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A review by janaroos
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
3.0
Well, that was quick. One moment I had started and the next I was at 60%, wondering if I'd accidentally bought a demo version of a book.
This was a pretty fun 'survey team on a new planet but oh no something is wrong' story, told from the perspective of the titular murderbot. Our narrator loathes social interaction and would much rather be bulk-consuming entertainment media (wouldn't we all), but has to protect the plucky bunch of humans it's assigned to. So far so good.
And then it just ends. What would normally, in my opinion, qualify only as an intro-adventure--something to introduce the characters, set the scene, start off with a bit of action--turns out to be the whole entire story. Wuh? It was like seeing Peter Parker get bitten by the spider, his uncle tells him 'great power, great responsibility' and dies, Peter thinks about being Spiderman but doesn't put on the suit yet, roll credits. It seemed like an origin story without showing us what the character will become.
I'll check out the next one, in the hope that it'll actually tell me a proper story, but I'll be waiting for a sale, because honestly I feel a little ripped off.
*edit*: okay wait so it IS supposed to just be a novella? I'm still annoyed but at least now the fault lies with me. I stand by my review though, especially since this is still billed as #1 in the series. No fun in an origin story that doesn't go anywhere, but at least now I'm way more keen for the real number 1.
This was a pretty fun 'survey team on a new planet but oh no something is wrong' story, told from the perspective of the titular murderbot. Our narrator loathes social interaction and would much rather be bulk-consuming entertainment media (wouldn't we all), but has to protect the plucky bunch of humans it's assigned to. So far so good.
And then it just ends. What would normally, in my opinion, qualify only as an intro-adventure--something to introduce the characters, set the scene, start off with a bit of action--turns out to be the whole entire story. Wuh? It was like seeing Peter Parker get bitten by the spider, his uncle tells him 'great power, great responsibility' and dies, Peter thinks about being Spiderman but doesn't put on the suit yet, roll credits. It seemed like an origin story without showing us what the character will become.
I'll check out the next one, in the hope that it'll actually tell me a proper story, but I'll be waiting for a sale, because honestly I feel a little ripped off.
*edit*: okay wait so it IS supposed to just be a novella? I'm still annoyed but at least now the fault lies with me. I stand by my review though, especially since this is still billed as #1 in the series. No fun in an origin story that doesn't go anywhere, but at least now I'm way more keen for the real number 1.