All Systems Red
Ratings1,716
Average rating4.1
I think it has potential to become something great, but lacked any emotional weight, in my opinion. It had a lot of interesting concepts that kept me somewhat invested; I want to read the next book, but not for the characters (maybe besides the protagonist). Hopefully it gets better as that seems to be the direction it's going in. Overall, an enjoyable read that has a good amount of potential.
I think it has potential to become something great, but lacked any emotional weight, in my opinion. It had a lot of interesting concepts that kept me somewhat invested; I want to read the next book, but not for the characters (maybe besides the protagonist). Hopefully it gets better as that seems to be the direction it's going in. Overall, an enjoyable read that has a good amount of potential.
I really do not have much to say about the novella. To me, it was pretty standard sci-fi fare.
I've had this on my backlist for so long and I can't believe I waited to finally read this. I love Sci-Fi but I love that this is a Sci-Fi from a rogue bot's perspective. Even better that this is a shortie and I already have the 2nd one close by. Definitely a good one for fans of the genre.
Oh how I wish I could wear a helmet so people couldn't see my feelings written all over my face!!!
Murderbot is a really well written, very relatable character. The story itself is simple and predictable but I do think it makes for a great short, funny, quirky and fast paced sci-fi read.
I will definitely be checking out the next book purely because Murderbot is so precious and I want to protect it with all my being!
Fun story about a self-aware robot. Some cool world building but though the story needed a little more for the ending. Felt very abrupt. I would have like 30 more pages or so.
I always find writing these reviews to be the most difficult. Here's the lowdown: I liked this story and I liked the characters. I wish there was more story here. The pacing and the writing are both tight. I do plan to read more of the Murderbot Diaries, but I'm not jumping to dive in to another immediately. I enjoyed this one and I'll be back for more...in a little bit, probably when I need a palate cleanser from a longer novel.
Well, I guess novellas are just not my thing. The events just go too fast, and I don't feel any engagement to characters or plot.
2nd read over: the review still stands, the only difference being that meanwhile I' ve read the second book, too, and was not impressed, so I will not continue the series. Still, I enjoyed this one the second time just as much. /// What Wells lacks in story imagination and originality (she lacks a lot there, to be honest), she more than makes up in excellent humor, good writing style and, most of all, main character. Murderbot is a very, very well done military person, with all the ambivalence a professional soldier feels towards “his” civilians perfectly suggested, but also very delicately suggested. Wells still needs to learn making up stories, but is a subtle and very good psychologist, a master of “show don't tell” and an excellent MC creator (less in secondary characters, but there is hope). I loved reading this entertaing book and definitely loved Murderbot.
First book of 2022 and with Dark Rise, this is a damn good start to this year's book journey.
I've been eyeing All Systems Red for a while but it's always been a little too expensive and I do hate not buying entire series of books especially when it's a novella.
My gut feeling that I'll like Murderbot were damn right! The book has heart and just the kind of humor I enjoy. The ending was fantastic too which I was a bit worried about.
I do think the novella format hurts the book just a tiny bit. It could be at least some 40 pages longer as the conclusion of the main story is pretty short.
I can't wait to read more of Murderbot:D
On first reading, I thought this was a story about a robot with some superficial organic components (like a Terminator), but I realize now that it has a human brain in there somewhere; although that brain is heavily supplemented by inorganic processing, memory, and communication components. So the fact that it thinks and behaves somewhat like a human isn't as implausible as I originally thought.However, it has no interest in sex and no sex organs. It doesn't eat, drink, or excrete (which makes me wonder how its organic brain and other components are maintained). Furthermore, up to the start of this story it's always been regarded and treated as equipment, as property, not as a person. So, compared with an average human, it's abnormal in various ways.It once killed a bunch of humans because a malware attack messed up its mind, and it privately calls itself Murderbot, I suspect because it still feels guilty about that; although the incident wasn't its fault. It tells us that it doesn't care about anything, but it behaves as though it cares very much about the humans for whose safety it's responsible.This story, being the first in the series, introduces us to the main character, the good guys, and the bad guys; all of whom will appear again in later stories.The scenario of the story reminds me vaguely of [b:Shards of Honor 531792 Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga, #1) Lois McMaster Bujold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681493311l/531792.SY75.jpg 9673658]: a team of scientists surveying an uninhabited planet is unexpectedly attacked by strangers.I like the story more now that I find Murderbot more plausible, and I've gradually come to the conclusion that this makes an excellent start to the series. Wells writes here with more confidence, and hits the spot more accurately, than I've noticed when trying some of her fantasy books.It occurs to me that Murderbot might otherwise be named Supernerd. It's more powerful and less vulnerable than a human, and it's intelligent and well-meaning, but it's also socially challenged, addicted to video dramas, and moody and sulky at times.
I truly don't know why I waited so long to read this, because it was absolutely excellent! What an accessible little Science Fiction treat! I can't wait to read more Murderbot.
