All Systems Red

By: Martha Wells

Narrated by: 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 LOVE MURDERBOT

This book was just what I needed to get my out of a recent listening rut. I had been pouring through longer literary fiction type stuff that was really heady and then I started this on a whim and it was a sheer delight.

The world-building is immaculate, the plot is solid and well-paced, but most importantly MURDERBOT. S/HE is the man. I'm assuming he's a man because of the narrator's voice, but I think he's just an asexual SEC Unit that is supposed to be a killing machine but just wants to watch movies.

So relateable. And I just really love how Martha Wells crafts the environment kind of secondarily, you don't even notice that she is describing and explaining details about the world because it all takes a back seat to Murderbot's sardonic, sarcastic observations.

I had only two issues with this story.

1. It is too short
2. The ending is abrupt! It could have been flushed out a lot more, but just kind of cut off.

Now I'm left hoping for a sequel, hopefully one that has a little more meat, because this stuff is delicious.

Cute idea and story, if slightly awkward writing.

A cute little novella, with an interesting central idea and fun, if slightly unpolished- and awkward-feeling writing. Not the best book ever, but definitely worth the read. I look forward to more, especially if the author's writing becomes a little more practiced, as often occurs.

The narrator was okay. Character voices were a little inconsistent, and the wasn't always clear what dialogue was spoken and what was part of the main character's extensive internal monologue - though to be fair, that seems like a tough task for any narrator.

Short But Very Sweet!

I am usually not fond of short stories, but this one grabbed me and would not let go. It is the first of Wells' Murderbot Diaries series, and I already know I am going to get them all, also uncharacteristic of me. MB is a SecUnit, a security robot, that is, used to provide security for teams doing planetary explorations. Who knows what they may encounter and these bots provide an element of safety and protection.

However, self-titled Murderbot comes with a very bad history, being responsible for an earlier team's deaths. He's been washed clean, of course, but he is still something to be reckoned with according to his shipmates--and the element of trust is always in question. Part bot, a bit human, he has a great deal of contempt for humans, which makes things interesting and also provides enough humor to make this story fun and a very easy listen.

Yes, it is a single short story.
Yes, I wish the short ones in this series were combined into one book.
Martha must have heard, as the last book is much longer, and I am looking forward to getting my money's worth there.

So good, get them all anyway!!

I'm not a sci-fi fan, but I loved this book

Yes, believe the stars, this little book is awesome! I'm and old lady who doesn't like science fiction, now I'm in love with the murderbot and the crew, I can't wait to read about their next adventure.

Murderously awesome!

I just finished re-listening to this story after finishing the series of novellas, and it just got better with the re-listen. The world-building is detailed and intricate, the voice of the main character is wryly humorous and increasingly revealing. Watching Murderbot discover the limits of sentience and autonomy while also figuring out the why of his self-inception makes this one of my new favorite fictional universes.