A review by jonfaith
All Systems Red by Martha Wells

2.0

I used a postcard featuring Charles Dickens as a bookmark for my reading of this novella, although it was Descartes which appeared the more relevant. Certainly there were allusions to self-replicating bureaucracy but is something more fundamental, a crucible of autonomy. It was this Cartesian mind-body dilemma which distracted me from the numbing monologue. I fear this author makes Andy Weir look like Flaubert. The mot juste of the Murderbot might reflect some futurist fantasy but the prose by which it is plumbed has all the resonance of a Reddit thread.