All Systems Red by Martha Wells begins The Murderbot Diaries, a new science fiction action and adventure series that tackles questions of the ethics of sentient robotics. It appeals to fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or lain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans. In a corporate dominated s pa cef a ring 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.1 Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighbouring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
Entertaining sarcastic story This feels like something Martha Wells wrote to entertain herself and I really enjoyed it. It's a novella and quite short and I want sequels.
It's told from the point of view of an android who refers to themself as Murderbot. They have hacked their operating system and are largely autonomous. More interested in the next episode of a soap than the tedious goings-on around them they are determined to survive. When everything goes wrong on a survey it's up to the Murderbot to save the humans.
It was funny, wry and interesting and I really enjoyed it and then passed it on to my husband who is reading it with glee too.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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30 January, 2019:
Finished reading
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30 January, 2019:
Reviewed