This book has a great premise, a perfect length, and is one of the best things I read this year. It manages to be funny, warmhearted, touching, and thoughtful all at once. A great quick read!
The story here is relatively straightforward - it is, after all, a novella, where there isn't too much space to make things complicated. Essentially, a scientific survey team on an alien planet finds itself in trouble when they suddenly lose contact with their teammates at another base. There's not too much special here, but what makes the story good is the protagonist. This is the partially organic robot assigned as the group's security and the story is told in first person from its perspective. Murderbot, as it secretly refers to itself, only wants to be left alone and feels uncomfortable having to interact too much with humans, but nonetheless has to protect them. It's a witty story about a sympathetic yet deeply antisocial and cynical individual who has to put on a different face to the outside world, as well as having something to say about how different people react to something that's only supposed to be valuable property but which is capable of thinking and feeling.
Murderbot is a great and original character with potential for more stories to come.
I really looked forward to this book for a long time and it definitely did not disappoint.
I really liked the Murderbot character and their sarcastic manners. Also the relationships that were created that weren't expected were nice.
4.5 stars
I finally finished the book after my friend gifted it to my for my birthday. Anyway, this book was quite a delight. Murderbot was very cute and had humor despite having no built in emotions by its manufacturer. I would honestly be open to reading more of this series especially if Dr. Mensah and crew comes back in the sequels!
For such a short book, this was amazing! I loved it!
Murderbot is an amazing character, the world was very intriguing - I wanted more for sure, but for a short book I was amazed by the fact we did get lots of info about the world-, and the plot kept me hooked. Martha Wells is a very talented writer.
I'll definitely keep reading this series.
Everything about this book was completely out of my comfort zone and not at all what I would gravitate towards, but I enjoyed it so much. The protagonist was more endearing than most other protagonists I've read, despite being part-robot. The storytelling was solid, and the plot was such a breath of fresh air. This is a 4 to 4.5* read for me, with the only thing stopping it from being a 5* simply being that I zoned out sometimes during the more sci-fi-ish bits, which was sometimes quite dense for a sci-fi layperson like me.
This is a pretty short book, but it took me probably more than half of it to figure out exactly what was going on in terms of the world, the plot, and even just the names for everything (I'm just not used to so much sci-fi and tech jargon in my books). Despite that, the book still managed to be engaging enough almost right from the start, primarily due to the the protagonist's engaging voice - it might be a Murderbot, but it's also just a really shy, introverted entity that just wants to hide behind its opaque face shield thing all day, watch the amazing amount of TV serials it's downloaded, and not have to talk to humans, especially not about its feelings. Honestly, kind of relatable.
Murderbot (it doesn't really have an actual name, so we'll just call it that) is contracted out to a group of scientists and explorers, presumably in some spacefaring civilisation. It's actually a SecUnit (a security unit) that is rented out to these expeditions to protect people from hostile alien lifeforms (or other humans, I suppose). We kinda sorta get to know the scientists in Murderbot's group and they play a big role in the actual plot of this particular story, but the book being as short as it is means that we don't get the time to actually know these characters very well. While I'd love to hear more of them in the subsequent instalments, the main attraction of the story really is Murderbot and its perspective so I wouldn't say this at all detracts from the beauty of the book.
The group and Murderbot discover another expedition of scientists brutally murdered, and then it's a rollercoaster ride from there as they try to figure out who's behind that massacre before the culprits catch up with them to do the same.
What I particularly liked about the storytelling is that, even though we get the events from Murderbot's perspective, we can't help also feeling a little distrustful of Murderbot and wondering if it might be an unreliable narrator. Does that mean I'm siding with the humans over the non-human, even though we are seeing the story through the latter's eyes? What makes Murderbot, who is only part-robot with “organic parts” (i.e. human bits, since it has an actual face and other human organs, which it is able to regenerate when injured or even regrow when it's completely blasted off), different from the augmented humans in this story, when both of them are able to access feeds and information systems presumably via their brains alone? Tl;dr this is a sci-fi story but I find that it made me ask a lot of pretty interesting questions about the nature of robots and artificial intelligence, especially when juxtaposed with human emotions. And the book didn't bald-facedly ask those questions, just set things up so that readers might be provoked into asking these for themselves. That's damn good writing there.
Overall, highly recommended for anyone, especially if you're a sci-fi fan. But even if you're like me and not familiar with sci-fi at all, this still remains a great read.
Yep, my wife and Doug were right, this is a fun Novella. I tend to be more comfortable with the longer format but it has been in my “to read” list for some time so got thorugh it in a sitting (or in my case gardening...)Sequels ar lined up, and any one that like the themes should read a slightly different take Scalzi shows in [b:Lock In 21418013 Lock In (Lock In, #1) John Scalzi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438701397l/21418013.SY75.jpg 26115712]