A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.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 … 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.
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I want a murderbot! Absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
I was blown away by how imaginative and original. This is definitely on my list of recommended reads for the summer. And there’s good news… more books in the series are on the way.
I don’t normally read sci-fi, but another author recommended this, so I finally gave it a try. I’m SO glad I did. The story is fairly simple (as an audiobook, it’s less than 4 hours long), but packed with an amazing punch with plenty of action and a main character (the murderbot) who is beautifully complex and wonderfully snarky.
The audiobook does truly bring the main character to life, so if you can find it, try it out!
T;LDR: A sci-fi novella set in an unexplored planet with a malfunctioning (on purpose) Security Unit bot, All Systems Red features humor and a possible answer to the question: Is AI humanesque and does the AI want to be?u2060
A novella set in space, in a different time than ours, where intrepid explorers land on planets to study them. With every exploration group a SecUnit, or security unit bot, is assigned. All Systems Red is written from the point of view of Murderbot, the self-named SecUnit who has a faulty (intentionally so) governor module. What was supposed to be a routine research mission soon turns deadly.u2060
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Overall, it is a well-written book. Murderbot is hilarious, has some human-like features, but still remains a bot in many ways, and even with the brevity (149 tiny tiny pages), gives us likeable and warm characters with which to connect. u2060
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What I liked:u2060
I love Murderbot. Not only is it hilarious, but the things that embarrass it or make it uncomfortable are funny and endearing. It finds itself doing things it doesn’t need to and even comes to like the humans in its care (much to its chagrin). The author did an amazing job keeping it a bot while exploring the edges of what an AI in a human form could be like if ungoverned.u2060
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I also liked the scientist team. Each character was unique, had depth, and had different reactions to not only their predicament, but also Murderbot’s idiosyncrasies. They never felt flat and while some, Dr. Mensah for example, had more air time than others, Pin-Lee, they all still felt like real people in a very short book. u2060
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What I Liked Less:u2060
Honestly, the only thing I didn’t like is how short it is. I can see where the author cut the story down to keep it within a novella’s length. That was definitely a choice. Because I liked it so much, I wanted it to be just that – longer. u2060
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To Sum Up (Too Late!) u2060
This is a fun, engaging, and surprisingly deep sci-fi novella about a Murderbot. The author tackles some of the tougher questions – what separates a human from an AI? – in a simple, yet satisfying way.
Sometimes I need something a little different to read (away from my addition of vampires and werefolk) and generally I go to space to find that.
Murderbot did his job, and he did it very well! I went into the series not really knowing what to expect and one-clicked my way through it in a week!
Fun, entertaining, unexpected humor and a SecUnit with an attitude!
So glad I found it!
“As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure.”
This sums up most of the book. I discovered this fun sci-fi book from BookTube. Although I don’t read a lot of sci-fi, it seemed like one that would catch my attention.
The Droid in the series is sent with a science team to protect them while they work in the field on a new planet. What they don’t know is the droid has hacked its primary module and would rather spend its time watching thousands of hours of videos. By overriding the primary module, it has also developed feelings and tends to ignore orders.
Will the rogue droid protect his charges? This is a great intro to sci-fi as it is short, it is quirky and quite enjoyable.
Ever hate your job and just want to watch Netflix? Turns out Murderbots feel the same way.
At least, that’s the general attitude of the protagonist in Martha Wells’ novella All Systems Red: “I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don’t know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed … As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.”
That failure is due in part to the slipshod corruption of Murderbot’s employer. The interstellar contractor has the technological know-how to transport clients to other worlds via wormholes and supply them with cyborg security units (aka SecUnits and Imitative Human Bot Units), but they do it all on the cheap; the equipment they provide is often sloppily built and error-ridden. This includes the security units. Our narrator was able to hack its governor in the first place because an earlier version malfunctioned.
The glitch comes in handy when Murderbot’s current clients, a small survey team, are stranded on a planet with hidden dangers. The map the contractor provided is missing key sections. Another survey team breaks off communication. People start dying. Fortunately, Murderbot doesn’t have to follow orders anymore; it can think for itself. And it’s learned a lot from all the shows it’s been binging.
The resolution to the mystery is a bit anti-climactic, hinting at grubby motivations without really exploring them. But I loved the subversive humor in All Systems Red, and the way Wells plays with the concept of identity and what it means to belong—Murderbot thinks of itself as human-adjacent despite experiencing emotions like shyness, apathy, gratitude, and self-loathing (it gave itself the name Murderbot). This is a character-driven story that manages to make a partially inorganic construct with guns in its forearms both likable and relatable.
So if you are bored and interested in distracting yourself with some short, fun sci-fi, give All Systems Red a try. Murderbot would approve.
(For more reviews like this one, see http://www.nickwisseman.com)
Like many others… I love Murderbot! Short but intense and moody, of course.
Loved it!
Murderbot has hacked its own governor module. Technically it doesn’t have to listen to anyone or follow any program commands. But it does have to keep up some semblance of functionality so the company doesn’t find out it’s been hacked. When Murderbot is rented by a team of scientists, it will encounter humans that have never worked with a SecUnit before. And just when it thinks the contract is going to be a boring one, the unexpected happens. Suddenly Murderbot will find itself doing a lot more than watching the scientists dig up soil samples.
