All Systems Red

De: Martha Wells

Narrado por: Kevin R. Free

All Systems Red is the tense first science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries. For fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels.

All Systems Red tackles questions of the ethics of sentient robotics. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans.

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.

©2017 Martha Wells (P)2017 Recorded Books

I write honest good or bad reviews

Any additional comments?

I think it's a disservice to write subjectively good reviews to spare the author/narrator's feelings while people are paying good money to hear the books. To that end please if I author a book I will welcome your review, from lord and savior to complete asshole, just be honest. All Systems Red, The story is fantastic, at one point I was going to ding the author a star for a robot saying he was 'cozy' and other such emotional innuendo's, but as the story progressed I realized those were deliberate word choices and they arched into the plot as if a true master of story telling had placed them there. Bravo Martha I respectfully bow to your skill at storytelling and writing. As for the narrator Mr. Free turns in an adequate performance, but his style seemed to be almost gay, like your best gay friend narrated the book and you say to him "hey robots don't have a lisp" maybe I'm wrong maybe robots do lisp, but whatever this review is to be brutally honest and I don't feel Mr. Free was the correct match for this book. The good news is that after the midway point I became nose blind in my ears and I was fine with Mr Free's performance from that point on. also noteworthy it wasn't R C Bray narrating so this book doesn't get gelled into all of the RC Bray character Colonel Joe's like every other sicfi book lately, thank god.

I wish I knew this 'Murderbot'

I hope that when the other two books come out in paper and on Kindle, that there will also be Audible available for them.
And just as important, Kevin R. Free MUST narrate those two books as well. I just can't imagine Murderbot with anyone else's voice.

too short!

I fell in love with murder bot and he left me before I really got to know him!

Everything but the length was amazing.

very unexpected and thoroughly enjoyed

my kid found it and I loved it. cant wait to hear next one that I will start immediately

Awesome series

I have read the book in the past and I love the series, the characters and the story very much. Snarky, with a touch of irony, fresh, surprising. Very few stories manage to surprise me. Must read.

The main character is androgens, thus I assumed the character voice to be higher pitch, so it was a big of a mental adjustment to have a male voice read this. Additionally the comical moments in my head sounded more exaggerated and punchy then when narrated here. So I am lukewarm on the narration, more due to my expectations then any particular fault if it’s own.

Surprisingly deep sci-fi

This is a short novella that could have been a full novel. The premise is that a security unit - partly human, partly robot - broke free of its controlling software and... Didn't kill everyone in a murderous rampage. Instead, it spends its time half-assing its job and watching soap operas. And while doing its job, gets involved in a crisis, makes friends, and is faced with an identity crisis.

Good stuff - well narrated, fast paced and worth reading. But it's a little too fast paced - the book is over before you know it! And it's also extremely short for a credit. I picked it up on a $5 sale and feel like I got my money's worth, but I probably would have felt frustrated if I'd spent a full credit on it.

A Little Masterpiece

People have mentioned the short duration of this book. It always makes me think of the Mona Lisa painting. Why? Because that painting is actually quite small. 😉
Anyhow, if you (like me) often consider whether a book is "worth it" by factoring in book length; this current sale is a great time to purchase Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries.
This audiobook series has a permanent place in my library downloads. Kevin R. Free IS Murderbot. His voice is perfect.
I often recommend these books because they are very "human". What does that mean? Consider themes of survival, identity, fear, bravery, weaknes, strength and generosity. Are these not the very concepts at the core of humanity? And yet, Murderbot is not human.
Short books? Yes. Huge story? Yes, absolutely. I call Murderbot Diaries a masterpiece.

Easy read, not much depth, but engaging character

I liked this novella, but I'm also annoyed by it. Yes, the Murderbot character is fascinating and you want to keep reading/listening. Yes, it's super easy reading because there's no long-winded descriptions that slow the pace. Wells basically provides just enough information to move the story forward, the bare minimum. You have no idea what the various human characters look like, you're basically supposed to imagine anything you want.

The same goes for the Sci-fi tech and habitat and ships and such. You're told what it is, the minimum needed to understand what it does, but there's no sense of immersion, you're not told enough to picture the place, so every reader will picture something different. It almost reads like a screenplay, lots of dialogue, moving the action forward, but with very weak world building.

This is what probably annoys me the most. Wells assumes you've already read a lot of Sci-fi, so you can figure out how Hoppers, feeds, and HubSystems work. You should already know this. She caters to Sci-fi fans but isn't welcoming to new audiences. Pair that with a brooding half-flesh robot full of sarcasm who narrates the novella in the first-person, and you can draw a quick parallel to Scalzi's half-robot grumpy old dude supersoldier from Old Man's War. I think she tries to emulate Sclazi, but with even less world building.

Then there's the novella-priced-like-a-full-novel racket. That also bugs me, a lot. I waited until this was on sale because I refused to pay full price for it. It's a gimmick and I really hope the trend doesn't catch on. It's a good book, but it's not worth the full price of a novel. Anyways, I'll still read/listen to the rest of the series, or at least the next one. The audiobooks are available on my Scribd subscription, so at least I'm not overpaying.

The narration was good, it fit the character well, though between the lack of descriptions for the humans in the book and the minimal voice changes by the narrator, which human was saying what really got lost often. They all feel so generic and you're forced to only care about Murderbot. It's a good and quick read, just don't expect too much beyond pop-corn Sci-fi writing.

Probably my favorite series

I downloaded this audiobook because it was a daily deal and seemed interesting. It hooked me immediately and I eagerly waited for the rest of the series to come out one by one. This while series was a fantastic ride! The narrator does a great job giving Murderbot life and personality. The story is very well developed. I only wish there was more! All of the books are very short, I wish they were longer. I want more!

At Last Some New Ideas in Science Fiction!

Any additional comments?

At last a new Science Fiction story that is not space opera, space military, or finding super technology from another world. And it is Science fiction, not Fantasy in space. The writing is crisp and tight—no added fluff, and unimportant things don’t clog the story. The best of classical SF of Asimov and Heinlien and others is the form and tone. Although the self-critical “Murderbot” is a true hero and is a deeply-drawn character, the really important point is that this sentient cyborg is the most humane being among all the humans. The book ends with this reader wanting “More! More! Where’s the next book?” This is certainly a superior way to end, versus my saying Yeah, Pretty good, I’ll keep an eye out for another in the series if I’m not too busy. The Audio Narration is good, but I feel that person is at the start of his training as a narrator/voice actor and has his best performances ahead. A Highly Recommended book in print or audio format.