All Systems Red
Ratings1,834
Average rating4.1
Someone on Twitter called Murderbot “Janet from the Good Place, but with guns in their arms,” which is how I pictured them throughout this entirely delightful novella.
The first entry in The Murderbot Diaries is a short sci-fi adventure with cool, unusual concepts.
The story is told from first person perspective by a kinda security robot which has some social issues and likes to watch a lot of tv series.
Also there is a bit of tense action and are some mysterious detective moments. And on top of that it has an open ending...
Can't wait to read the next one!
Well, I can finally check this one off my “I really should read this” list. There’s a handful of books I feel obligated to read as a librarian and just never get around to, because there’s only so many minutes in a day, and new books are shiny. I was mostly pleased with this, and I think my only real hangups center around it being a novella and not a full novel. Things felt rushed in places, but when you only have under 200 pages to tell a story, things get streamlined.
The “shy murderbot” shtick is mostly funny and relatable, but I will say that towards the end it felt layered on a little heavy. Like the joke had been told just one too many times, and you’re left thinking “yeah I get it” rather than being amused. The ending was especially on-point with the MurderBot character, and I liked that the author played it the way she did.
So, only a very minor complaint to a short, enjoyable read. Definitely will read more in this series, especially to pad out a Goodreads Reading Challenge at the end of the year.
I read a quick description and thought, “huh, sounds like something I'd be into”, but then I spent a couple of weeks debating starting the book because the title Murderbot was a little off-putting. What was I about to get into? Turns out it is a lovely story from the point of view of a human/bot construct called a SecUnit (for security unit), and it gave itself the name Murderbot for reasons I won't divulge in this review. SecUnits don't usually have free will, controlled by a governor system, but have a certain amount of independence within the framework of protecting their charge. In this case, Murderbot is free from the governor system, and has a lot more feelings and thoughts about its existence than one might expect, while it tries to stay under the radar from the Company that owns it. There was some action, but it was mostly not action. And a very quick read. I'm ready to read the rest of the series!
I liked it well enough till 2/3rds in & then got bored. Just not enough going on in this very one dimensional story. I don't think I'll bother reading the other books in the series.
slow paced with very straightforward writing that completely lacks prose—which is befitting for a narrator who plays out the trope of a typical machine construct.
While the author excels at depicting the emotional mindset of a character, very rarely, are emotions other than annoyance, discomfort, or ambivalence explored.
When character's interact are the novella's strong point—which is unfortunate, due to how little Murderbot is forced to do so in any extended capacity.
Comfort food for a rainy day. This is a short novella and a quick read. Murderbot is the security semi organic robot that guards a survey team on a distant planet.Things start to go wrong and Murderbot ultimately fixes things, almost. There are a couple of crisis points where he's (she) is damaged and starts shutting down, but those moments are saved by one or more of the humans. The story is a nice romp of "Who is trying to kill us and why?" with a very satisfying ending that subverts reader expectations and sets us up for further adventures.
A few points.
Murderbot is the name it gives itself after incidents that happen long before this story. What he really wants for himself is to sit quietly in a corner and watch TV shows on his inner digital feed. To that end he's disabled some of the control systems built into his central module and is semi-autonomous.
He/she/it is genderless but, like dogs are always boys and cats are always girls, I see it as a male figure. The others in the story struggle to relate to both his robot element and his organic human element.
The characters is this story are not fleshed out at all. They are two dimensional in most cases. This is probably because the narrator is a robot and does not understand depth of personality or human inner conflict etc.
There is humour here but only of the robot being innocent of the motivations of humans and indifferent to their feelings. He mostly operates in his own little bubble of ironic observation. The story ends with that humour turned on himself as he becomes more human than he would have imagined at the beginning of the book.
I was honestly somewhat disappointed by this. I liked it fine, but after how much praise and awards it received, I expected something more from it then just being okay.
The characterisation for the humans feels very sparse, which might be die to the very short length, but it really hinders the themes of the book and means the ending doesn't feel as impactful as it maybe could.
The idea of a murderbot who just wants to watch TV is funny, but as it is developed here, I don't think it's quite enough to carry the whole story because (at least in this first entry) it just doesn't evolve much beyond initial pitch. There's interesting themes being touched on - about dehumanization of workers, neurodivergence or the difference between difficult real relationships and the easy attachment to fictional characters - but all these themes really do only get brushed on lightly. The humans mostly feel interchangable and the series the protagonist is obsessed with is similarly undefined, so neither the protagonists discomfort with social interactions or their desire to watch tv get much room for development beyond this basic premise.
I like the voice of the narration, but it wasn't enough to carry the rather thin plot for me. Some of my problems could be attributed to how short the book is, but that short length also meant that it didn't overstay its welcome for me and I still had a good enough time with it, even if this review is going to sound mostly negative. I think on my end it really suffered from inflated expectations too, and if this had been a random library pickup rather then a book I'd been recommended repeatedly, I probably would have more positive feelings on it.
