All Systems Red
Ratings1,730
Average rating4.1
It's more of a 3.5 because it's quite short.
I've been trying to get into more sci-fi this year, so choosing novellas is a logical choice to ease me into the genre. And choosing this particular one was also easy because I've heard a lot of good things about it and it's also a Hugo winner. I don't know what I was expecting going into it, but I didn't expect to be delighted so much.
I won't deny that the first half of this book was more fun, with the main character Murderbot being all sardonic and pessimistic, just wanting to be left alone to watch tv shows. It was so much fun watching it trying so hard to learn how to interact with humans. I mean, the whole dichotomy of a shy introverted tv obsessed Murderbot is hilarious and I'm totally here for it. The author does a wonderful job setting up the main character as well as the group of human scientists it has to interact with. I thought their conversations were equal parts awkward and endearing. The plot itself isn't very significant here, because it's mostly about the setup of the character and a bit of the world.
To conclude, I'm already half in love with Murderbot and can't wait to read the next novella whenever I get it from the library. If you wanna try out the sci-fi genre and are looking for some fun easy to read books, this book is perfect for you. But I sincerely can't say what hardcore sci-fi readers would feel about it. It's definitely short, sweet and entertaining, so pick it up if that sounds interesting to you.
A funny, light, colorful adventure book with the right momentum to keep reading and enjoying the excellent writing. Lovely.
Pity it's only a novella. I think the most interesting part about this book was that the murderbot doesn't have a gender yet for the first half I was completely convinced it was a female - and if you go and read other reviews there's a good mix of referring to it as he or she.
This is such a fun story. It's very short. Murderbot is antisocial and ironically endearing. There is action and fun in this short Sci-Fi story.
I had tried reading this novella when it came out a few years ago, but gave up after a few pages. Oddly, I was immediately hooked upon a second attempt. Murderbot, the blunt but endearing protagonist, is such an engaging storyteller and it narrates a very compelling mystery on an unfamiliar planet. And, in a rare feat for a novella, author Martha Wells world-builds, creates characters with depth, and tells a fully-fleshed out story in ~150 pages. I'm looking forward to further exploring Murderbot's world and psyche in the subsequent novellas and the upcoming full-length novel coming later this year.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
Originally posted on Geeky Galaxy.
The Plot
I know this is novella lengthed, but it seemed a little rushed to me. There's clearly word count left, but it seemed like the author wanted to write The End and move on before it was ready. They seemed to jump around from point to point just a bit too quickly, not allowing situations to fully develop before moving onto the next thing. For example, there was one part where they were hiding. It seemed to me like this would be perfect downtime from the action. Raise a little tension at the thought of being caught, get some more characterisation in of how the characters are reacting to the stressful situation they were in, etc. This didn't happen. I felt like we moved on before there was this opportunity. Other than the feeling that everything is a little fast, I did really enjoy this story. The idea of an unshackled bot and what would come of it if anyone found out was great.
The ending was well-rounded, sealing everything up with a pretty bow on top. I know there are more books, and there's more to Murderbot's story, but I didn't get the burning desire to read the next one straight away. Or maybe at all... I'm not sure.
The World
The setting of All Systems Red is well-built, with subtle pieces of information woven in, rather than it all being thrown at you at once. The reasons for the characters being where they are made sense and the description of this alien world was mostly good. I did feel like I wanted a little more occasionally. Like they're on a minimally surveyed alien planet with all sorts of weird and wonderful flora and fauna, right? I'd love to hear a little more about what that actually looked like. I'm just a sucker for good world-building that makes me feel like I'm stood on this alien planet right alongside the characters, and this didn't give me that feeling.
The Characters
Murderbot
Murderbot has some of the best quotes in this book. Murderbot doesn't have a specified gender that I saw, but because I related to Murderbot so much, I'm going with she. She's not a social person at all and I totally relate to that. I feel like some of the things she's said about humans have crossed my mind once or twice before. The voice this character was written in was just unique, and since this was told from her point of view, I really enjoyed seeing how she thought and processed things as a mostly bot with some human bits thrown in for good measure. I feel like Murderbot made up for some areas of this I felt were a little lacking, because of how relatable she was.
