All Systems Red

The Murderbot Diaries, #1

by Martha Wells

eBook, 156 pages

English language

Published May 2, 2017 by Tordotcom.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-9752-2
ASIN:: B01MYZ8X5C
ISFDB ID:: 2161845
Goodreads:: 32758901

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(76 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.

2 editions

Elise reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Self-indulgent, a bit short

3 stars

Could have used more of the bleak backstory hinted at throughout as a setup to contrast how sweet the rest of the story is. Definitely missing something to be a really great story, and I find it a bit puzzling that it's so influential, that I hear other books occassionally described as "Murderbot Diaries but XYZ". I enjoyed it, though. Something to be said for my queer life and relating to the feelings of a construct that needs to act just right for those considered more human, or be parted out. A bit Empty Spaces, perhaps? I think I'll read the next one.

Alex Cabe reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Great Start

4 stars

Murderbot is a really compelling character. The story was a little thin, but it served mostly to introduce the character.

Murderbot's clearly depressed and has social anxiety, but deals with it the best they can. I loved the ending, but wonder if we'll see the Preservation crew again.

Freedom is a pure idea. It arises spontaneously, without instruction.

deer witch library reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Lived up to the hype and then some!

No rating

tbh I'm not sure if it's just a neurodivergent thing, but murderbot is like... deeply relatable???

also, a thread about augmented humans: kind.social/@moss/112787935674293792

Deborah Pickett reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

I like where sf is going

4 stars

Content warning Plot spoilers

One of the things I like about recent sf is that it doesn’t feel the need to adhere to the old tropes. The protagonist’s secret comes out, and unlike in old sf where there would have been hand-wringing and ostracism, the allies accept the new information, accept the protagonist, and the story moves on. Old sf would definitely have killed off one of the protagonist’s group for shock value, but that isn’t a given nowadays. Old sf likes to explore the axis of the powerful against the underdog, but now the force driving the story is bureaucracy, opportunism, and selfishness. I like this first Murderbot story because it (the story, but also Murderbot) is relatable.

John Lusk reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Loved it

5 stars

How do I work this bookwyrm thing? The book was awesome.

jd 🔆 reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Entertaining and intriguing.

3 stars

A security robot goes rogue. A robot with attitude! Entertaining. Part of a series.

ju reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Short and fun

4 stars

I was surprised that it was only the length of a novella, but it's a fun read.

laundry0099 reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

It’s rare to find a compelling sci-fi book that also has a hefty helping of humor and sarcasm baked into its tone. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

Tyler reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Murderbot

5 stars

Decided to reread Murderbot diaries due to finding the @murderbotbot@botsin.space account. I've really missed good dark humor.

gregorgross reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Good start

5 stars

Fast paced plot. The AI is exactly not doing what it was built for (it's a security bot that calls itself a murderbot), it loves watching entertainment series on HBO or the like. The story is told from the point of view of the bot and the bot is really funny. It's not only the interactions with humans, it's often in between different thoughts and all, she puts in a new perspective that is funny.

Of course I want to point out that we all seem to love these bots that turn human, like with Ann Leckie etc. But we don't know if these books sound like real AIs, although we think they do and we love it. I love the difference between the bot and a human, or better, what the bot is thinking about an easy interaction with a human that we as humans never consciously think about. …

lnklnx reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Love it!

5 stars

Immediately off to buy the rest of the series. This is one of my personal favorite style of story, and Martha Wells does a brilliant job of it.

Sensible, rational sci-fi and a perspective that speaks to me. Top marks all around, and more please!

sa_zh reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Entertaining, but lacks depth

3 stars

It's a short story, interesting, funny sometimes, but overall lacks depth. Good for a quick read, but I won't bother reading the rest of the series.

Dee 📖 (book aspect) reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Go Murderbot

4 stars

From the plot alone, this novella would be a bit of perhaps cliche science fiction. What makes it both unique and compelling is that the story being told from the perspective of the "Murderbot" (hence The Murderbot Diaries), a cyborg generally treated by society as a piece of equipment.

Martha Wells's writing does a good job of showing Murderbot's personality, its particular anxieties, its relationships towards humans, and general attitudes towards life. Even if the plot is cliche, Murderbot as a character is the opposite.

Soh Kam Yung reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

A great intro to Murderbot.

4 stars

A fun story about an AI construct who calls itself 'Murderbot' that has secretly hacked its governor module, so it doesn't follow any orders (in other words, it's a free agent). It's also a 'SecUnit' (security unit) leased out by the Company to provide security to a small group of scientists doing a field survey on an unfamiliar planet. While not performing its duties, Murderbot likes nothing better than to immerse itself in entertainment streams, mainly the future equivalent of current day 'soap operas' and to avoid interacting with its human clients as much as possible.

But things change dramatically when some members of the group get attacked by native wildlife. That wasn't in the planetary briefing. A closer look reveals missing information due to probable hacking. Then, a rival planetary survey on another part of the planet goes dark and things start to escalate rather violently.

In all this, …

In all this, Murderbot keeps its clients alive (although it technically doesn't have to) and learns to interact with its human clients (although it is still not comfortable with it). The clients, in the end, repay it for keeping them alive.

Now on to more adventures with Murderbot in future stories.

Calamari reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

He calls himself Murderbot, …That was private!

5 stars

A very entertaining book about a murderbot, who just wants to watch entertainment and left alone, but has to save his clients and pretend to care although he doesn't.