Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy

A Tor Original by Martha Wells

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Martha Wells has done it again! Her ebook Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy was a 2026 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Novelette and is being made into an audiobook. While it is based in the world of her award-winning Murderbot Diaries, this story is from Iris’ point-of-view. We get to see how much of an influence Murderbot had on Perihelion (aka ART, aka Peri) after their time together in the novella Artificial Condition.

After saying goodbye to Murderbot on the RaviHyral transit ring during its solo cargo run, Perihelion’s crew notices a significant change in the machine intelligence. They have a mission to complete, but Iris is concerned about Peri’s behavior and intrigued by its new hacking abilities. While the private conversations between Iris and Peri are the main focus, the banter among the entire crew is delightful, and I enjoyed every minute of this hour-long audiobook. As with Wells’ short story, Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory, it’s lovely to see things from a different perspective.

The decision to add sound design and special effects was unexpected; it’s a cross between a regular audiobook and a graphic audiobook. Having Kevin R. Free narrate and voice the characters is a huge perk for me, as I haven’t been able to enjoy the full cast graphic audio versions of any book. This audiobook has the best of both worlds, and I hope to see more books in the future use this balanced approach.

Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy is an absolute delight, and my only complaint is that I wanted more. It absolutely deserved its Hugo Award nomination. I’ve already pre-ordered the audiobook for my library, and eagerly await future Murderbot (and Murderbot adjacent) stories. The audiobook will be available for purchase on September 1, 2026. Preorder it today!

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Visit the author’s website.

Audiobook narrated by Kevin R. Free

Audiobook produced by Steve Waggoner

Audiobook post production and sound design by Sal Barone

Audiobook Advance Reader Copy provided by Macmillain Audio via NetGalley per my request. I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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