Jun 25

Jun 25 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Author: Martha Wells
Publisher: Tor.com
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that blends HBO's Westworld with Iain M. Banks' Culture books.

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

TL;DR Review

All Systems Red was a fun, fast-paced novella and a great start to the Murderbot series! I can’t wait for more Murderbot self-discovery and adventures.

For you if: You like sci-fi and heartwarming characters.

Full Review

Somehow, I hadn’t heard of Martha Wells’ Murderbot books until the fifth (!) one, Network Effect, got nominated for the Hugo Award for best novel. The first four are not novels, but rather novellas. Also, the audiobooks are on Scribd. So I decided to plunge in. Reader, I am glad I did.

Murderbot is the name our main character has given itself. In reality, it’s a part-robot, part-human clone defense unit that people can rent from “the company” for security. But recently, something went very wrong — and to prevent that from ever happening again, Murderbot hacked its governor module to break free of the company’s control. Now it just wants to be left alone to watch a TV drama called Sailor Moon. But in All Systems Red, the humans Murderbot’s been assigned to protect are different, and they treat it differently. It finds itself emotionally invested and starts to find itself.

Being a novella, this one’s not long (less than 4 hours on audio, which by the way was really well done). But it packs a punch of adventure and action and heartwarming moments. I, like everyone else who’s read these stories, was instantly endeared to Murderbot, and I can’t wait to continue this journey of its self-discovery.