Nook&Cranny reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
Entertaining and quick read
5 stars
Watched the Apple TV series a while ago and knew I wanted to read the books. The first one was great and fun to read.
eBook, 156 pages
English language
Published Dec. 13, 2017 by Tor.com.
"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.
"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.
Watched the Apple TV series a while ago and knew I wanted to read the books. The first one was great and fun to read.
Im Vergleich zur Fernsehadaption etwas ernster, aber dafür noch besser.
I have not watched the TV show, but this first instance of this series of novellas was captivating fun. Looking forward to reading the other books.
Después de tres años lo he releído (a causa de que la serie de Apple TV+ basada en la novela va a salir en breves) y lo he entendido mucho mejor y me ha gustado muchísimo más. ¿Será cosa de que mi nivel de inglés ha subido o de que he entendido mejor de qué iba la vaina? Ni idea, pero el resultado es que esta novelita corta, entretenida y con une protagoniste más que especial se hace un huequecito.
Como siempre, la culpa de todo es del capitalismo. Incluso el del futuro.
Murderbot has hacked himself out of main control.
The idea of an android, part bot with lingering organics, gives rise to ideas of a machine that sometimes feels human, a very introverted and relatable human; with its increasing independency situations develop more unexpectedly than what I anticipated, and that kept me reading the whole book almost in one sitting.
The secondary characters add enough depth to the story and help the development of Murderbot throughout it, queer characters are also a welcomed presence.
It was a very fun and fast read 😁
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.
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.
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 …
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. But I have no way of knowing if this makes this AI authentic, or if we just anthropomorphize what we think an AI should be thinking, you know?
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!
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!
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.
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.
A socially awkward, traumatized by PTSD, has executive dysfunction, and just wants to be free and watch entertainment streams ... Murderbot is very relatable.
Bit of a quick read, but not going to complain. Personally I liked the storyline, the humour of the murderbot too.
I may or may not be (read : I am currently) throwing money at the other books right now.
Bit of a quick read, but not going to complain. Personally I liked the storyline, the humour of the murderbot too.
I may or may not be (read : I am currently) throwing money at the other books right now.
Purchasable
Purchasable
Purchasable
Purchasable
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