All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

All Systems RedAll Systems Red
by Kevin R. Free (narrator), Martha Wells
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781501977824
Series: The Murderbot Diaries #1
Publication Date: December 1, 2017
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books

All Systems Red is the first tense science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries.

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 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.


Elentarri caught me in a weak-ish moment and convinced me to put aside my natural, deeply in-bred bias against all things space and most things science fiction to give The Murderbot Diaries a try.

She can chalk one up in the win column, because I enjoyed this soooo much more than I thought I would, and that’s entirely due to the Murderbot character.  I have a suspicion that I’ll be hard pressed to describe the plot of All Systems Red after next week (and in truth, there’s not really a lot of plot), but I will remember Murderbot vividly.  I thoroughly enjoyed his irreverence, his humor, and his introverted reactions to the people around him.

This was a fast audio listen and I thought Kevin Free did a very credible job.  He does speak unnaturally slow overall, but he brings Murderbot to life and gives it personality.  I’ve already started the second one, Artificial Condition.

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