The accuracy of the below quote!
“Yes, talk to Murderbot about its feelings. The idea was so painful I dropped to 97 percent efficiency.”
There's more characters in this, of course. Murderbot is a SecUnit, which means her purpose is to provide security to the survey team she's with. However, Murderbot is clearly the key character. This series is called The Murderbot Diaries after all. The other characters did feel very secondary, like they were there to be protected and did serve a purpose, but not in any meaningful or memorable way.
Would I read it again? Maybe? I'm not 100% on this.Will I be picking up the next in the series? If it's on sale, sure.
Would I recommend it? It's a short, quick read. Murderbot is a fun character, so sure.
Is it going on my favourites shelf? No.
I liked this. The nameless Murderbot is a fun first person character, and I'm definitely hooked, and want to see what happens in the next books.
I love Murderbot!
I loved this!. I mostly listened to the audiobook. The obvious disdain in Murderbot's voice made me smile. I have already bought the next two.
Fue un completo acto de masoquismo haber leído está basura. No hay buenos personajes, no hay buena trama, flojo el misterio, flojas las escenas de acción. En fin, nunca un libro tan corto me había parecido tan largo!!!
I liked this one, it's different in many ways from other sci fi I've read.
Dos tercios iniciales geniales, final precipitado. Leeré el siguiente porque a pesar de todo quiero saber más sobre Matabot.
Well this was a whole lot of fun to read this slim novel about a security android that hacked his governing module and develops attachment to “his” humans. All introverts can relate to his reluctance at having to engage to humans, or his wish to hide behind his helmet.
I've been going through a thing where I'm craving some military sci-fi. I think it comes from the same instinct that's gotten me reading a lot of historical fiction - its the most removed from my everyday life I can get. However, I think I need something a little more immersive than a novella like this. I liked the character work - Murderbot has a charming voice, and its refusal to recognize its developing attachment to its human clients hit me right in the feels. But the conflict and setting didn't really hold my interest, and I think I skimmed most of the action sequences. The sci-fi isn't really the draw here - Murderbot is. I love me some sarcastic robots, but I think I need something deeper.
I really like the premise and the main characters' quirks. Interesting world building, believable plot, good supporting characters, and I enjoy the novella length. So on that I give if four stars - however the reader was well, flat and maybe undersold the humor or am I unfair? So I like this book, just not the audio-book reader's performance.
I started listening to All Systems Red on Scribd with the hopes of passing some time listening to something fun and simple while doing kitchen chores. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up not only cleaning the kitchen, reorganizing the pantry, fridge, cooking dinner, and meals for the next day in the hopes of listening to as much of this as possible before having to put it away for the night. It is compulsive and addictive read. Once you start reading it, it is so short and exciting you will not want to stop till you get to the end.
All Systems Red is a perfect and tidy story. When I say tidy, it isn't derogatory. Novellas have to get a lot done in a short amount of time. The author needs to convey thought, history, emotion, narrative, and plot progression. So all of the choices the author makes need to be concise and tidy. In Martha Wells, All Sytems Red, she created an exceptional character in Murderbot, Murderbot being the name he calls himself. He is cynical, confused, and courageous but more than anything, Murderbot has very human emotions. This character works quite well within the context of a novella because the reading audience has a cultural dialog regarding machines with human emotions, i.e., The Terminator. There isn't a lot of groundwork to be laid, we already have a feel for what this scenario could look like. Murderbot is an artificial life form with organic components, and these components work in tandem with its artificial ones to create the perfect killing machine.
How life works for the Murderbot is that he is deployed on contract through his host company, The Company. In the first installment of the quadrilogy of short stories, Murderbot is protecting and defending a group of scientists and geographers on an inhospitable planet. Murderbot hacks his mainframe to start making independent choices aside from is company programming. Most of his decisions consist of which type of soap opera to watch on the entertainment channels available at his outpost. However, when another outpost on the same planet gets attacked, Murderbot needs to step in to protect the scientists that he has become attached to. What plays out over the brief story is exciting scenes, great dialog (both internal and external), and an excellent plot jump to the next novella. I loved this, and it is easily understood why the author received so many well-deserved accolades. It is funny and enjoyable.
