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It\u2019s not often that an author creates a character so unique, compelling, and fan-beloved that it spawns an award-winning, best-selling book series\u2014and a critically acclaimed TV show, to boot. Sci-fi and fantasy writer Martha Wells has achieved that with her Murderbot Diaries. While there\u2019s no doubt temptation to keep following disgruntled security unit Murderbot, who was first introduced in the 2017 novella All Systems Red<\/em>, on misadventures around the corporation-controlled galaxy, it sounds like Wells has started envisioning a finale for the series.<\/p>\n There are seven novels and novellas in the Murderbot Diaries series to date (plus several short stories set within the same universe); the eighth installment, Platform Decay<\/em>, arrives in May. But book number nine, Wells told Polygon in a new interview, might be Murderbot\u2019s last chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cI only have one Murderbot book on contract right now,\u201d Wells said. \u201cIt\u2019ll probably be the end of the year, at least, before I start the next Murderbot. I\u2019ve got some vague ideas for it, but I\u2019m not really sure what it\u2019s going to be yet. And that may be the last book.\u201d<\/p>\n In Platform Decay<\/em>, she told Polygon, Murderbot is in \u201ca really good place.\u201d So it might also be a good place for the author to start winding down the self-aware AI robot\u2019s story, as much as that\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s never going to be the kind of series where you\u2019re going to get to the end and everything\u2019s going to be solved and fixed,\u201d Wells explained. \u201cIt\u2019s not a story where [the protagonists] can just kill one villain and things will get better. In this corporate hellscape, there\u2019s always going to be someone to take their place.\u201d<\/p>\n Just because the Murderbot Diaries might end doesn\u2019t mean Wells is going anywhere. In addition to season two (and hopefully more) of Apple TV\u2019s Murderbot<\/em> series, which is directly adapted from her books, the author also has several other irons in the fire. At present, she told Polygon, she\u2019s working on the third book in her award-winning fantasy series that kicked off with Witch King<\/em> in 2023 and was followed by Queen Demon<\/em> in 2025.<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n