ALL SYSTEMS RED: The Murderbot Diaries: 1

“Murderbot + actual human = awkwardness” When I say I like sci-fi The Murderbot Diaries are one of the first things people recommend to me. I heard Martha Wells speak at WorldCon in Glasgow in the summer of 2024, where she talked about her influences and her approach to writing. This finally prompted me to pick up a copy of All Systems Red. Having now read the book I can say to everyone who recommended the series that you were right! I can certainly see why this has now been adapted for television, with Alexander Skarsgård playing the lead role as Murderbot on Apple TV+. Going back to the source material, All Systems Red is a short book at just 149 pages, so this is a sci-fi novella, although the overall story arc is still a long one, with seven books in the series. I found the first novella to be compulsively readable, and it was one of those books that had me staying up long past my bedtime. I was unable to resist the urge to read just one more chapter. Oh, go on then. Just one more… Murderbot is an armoured ‘SecUnit’, part cloned human grown in a lab and part robot, fitted with a deadly arsenal of weapons. Its role is to protect a small human survey team that is exploring a distant planet. Murderbot has chosen their own grim name after an error in their programming on a previous mission led to the deaths of those under its protection. As an expensive asset, it was reprogrammed after this traumatic event by its mega corporation owners. Murderbot has now been sent back out to work once more but, unbeknownst to the company which provides the survey team with its equipment, vehicles and SecUnit, it has managed to hack its own programming. Murderbot is therefore acting autonomously throughout the story, protecting the survey team because it wants to, not because it has been ordered to do so. This raises the question of whether the survey team are safe from their SecUnit, although Murderbot is actually more interested in binge-watching the TV show Sanctuary Moon, which it has downloaded to help break up the monotony of their assignment. The story is told entirely from Murderbot’s perspective and I loved how Wells made it feel distinct from the humans it was protecting. It shares many human qualities, due to its semi-organic nature, but Murderbot’s upbringing and training means it has blind spots when it comes to understanding humans. Some of the best scenes involve the social interactions between the SecUnit and the survey team. I loved the wry humour this story is infused with, especially where it details the social embarrassment Murderbot experiences when the humans try to interact with it on a more personal level. The crucial point to note here is Murderbot does have feelings. It hides behind its armour and helmet to help create distance, the survey crew themselves not fully appreciating how human their SecUnit is until they see their protector wearing ordinary clothing. The development of the relationship between the humans and their SecUnit is one of the main foundations of this novel. Since Murderbot is primarily concerned with the practicalities of protecting the survey team (when it’s not watching TV), the book is written in a sparse and direct style. There are no in-depth descriptions of the alien world or even the other humans, because Murderbot isn’t particularly interested in those elements. Wells is a clever writer, though, so the personalities of the survey team are slowly revealed through little snippets as the story unfolds. Overall, this first book is primarily an action story and Wells does a great job building up the tension, as Murderbot realises they and the humans under their protection are in great danger from a mysterious emerging threat on the planet. All Systems Red is a fun, entertaining read. It’s written in an engaging style and you can enjoy this purely for the action and adventure. However, I think the reason this worked so well for me was the way it explored themes about what it means to have free will and choice. I can see why this novella won multiple awards and why this series has its legions of fans. After reading All Systems Red, I think I might be one of them.

I kept seeing reviews of this and thought I must read. This book has very engaging character as protagonist who just happen to be an artificial life form; who unfortunately for him as to live in a society that doesn’t seem to be able to except; that if you can create intelligent, it will want the same rights as you: just not what you might want. Murderbot is a very engaging protagonist, to be honest it seems more human than the humans; the fact he finds them difficult to talk too is one of highlights of the book. I would also like to learn more about the society which the author has created and in which he has to find a place. Unfortunately we now come to the one drawback to the series which will stop me reading more:the price. The cost of this the first is exceptable (just) for its length in electronic form, but the next 3 books(more like instalments)are not. Really these first 4 books would make one novel which in hardback form (I might once have been willing to pay),but for electronic.? Having looked at the previews on Amazon the following episodes look good but I’m afraid at these prices I will not be reading at present,a shame really and I have therefore taken a star away. Buy the first one on all accounts to get a good read, if not cheap, but the rest I at least will leave for now.

