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.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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Martha Wells is one of my favorite authors, so I don’t know why it took me so long to read this series. Possibly it’s because I didn’t immediately buy the hardcover edition; I may or may not have mentioned that my e-reader puts me to sleep, so I’m reluctant to use it. I really don’t know what I was thinking.
It’s brilliant, of course. The voice of the narrator, Murderbot, is beautifully strong and conveys the character’s personality perfectly. I was thinking about how relatively scanty the descriptions of this society are, but that makes sense because of that strong narrative voice. Everything we know is filtered through Murderbot’s experience, and calling the series a diary drives home the fact that people don’t spend a lot of time thinking or writing about stuff everyone knows. There’s no section laying out the details of the company (I love that it’s lower-case company) and yet I have a very clear idea of what it does and what it’s like.
I already knew, because I have read all of Wells’s novels, that she is excellent at conveying character, and the research team of humans comes across as vividly unique in a way a SecUnit would see them. We don’t get to know all of them, but the few Murderbot interacts with more deeply are charming or irritating or naïve, enough that I worried for their safety.
And Murderbot. I was tempted, in the first maybe half of the novella, to ascribe its personality changes to “becoming human.” But of course that’s not what’s going on. Murderbot has seen humans, both its clients and the ones on the many many shows it watches, and for all its growing desire to protect them, it has no desire to become one. It might be better to say that Murderbot is becoming a person, an individual with needs and desires, and I loved seeing it cope with those developing emotions. (I absolutely love every time it says it has to stop to have an emotion. I don’t remember if it says that specifically in this book, but it comes up enough that it gets me every time.)
I look forward to more Murderbot stories, whether novella or novel!
I was hooked from the line about how Murderbot isn’t indulging in homicide because that would cut into its tv watching.
Imagine a powerful security robot gains its freedom. Murderbot could kill hundreds, maybe thousands. Instead it decides to binge Netflix. Seriously hilarious!
Then Murderbot gets hired by humans that don’t irritate it. (This is remarkable.) And then the decent humans get in trouble. Murderbot could leave, but their are so few decent humans in the galaxy. Fine. Murderbot will work to save them.
The series it wants to binge will still be there tomorrow.
Easy read and engaging enough to keep your attention and turning the pages. Cannot wait to read the rest of the Murderbot series.
Quick, smart, fun sci-fi romp. Wells at her best.
I loved this book and it’s sequels. Sort of a Terminator with a heart of gold
Best sci-fi book I’ve read in a long time.
After reading so many of my book pal’s more than favorable reviews on this one, I had to give it a go. I love sci-fi when the character is a sentient AI, cyborg, robot, etc so this was right up my alley.
From the beginning, I was hooked. Murderbot is owned by a company and is sent out as the security bot for a scientific exploration group on a new planet. They are there to determine if they want to buy into the shares for the planet by testing the natural resources available. It’s not long before Murderbot is working hard to keep his little herd of scientists safe from someone bent on sabotaging and maybe killing off their stranded group before the date the company comes back to pick them up. Murderbot is fully in command of himself due to a faulty command module and he has to trick everyone into thinking that all systems are normal.
The wry wit of Murderbot (he did have a mass killing under his belt so why not), his non-human way of looking at things, his addiction and binge-watching of human entertainment vids, and the uncertainty this lethal being has around feelings and acts of goodness from humans who generally treat him like equipment makes for an engaging story.
I found it a great blend of character-driven with action plotting. It was a quick read, but very developed. The stranded with someone out to get them for unknown reasons was a great backdrop to see Murderbot and the isolated scientists interact and learn to work together. I liked that it ended leaving things wide open for what comes next even while wrapping up this first exciting chapter in the story.
All Systems Red has made me a fan of the novella format. The story was reminiscent of Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice, another a book I really enjoyed. An entertaining noir murder mystery that happens to take place in deep space with human/robot hybrids.
This was a short but wonderfully intense read, and I enjoyed it from cover to cover. Interesting world-building, vividly described action, and simply beautiful characterization.
The protagonist–a self-aware security android that named itself Murderbot–is heart-wrenchingly convincing, tragic and intensely hopeful all at the same time.
This novella won a Hugo award, a Nebula award, a Locus award, as well as several other accolades. It’s worthy of every last one of them. 🙂
A fun read but a rather short novel.
I loved this book, have now read it several times. I also grabbed the others in the series as I had to know what happen to the central figure who so intrigued me.
Martha Wells has long been one of my top five favorite authors. Her ability to create believable characters in unique worlds are just two of her strong points. The Murderbot series introduces us to yet another interesting and genuine character. Murderbot would really just rather be left alone to watch human-made serials, but instead must solve a mystery and try to keep its current human companions alive.
A robot becomes sentient. Great series, though a bit short, all four are great reads together.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It was so fun to read and a different take on AI. I definitely recommend it.
All the books in this series (this is No. 1) are very good. Wells started with a unique premise: give an android a directive to protect humans and just enough personality to realize it hates its job.
Disappointed that the follow-on novellas are so costly.
I read this in very nearly one sitting! The protagonist has a unique perspective, to be sure! A quick introduction to what promises to be a great series. I am looking forward to reading the rest of The Murderbot Diaries.
Love this series – can’t get enough of it
This is the first magical book that kicked off an amazing novella series featuring the snarkiest bot in the universe. Yet for as much of a misanthrope as our Murderbot is, it sure does seem to spend a lot of time saving humans and feeling emotions it really doesn’t want to feel. This series has it all: it’s fun, it’s action-packed, it’s funny, and it has genuinely touching moments. I can’t say enough nice things about it.