B|t|B: Book Review – All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Hello my fellow Bookworms and page turners,

Title: All Systems Red ( The Murderbot Diaries #1)
Author: Martha Wells
Published: 02/05/2015

This is another book where I am annoyed with myself that I waited so long to pick it up. the only saving grace is that I can move straight on to book two and not have to wait for it to come out!

This is a story of a team on a new planet who are conducting research but whilst they are there they are interrupted by an attack and ‘Murderbot’ has to rescue some of them. However it quickly it comes to light that the attack may not have just been chance, and we follow the team as they try to uncover what really went on and who is acting against them.

Now what exactly is a Murderbot?

A Murderbot is a part robot, part human construct designed to function as Security for humans, who has essentialy gained sentiance and has removed that little line of pesky code that essentially enslaves them to the Humans. This of course is done without the Humans knowledge and so they have to keep this hidden and just pretend to still be functioning as they should.

I really liked the character of Murderbot as it’s really quite a grump when it comes to humanity and it’s quite cynical about our kind. I enjoyed the inner monologues and pessimistic outlook a lot more than I expected, becuase a snarky but witty robot is always something worth reading about.

The one thing i would say is that it’s important to keep in mind that this is a novella, not a full novel. So the world building and side characters aren’t hugely developed. I didn’t mind that much though because it seemed to me that the purpose of this was for the reader to fall for Murder Bot, and that worked. I’m very curious to see what the full novel will be like but for now, I’m happy to enjoy a few more of these funny, charming novellas

I found this a fun and quick read with some great twists and ideas. The characterisation is brilliant, and the story is good fun too so I am very happy I finally got to read this one!

Until next time, read more books!