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A review by realadhdoug
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
4.0
I enjoyed this well enough to continue on in the series to see what happens. It’s a basic “robot becomes self-aware and must figure out how to live among humans” sort of thing, although there are a few nuances that makes it different. The protagonist is a security unit—an android-esque private security guard rented out by companies to protect interplanetary travelers. In this short story, he recounts a specific mission that we soon discover will have important ramifications for his future.
The story is written—as a series entitled “The Murderbot Diaries” might suggest—as a first-person journal entry. While there is a plot and some dialogue with the characters the SecUnit encounters, most of the space is taken up with them musing on their distaste for humans and the emotional interactions they’re expected to have with them. Oh, also the reality shows they watch. They love those, LOL.
The story was short, simple, and relatively uneventful. But it’s intriguing and leaves open the possibility for some expansive world-building. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.
The story is written—as a series entitled “The Murderbot Diaries” might suggest—as a first-person journal entry. While there is a plot and some dialogue with the characters the SecUnit encounters, most of the space is taken up with them musing on their distaste for humans and the emotional interactions they’re expected to have with them. Oh, also the reality shows they watch. They love those, LOL.
The story was short, simple, and relatively uneventful. But it’s intriguing and leaves open the possibility for some expansive world-building. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.