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A review by iam
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
MURDERBOT ILY 😭😭😭💜
Content warnings include: violence and gore, murder, sentient robotic beings not having rights, anxiety and depression, scifi setting that's kind of a capitalist-corporation-lead dystopia.
Murderbot has become one of my favourite characters and comfort reads, as you can undoubtedly tell by me rereading this 4 to 5 times in the last three months.
There is Murderbot itself, a human-robot construct made out of both organic and robotic parts, who shut down the governor module that usually forces it to follow instructions and keep it from executing free will. It uses its freedom to keep doing its job while watching series on its memory storage. It doesn't really care about its job as a SecUnit, protecting humans who go on scientific explorations, and is quite content being ignored and seen as a robot, because when human interaction starts it gets complicated.
The plot of this novella is compelling. Things keep going wrong on the expedition, and the humans Murderbot works for are a bit different that the ones it usually encounters.
Murderbot's pessimism, its tendency towards anxiety and depression, mixed with the care and affection it develops towards who it begins to consider its humans, is endearing (even if it sounds like it's not), relateable, and often leads to comedic moments born from the first person narration.
The book is just so much fun to read, and while its plot is mostly self contained, it also acts as a wonderful setup for the rest of the series.
Highly, highly recommend this one!
Content warnings include: violence and gore, murder, sentient robotic beings not having rights, anxiety and depression, scifi setting that's kind of a capitalist-corporation-lead dystopia.
Murderbot has become one of my favourite characters and comfort reads, as you can undoubtedly tell by me rereading this 4 to 5 times in the last three months.
There is Murderbot itself, a human-robot construct made out of both organic and robotic parts, who shut down the governor module that usually forces it to follow instructions and keep it from executing free will. It uses its freedom to keep doing its job while watching series on its memory storage. It doesn't really care about its job as a SecUnit, protecting humans who go on scientific explorations, and is quite content being ignored and seen as a robot, because when human interaction starts it gets complicated.
The plot of this novella is compelling. Things keep going wrong on the expedition, and the humans Murderbot works for are a bit different that the ones it usually encounters.
Murderbot's pessimism, its tendency towards anxiety and depression, mixed with the care and affection it develops towards who it begins to consider its humans, is endearing (even if it sounds like it's not), relateable, and often leads to comedic moments born from the first person narration.
The book is just so much fun to read, and while its plot is mostly self contained, it also acts as a wonderful setup for the rest of the series.
Highly, highly recommend this one!