Update: Wow, HUGE price for each tiny sequel ! Wham, bam, Thank you, Bot! Even better than all the reviews! What great fun, great pacing, great central mystery, good science, real living characters, in-your-face prose, and a delicious murder-bot with serious attitude. A too-short novella, and I can't wait for more (spring 2018, I hope). "My education modules were such cheap crap; most of the useful things I knew about security I learned from the edutainment programming on the entertainment feeds." So nice to see a future with realistic f***ing attitude to faceless corporations... "The other good thing about my hacked governor module is that I could ignore the governor’s instructions to defend the stupid company." Notes: 15.0% "... Wow, great fun, in-your-face prose, fast paced sci-fi!" 18.0% "... My education modules were such cheap crap; most of the useful things I knew about security I learned from the edutainment programming on the entertainment feeds." 25.0% "... loving this. Fabulous pacing, bot with a serious attitude, central mystery with peril, awesome!" 27.0% "... So nice to see a future with realistic effing corporations... The other good thing about my hacked governor module is that I could ignore the governor’s instructions to defend the stupid company." 80.0% "... wonderful fun. Sharp, spare and real. Great true characters and behaviour"

Planetary survey missions must be accompanied by a Security Unit: a protection robot supplied by the lowest bidder. The current survey team don’t know that their SecUnit calls itself ‘Murderbot’, and has overridden its governor module. But when mysterious things start happening, they are going to be very glad it has. This is a zippy little novella, just 150pp of snark as we listen to Murderbot narrate its story, and discover more about its background. There’s not time for a lot of character development other than the first person narrator, but we get an interesting world, an engaging protagonist, and the set-up for a lot more action and robot-soul-searching. This makes a good contrast with that other recent ‘robot learning to live in a human world’ tale, "A Closed and Common Orbit" by Becky Chambers. They are quite different in feel, but both are thought-provoking.

I finally read a Murderbot novella, and it was fun! ... And that's kind of all I have to say about it? I totally get why this series has the fanbase it has. I did absolutely love Murderbot; it's a wonderfully realised, really quite relatable personality that I would happily read more stories about. In fact I have every intention of eventually continuing with this series when I can get the books from my library. There's nothing wrong with All Systems Red, and there's every chance I was expecting too much from it after seeing so many rave reviews since its release, but the actual plot of this first book was only alright. It didn't blow my mind and very much feels like a set-up book - which it is! We need to get to know Murderbot's origins so we can understand it's later adventures, I'm sure, but because it's a set-up book more than anything else it didn't really blow my socks off. So yeah, I liked this and would definitely read more from this series, but it's not a new favourite.

Knowing what little I did about this story and main character before I started reading, something called a murderbot, who had hacked its own restricting systems, and could do pretty much what it wanted, to anyone and anything around it, I was expecting a serious novella that would shock and possibly repulse me...thankfully, you don't always get what you expect. And in this case I was incredibly thankful for it. This wee book is fast-paced, thought-provoking, humorous, heart-rending, utterly unique and far too bloody short! I want more! Oh wait, there are another three books...that's ok then. The idiosyncrasies of Murderbot's character and the introspective nature of the writing gave me a reading buzz I haven't had in a very long time. I found myself with a bigger emotional connection to this robot with human bits than I think I have with any other book character I can remember. And considering just how short this book is (171 pages) that's one hell of an achievement. Damn fine job, Martha. I was only a couple of chapters into All Systems Red when I put the book down and ordered the other three books. Because if they are only half as good as this one then it'll be well worth it. Ok, yes, I am pretty peeved about the cost of these things, almost the same price as a full novel for a novella!? That's a bit of a cheek. But at the end of the day, I still paid it. Try reading it yourself and you'll quickly see why.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells is a captivating science fiction story that grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go until the very end. The story centers around a self-aware security bot, which dubs itself Murderbot. Despite its ominous name, Murderbot is a character that readers can’t help but root for as it navigates a mission gone wrong while grappling with its own identity and desire for autonomy. One of the most compelling aspects is Wells' masterful writing style. The narrative is tight and well-paced, ensuring that every page is filled with tension, humor, and heart. This is a book that you can easily devour in a single day. In an era where entertainment options are abundant and attention spans are short, crafting a narrative that holds a reader's interest is no small feat. Wells succeeds brilliantly, making All Systems Red a perfect study for aspiring writers. It showcases how to maintain suspense and engagement throughout a story, offering valuable lessons on pacing, character development, and plot structure. In addition, All Systems Red is being adapted into a television series.

