All Systems Red

This introduction to Murderbot is swift, concise, and light. While I read it in a single two-and-a-half-hour sitting, I wouldn't say it hooked me. Rather, it provided the same level of entertainment as a run-of-the-mill genre film. Martha Wells delivers on her authorial promise but doesn't offer compelling prose, deep character work, or much in the way of worldbuilding. I found myself underwhelmed, especially after the endless hype I've heard over the past few years. This is another classic case of "I'm not the target audience".

Lighthearted, fun, and quick!

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Im Vergleich zur Fernsehadaption etwas ernster, aber dafür noch besser.

Loved the tight little plot. A great intro to the cast of characters and conceits of the series. Murderbot's intense interiority is such a great idea. It feels in a way like an autistic insert into this interesting universe of corporations and free worlds. Despite that, the story is kept very very local and immediate-stakes, and resists explicit worldbuilding.

IMO a masterpiece.

i haven't read this in 4 or 5 years, and i forgot how much fun this book is. the semi-bittersweet ending is moderated by the fact that i know there's like 7 more volumes, and i am sorely tempted to speed through them ahead of book club schedule. (^_^)

It's a short novel so I can't expect much in character development outside of the main one, but that is my one critique: I'd like to know more about the other members of the crew and their situations.

But overall it was a fun listen; engaging, interesting, suspenseful.

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 😁

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.

A socially awkward, traumatized by PTSD, has executive dysfunction, and just wants to be free and watch entertainment streams ... Murderbot is very relatable.

I read this a couple weeks ago and could tell you approximately nothing about the plot! I remember having a nice time reading it? It's short, which is to its credit. There is some stuff about untrustworthy corporations, and the main character is a robot whose robot-ness seems to be a metaphor for neurodivergence of some kind? I don't know. It never really came together but also, hey, it was short.

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.

I haven't been so compelled to read since a teenager. Murderbot sucked me in completely.