planet Milu. Its journey is quite tiring because it always has to hide its identity and that’s also true once it arrives at its destination.

A team of humans led by Don Abene is on the installation to assess its status as part of the takeover process by another company. Murderbot decides to secretly follow them but must communicate with Miki, a robot who assists Don Abene’s team. The situation soon becomes complicated.

The novella “Artificial Condition” by Martha Wells was published for the first time in 2018. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards as the best novella of the year. It’s the second work of “The Murderbot Diaries” series and follows “All Systems Red”.

Murderbot is looking for crucial information to understand its past and to reach the place where it can conduct its investigation, it embarks on a cargo spaceship that has no human crew but is piloted by a powerful artificial intelligence. During the voyage, some exchanges with it lead to it being nicknamed the ART (Asshole Research Transport). Despite this, the two of them begin a collaboration.

Once it reached its destination, Murderbot finds a job as a security consultant for some scientists who carried out work on behalf of a company which then severed the relationship and kept the results obtained. Soon, it realizes that the company’s owner is ready to do anything to get rid of the scientist.

The novella “All Systems Red” by Martha Wells was published for the first time in 2017. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards as the best novella of the year. It’s the first work of “The Murderbot Diaries” series.

Murderbot is the self-given name of the SecUnit that managed to hack its own control program which normally keeps it under the command of human beings. It would rather watch soap operas than protect the clients it’s assigned but what is supposed to be a scientific expedition requires its intervention.

When Murderbot must rescue a member of the scientific exploration team, it discovers that parts of the available maps have been erased. Faults and problems pile up in an increasingly suspicious manner and Murderbot independently decides to protect its clients.

The novella “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers was published for the first time in 2021. It’s the first book in the Monk & Robot series. It won the Hugo Award for best novella of the year.

Sibling Dex is a tea monk who sought a spiritual life. They still feel a certain dissatisfaction but can’t understand what they need. They decide to change their travel routine by venturing on paths different from the ones they usually take, where humans let nature grow wild again.

During their new journey, Sibling Dex comes across a robot who tells them its name is Splendid Speckled Mosscap. Despite its completely friendly attitude, Dex remains dumbfounded because generations have passed since robots decided to live on their own. Splendid Speckled Mosscap has a very simple and yet damned complex question: “What do people need?”