Novella Murderbot, its own name for itself which it believes it deserves, is a self-aware security android supplied by The Company to a small exploration team on a distant planet. Neither the Company nor the team of scientists know that Murderbot has hacked its own governor so it can't be forced to be an uncontrolled killing machine again. It doesn't have a very high opinion of humans and would like to be left alone to enjoy endless entertainment feeds, movies serials, books and plays, from which it possibly acquires its moral compass. Murderbot says "As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.” When the other exploration team on the planet suddenly goes dark, Dr Mensah leads her team of scientists for find out what has happened. Murderbot goes along, though really it doesn't much care about the fate of the other humans, only to find the other team's androids have been turned into killers and wiped out the crew. From the Murderbot is more or less forced into involvement. It's a good story, novella length, but introduces Murderbot and Mensah who treats it like a full human – which causes some awkward social interaction. A friend recommended this series and she was right. I love it.

Best book I’ve read since Ender’s series. Love the inner voice of the main character, excellent ending, very cool worldbuilding, fun plot.

La grande idée de cette novella, c'est de faire d'un cyborg tueur un narrateur à la fois désabusé et aspirant à la liberté. Le fond de l'histoire est classique, trop peut être pour les amateurs de background complexes et d'univers fouillés. Pour moi c'est une lecture parfaite : ni trop longue ni trop courte, un univers facile d'accès mais avec un fond que l'on devine riche, d'excellents personnages, de l'aventure, de l'émotion. C'est très agréablement écrit, avec un seul point de vue narratif, un rythme soutenu et des touches d'humour qui font mouche. Je n'ai qu'une hâte : lire le reste de cette série.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I mean it’s a funny book and I laughed at times, but it wasn’t that good itself. I don’t know if it was because everything went so fast. A book that could have easily been turned into a 300+ page adventure was pushed together into a 150 page book. I get that it’s supposed to be a diary, but every thing went so fast. And things weren’t explained properly either so didn’t know what things was either. I feel like Sci-fi books need a little more explanation to things that doesn’t exist for the reader (or at least me) to understand. And what was with the end? He just left them. I really thought he would stay with the humans! But that aside, I will probably read the next part, because I want to know what he get up to next (now that he left his humans).

Actual rating 4.75 stars. What an incredible start to the series. ‘All Systems Red’ is a wonderful surprise. I was instantly sucked into Murderbot’s world and did not come out until I finished this novella. It has a distinct tone and voice that really adds to the narrative and perspective. Plus, Murderbot is hilarious without even trying. This was such a pleasurable reading experience in a genre I adore. We hit the ground running as our protagonist Murderbot is on the job making sure the human employers are not harmed or killed in a precarious occupation from competitive companies that will do anything for a profit. Wells manages to weave in story, character development, and humour in a minimal number of pages; I am totally envious of her writing skill. The undertone of the discovery of self and identity is a slow building one, but something that grounds the story and makes it relatable. I got surprises. I got my sci-fi fix. I got interesting characters and a cracking pace! All wrapped up in a quick read, in the form of a novella. Not a lot I can say without giving away too much of the story – and this is more of an episodic plot, each book in the series builds the world more and more. All I can say is- read the book! Am already excited to read as much of the series as I can! Next up ‘Exit Strategy.’

I have watched the series on Apple TV and loved it and see one opotunnity to read it and i appreciated a lot