All Systems Red

by Martha Wells

eBook, 156 pages

English language

Published Dec. 13, 2017 by Tor.com.

(144 reviews)

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

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.

1 edition

ridel reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This short story is a fine prologue. The world-building was excellent and I enjoyed the cynical, realistic look at how corporations would behave in space. Cost cutting, reuse of old parts, general laziness... it's a very realistic view at the output of humans no matter what century it is. Unfortunately, the story is not particularly engaging.

For one thing, it'll take a while for the book to pick up pace and actually find the plot. And on the other... well, at its heart, it's the internal narration of Murderbot, a robot that is either sentient or on the verge of being sentient. We get small glimpses of how society treats these constructs as well as the varying different factions that make up humanity. But these are all far and few between, as the story focuses on a very, by-the-book mystery/thriller. You don't get emotionally invested, nor will you be surprised …

fiainros reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This had been highly recommended to me by so many people. Like others, it took me a minute to really get into it. But once I was into it, I was involved. I laughed out loud at several parts.

Stratki reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Enige minpunt is dat het zo dun is. Gelukkig zijn er nog 6 delen. Die uiteraard duurder zijn dan deel 1, stelletje drugspushers dat het zijn bij uitgeverijen.

Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Pretty awesome example of what happens when a writer finds a strong narrative voice. Murderbot is hilarious, focused, and one of the more commanding voices in literature. The story itself maybe not the most interesting to me but this is such a short read none of that matters.

WelshPixie reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Yep!

No rating

Very cute and awww and generally great. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

Violence: Yes Sexual scenes: No

22 reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I read, what, all six Murderbot novels in as many days. Because of that hilarious photo on Martha Wells' website of her reading a Murderbot novel aloud to… search and rescue robots at Texas A&M University. Because I have friends who are just like Murderbot and ART in terms of sarcasm and assholery (respectively). But mainly because Martha Wells is a pen-wielding goddess, whom I humbly beg for more.

the_lirazel reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was fun! I see why this series is so beloved.

outofrange reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All systems red' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A tasty morsel of sugary sci-fi, consumed rapidly. Skillful development of various systems as characters in constant interaction without becoming incomprehensible.

axleyjc reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I love the action. And the attitude of the murderbot. And how he is able to hack his own systems and use those skills throughout the whole series.

I ate the whole series up.

Coalford reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Got this book for free with the others in the series from a TOR giveaway.

Pretty standard sci fi novella. Surprised by the high ratings. A good little jaunt but nothing 'out of this world'.

tivasyk reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

надто коротке...

Andy reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Very entertaining read.

Alex Keane reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I love Murderbot. I love the way the mystery unfolds across the book and how some of Murderbot's quirks end up being key. Great read and a quick read

Yuri Krupenin reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All systems red' on 'GoodReads'

2 stars

Главное достоинство: короткая.

Martijn Reintjes reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Do andoids dream of electic sheep? When it comes to Murderbot not. He mostly dreams of soap opera's and other tv-series.

This book plays a bit with the idea of human vs augmented human vs construct (half biological android) seen through the eyes of the android. Who has what rights? And if a being can have original taught, is it a person? Can it be owned? Would that be slavery?

This isn't a philosophical book, and it's too short to really flesh out these ideas. But I enjoyed it non-the-less and look forward reading the rest of the series.