Murderbot’s personality is fantastic. Picture a robot who knows it has a job to do, but would rather sit and watch soap operas all day. Begrudgingly Murderbot follows commands from the scientists, but it ignores all system commands. And every chance it gets, Murderbot is dissing the corporation that owns it. Martha Wells does clever world-building through Murderbot’s sarcastic remarks. Painting the corporate ruled world that does everything as cheap as possible for the readers to see.
Martha Wells also brings a new perspective to artificial intelligence. Instead of hearing about the doubts and fears from humans, readers have a chance to see through Murderbot’s eyes. It’s not comfortable being around humans. It would rather stay in the cargo hold than socialize. Its entire purpose before hacking itself was to be a security robot. But with Doctor Mensha’s team, it will be forced to come out of its shell and may just find that some humans aren’t so bad.
Packed within less than two hundred pages is a story that will grab you from the first sentence. The evolution of Murderbot was fantastic. The sarcastic humor was undeniably hilarious. And it all came together to create a world I crave to see more of.
I wanted to like this book more. It gets very good reviews, and while I do recommend it, I think I needed more out of “Murderbot”. I am planning on reading the next book in the series to see if I can get that. He is trying to figure out who he is as well, but as much as I enjoyed the human quirks he has, I still want to know what makes him tick as much as he himself does.
Best part of this book is the engaging story written in first person. Though the robotic monologue is ridden with info dumps about what this world is but those dumps are carefully placed through out the book and the way they are written makes you fall in love with them. Another title for the book can be, “Ramblings of a free bot.” The length of the story was a bummer though, just when I thought the mystery was about to unravel, the story kind of ended. The end was surprising and caught me off guard.
Book 124 towards my goal of 290! 3/5 stars for this scifi read! Not sure I 100% know what’s happening in this story, but will be continuing to see where it’s going! I don’t want to give too much away as it is a novella. I really enjoyed the narration. Let’s see where Muderbot takes us in book 2!
This story was surprisingly fun. Who wouldn’t sympathize with the antisocial robot who just wants to be left alone to watch her shows but instead, has to, maybe, save the day?!? Bother says Murderbot. I couldn’t put this down, and the ending somehow made it even better.
This was an incredible story, thrilling and so very human (even though we’re seeing everything through the eyes of something that’s not totally human). I freaking loved Murderbot, of course, but the secondary characters were fantastic too. I cannot recommend this book and series enough! If you love sci-fi (or even if you don’t), pick this one up!
I really enjoyed this. I loved Murderbot. A half robot half human in charge of protecting humans. Murderbot doesn’t really like humans. I thought this was a quick read and will be continuing the series.
If you have a love for bots, sci-fi, and sarcasm, I can’t recommend this series enough!
I think Murderbot is my absolute favorite book character ever. I love it so much! I love how quick these first novellas are and how it’s so easy to follow even though they’re so short. Martha Wells makes you love all the characters so quickly. I’m so excited for my current reread of this series in preparation for the release of Fugitive Telemetry.
I love this so much. The narrating-character is amazing, the world building is amazing, the narrator of the audiobook is amazing. Just plain out amazing, I want to read about 100 more of these and then some.
Oddly, it was actually a recommendation by Patrick Rothfuss on Goodreads that first brought this book to my attention. I’m a big Rothfuss fan and he posted a glowing review which made me want to dive in and read this…
And so I did, four years later! Ha! Ah, jeez, our TBR’s are something else.
So, after all this time, guess what? I pretty much forgot what this book was about, other than a future world with robotic guards. I think it might’ve worked in my favor to dive in without re-reading the synopsis.
What I liked: ‘All Systems Red’ wastes no time with introducing us to our main character, an augmented being designed to work as a security guard. Think of it like Robocop to a degree. Only in this case, the character which has termed itself Murderbot has hacked its own system to not blindly follow the orders of the mainframe network that controls it.
Normally I’m not a big fan of humor in my horror or sci-fi, but the Murderbot has developed its own personality and it is a slacker who enjoys watching hours of TV programming and employs sarcasm and jokes as it sees fit. It works really well when in the presence of humans and seeing how Wells made it also shy regarding its appearance when out of its armor was a really fantastic move. It nicely elevated the character from an aloof killing machine to an empathetic member of the group.
The main plot of the story is that something happens near them and the Murderbot and the group its assigned to protect unravel what it happening and why they’re in danger. It made for some truly tense moments and even though this was a short, quick read, Wells packed it with a novels worth of emotion and turmoil.
What I didn’t like: Even though I knew this was a part 1 and that it was novella length, I found the ending was a bit rushed for me, especially when they confront the danger (sorry spoiler free!). I wished it was described a bit more, because suddenly it felt like we were at an epilogue style chapter and I worried I’d missed the ending.
Why you should buy this: Often times I hear people say the reason they avoid Sci-Fi is that it’s got too much technology or they feel like they need to be an Astrophysicist to understand what is going on. Not here. Wells tells a straightforward story – with sci-fi elements – and I had no problems understanding what was happening and who the characters were.
This was a really fun time and I’m not going to be waiting another four years until I start book 2!
Totally hooked on the Murderbot Diaries. I think we all have this sort of vision where a robot goes out of control and starts killing people. Well, Martha Wells takes that conceit and turns it sideways in a way that has us rooting for the machine in a way we never anticipated. Well done.