For the Read Harder Challenge: A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character. I am considering a robot to be an inanimate object. Also, a book by a woman that won a literary award in 2018–the Nebula Award for Best Novella.
Murderbot is the lovable, cynical, introverted killing machine you didn't know you needed in your life! This is a snappy adventure story with a surprising amount of heart.
WARNING: the series is addictive, delivering a short, discrete story arc in each volume, with Murderbot's personal story serving as the connecting thread across books. I can't stop buying and obsessively reading them!
Hugo Award Best Novella 2018! This is my 2nd SF book I've read in the past 4 months and again I had problems following what was going on! I'm 71 years old and watch SF movies constantly but the books keep me in the dark. I know it's not the authors but me, maybe I should avoid this genre. If you like SF I'm sure you will like this award winner. (I might try reading it again someday) - David
Loved it
It wasn't very long. I finished it in a few hours. It was good, though. I liked the perspective. The story moves at a good pace. It didn't get boring. A decent amount of humor, too. It wasn't one big chuckle fest, though. I recommend it.
This was a fun and surprising read. The main character, Murderbot, is a robot-human hybrid and is so interesting and well drawn. I was fascinated from the start. Since this is a novella, the story just scratches the surface, but at the same time felt like a complete unit. I am so happy there are more stories in this series.
I love murderbot. The whole series is great. It's full of some of the most hilarious writing I've come across in sci-fi. I will re-read it endlessly.
I will say one negative thing - The pricing of the series is greedy AF. Someone made a poor choice to overcharge for what is essentially a single book and broke it up into a few smaller stories then charged full price for each of them... smelly greediness is not good business. That said, I will not let that monkey brained decision taint my love for the story itself.
After getting a friend to read Murderbot, I decided I needed to read it again immediately. Good news, it holds up.
All Systems Red is the first installment of the Murderbot diaries, a humorous SF (mostly) novella series by Martha Wells. Its reluctant protagonist is Murderbot, a security robot contract worker made to accompany clients on different missions so they don't get themselves killed.
Despite being designed for expressly this, Murderbot is far more interested in watching TV. It's like the assassin version of an office worker who lets calls ring out while they listen to podcasts and play 2048. And perhaps in the future, after the current onslaught of terrible generative AI, this is where we'll end up: humans don't want to work, so they build robots to work for them so they can watch TV. But the robots end up not wanting to work either, so they can watch TV.
Murderbot does not dream of labor, does not like eye contact, fast forwards through sex scenes, and more than anything wants to be left alone. Wells' representation of queerness and neurodiversity (really, anyone who feels alienated or exhausted by the world) in this character is endearing and multifaceted.
Murderbot puts up a front of being detached and lazy, but it cannot help but turn it on in a crisis. It may not be great at its job, but it is great at what it does. And, it cares deeply — far more than is convenient or comfortable — about its humans and protecting innocent, kind people from coming to harm. It has tugged out the altruistic threads of its being and replaced the rest with special interests. It is me working at the public library, but if I could do a push-up.
2018 review: This was a fun and funny novella. A socially awkward nevertheless endearing genderless robot protagonist is...a lot of things. But somehow it worked! It's not a heavy read, but Wells touches on deeper themes about how empathy and autonomy relate to one's identity. I have a soft spot for not-so-human characters unfamiliar with societal expectations looking to pop culture for solace and understanding—the only other examples of this I can come up with off the cuff are Stranger Things and Lilo & Stitch. There's something so delightful about finding an entity especially capable of if not outright designed for destruction so enraptured by books and movies and music.I'd recommend All Systems Red to those in search of some light quick sci-fi fun. Spend a rainy afternoon with a cyborg more scared of prolonged eye contact than stampeding into bloodshed. Because at the end of the day (literally), sometimes more than anything, we all just want to watch our shows and be left alone.