I'll be giving the second book a shot soon, but this series might just not be for me.
something is missing and I can't quite place my finger on what. I think I wanted more world building, more details. the story was good but felt underdeveloped in a way. I also didn't like the ending. it felt too abrupt.
I heard many great things about this book, and I must admit, I absolutely love the concept! I listen to the audiobook(specifically the “dramatic reading”) and enjoyed the sound effects and different voiced characters. Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me. Murderbot was just a little too dry.
It seems to me that the trick to a successful novella is making up for time with personality. Murderbot’s quirks align closely enough to my own neurodivergences that I can look past this book’s shortcomings.
In many ways the first half of All Systems Red feels like a paraphrasing of a book. So much is glossed over or taken as read. Things start to click after everyone involved is on the same page. Even with just a few dozen pages left to go, I found myself tripping on awkward sentences that would have benefited from more words and different punctuation.
This was a funny read in such close proximity to Becky Chambers’ Monk + Robot duology. Brief reads about quirky robots trying to find ways to help humans while also prioritizing their own interests.
I think I can visualize how this show would play out enough that I’m not convinced I’ll watch it. At least not until I finish the next installment.
I was curious about this one, based on the name and the amount of people talking about it. I found a nice science-fiction novella told through the eyes of a "murderbot" with quite an apathetic view on its life and work and some nice jokes. I wasn't really captivated by the story but it made me want to read the next novellas and see what becomes of it, so we'll see how it goes!
I feel like there's a lot to explore in the theme of something along the lines "AI becomes conscious". This book doesn't do that. Maybe other entries of the series might, but Murderbot is basically just an introverted human, there's nothing "robotic" about it whatsoever, apart from having cybernetic parts.
I guess that may be the point, as killing machines are made of organic matter along with cybernetics, but I'm not sure how much of that organic matter is used and how exactly does hacking the government module affect things: Did Murderbot become conscious after that or was it always conscious but suppressed because of modules dictating behaviour(and beneath lies a regular human)?
If it's the latter then it's an okay book with some cheesy humor which I personally didn't enjoy and a mystery that would be uncovered fully only in the later books
If it's the former then it's a book I personally wouldn't recommend because of the sheer amount of potential lost, because the idea of an emerging consciousness isn't explored whatsoever(you can imagine Murderbot as a very introverted teenager who is really uncomfortable with socializing, not as a murderous killing machine that became self-aware)
Objectively it took me 4 days to read this but subjectively it felt like 20 minutes, did not expect it to be so funny and fun, I especially appreciate the way it ends, I'm really excited to see where the series goes after this!
“You don't blame humans for what you were forced to do? For what happened to you?”
This is why I'm glad I'm not human. They come up with stuff like this. I said, “No. That's a human thing to do. Constructs aren't that stupid.”
I dunno, this novella just isn’t for me. It’s quick, it’s sorta fun, it’s a unique interpretation of what murderous robot is but I don’t vibe with the vibe.
I wasn’t all that impressed. So many people had hyped me up about it, that I thought I was about to read the next terminator or something. So some of this is my fault. The book had some funny moments and I loved that it was a sci-fi. My biggest issue was the lack of murdering. This is the Murderbot Diaries. I needed dead bodies 🤦🏾♂️. I purchased the entire series so I will definitely keep reading. Hopefully the action I’m looking for will start in book 2 🤷🏾♂️.
Murderbot might be one of my new favorite book characters. Unintentionally humorous, hates their job but takes pride in it, and all they want to do is watch TV. I can relate.
I appreciated how short of a read it was (I think I finished the whole book in two hours) but still enough to get me invested in the story.
It was a good little story for what it was. Obviously I can’t compare it to a larger sci-fi novel because that’s not what it aims to be. It reminded me a lot of Hugh Howey’s novels like Wool and Sand and how they were originally released as a series of novellas. I think this book is better however in that it contains a whole story. While the ending definitely leaves it open for more, I don’t feel required to read the next book to get the whole story.
It reminded me also of Klara and the Sun, making me think about what it means to be human, and the feelings of artificial intelligence.
A quick, snappy, and incredibly engaging read. It didn't take long for me to identify with Murderbot more than most of the human main characters I've read.
Key sentence:
“If the humans see me actually doing my job, it helps keep suspicions from forming about faulty governor modules.”
As someone who used to have to find external motivations to convince myself to work in the face of -a faulty governor module- undiagnosed depression, boy howdy did this resonate with me on a spiritual level.
Looking forward to the rest of the series!
2.75 stars
was an okay read for the most part! i found murderbot endearing and the story interesting enough to keep reading but i felt no connection to the other characters. still considering continuing the series though!