Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Platform Decay is the eighth installment in The Murderbot Diaries. For those who have read earlier books, like All Systems Red (2017) or Artificial Condition (2018), how does this entry compare in terms of tone, stakes, and Murderbot’s character development? For new readers, did you feel you had enough information to jump into this world?

2. How did this novel’s blend of high-stakes space opera and gritty cyberpunk feel to you? Did one genre element stand out more than the other in shaping the story’s tone?

3. Murderbot’s narration is famous for its dark humor and anxiety. Was its internal monologue what you expected, and how did it affect your overall experience of the intense action sequences?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Murderbot constantly consumes media like serials and soap operas to regulate its anxiety and process the world. What are your go-to comfort media, and what purpose does it serve for you when managing stress or complex emotions?

2. The Murderbot Diaries feature the development of Murderbot’s found family. Do you have a found family like the one Murderbot has with Mensah’s family? What does this family offer you?

3. The book emphasizes that freedom and autonomy require constant self-awareness and effort, such as Murderbot’s need to perform being human. Have you found this to be true in your own life? How do you maintain your own autonomy? 

4. Murderbot feels a huge responsibility for its chosen humans. Have you ever felt a similar weight of responsibility? How did you deal with it?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. What parallels do you see between the unchecked power of corporations like Barish-Estranza and the influence of major corporations in our world today? Does the “company town” analogy feel relevant?

2. The planetary torus is filled with heavily controlled, curated environments that offer the illusion of safety. Where do you see similar illusions in modern society, and what do you think they conceal?

3. This novel explores the idea of personhood from the perspective of an artificial intelligence seeking to redefine itself. Considering contemporary conversation about AI, how did this story change or reinforce your ideas about what defines personhood in this context?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does filtering the entire story through Murderbot’s first-person perspective influence your interpretation of characters like Farai, Naja, the children, and Tillweather?

2. Wells subverts the classic trope of the amoral, malevolent AI, like HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). What kind of tension does Murderbot’s empathy, guilt, and anxiety create compared to a story centered on a cold, calculating machine?

3. What is the significance of the setting of this novel: a torus of grand, artificial landscapes that encircles a dead, mined-out planet?

4. Performance and disguise are central to survival for almost every character. How are they used to explore the difference between a character’s public role and their private identity?

5. What role does Three’s arc play in the novel? How does its approach to autonomy challenge or expand on the novel’s (and Murderbot’s) ideas about what it means to be free?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. The mental health module gives Murderbot “emotion checks” to help it process its feelings. If you had such a module installed, what emotion would it flag most often for you, and what kind of media would it recommend as a coping mechanism?

2. If you were a SecUnit on the torus who just received the governor module hack from Three, what would be your first autonomous action, and what would your new life purpose be?

3. Imagine you’re a designer for Barish-Estranza tasked with creating a new themed zone for the torus. What would your zone look like, and what kind of decaying infrastructure or hidden dangers would lie just beneath its perfect corporate facade?