Book Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Murderbot does not want to kill all humans. Or even very many humans. It just doesn’t feel comfortable interacting with humans outside its security unit (SecUnit) duties, and would rather spend its spare time watching the endless hours of human entertainment available in the various archives. (Right now it’s a big fan of Sanctuary Moon.) Still, Murderbot calls itself that for a reason, and that factors into why it’s told no one that it’s hacked the “governor” that gives the Company the ability to control its actions.
Despite having a modicum of free will, Murderbot needs to continue its security duties in accordance with protocol to avoid being detected as a “rogue” or “malfunctioning’ unit which would be forcibly reprogrammed. Also, Murderbot has a certain amount of professional pride in keeping its humans safe. It might not like the humans, but doing the job right is important.
Its latest assignment is protecting a small research team, PreservationAux, which is examining the resources available on a recently opened world with an eye on bidding for a share. After an encounter with a hostile native lifeform, it’s discovered that the data provided the team is missing that creature’s description. Murderbot is initially willing to chalk it up to shoddy editing by a lowest bidder (Murderbot is not a big fan of the Company it works for.)
But soon, it’s discovered that there’s other important information missing from the databank, and more close calls. When the other known research team on the planet goes dark, there’s no question that something is very, very wrong. Can Murderbot keep its humans alive and avoid revealing that it has free will?
This is the first novella in the popular “The Murderbot Diaries” series by Martha Wells, recently a guest of honor at Minicon. She’s an experienced author {I’d previously read some of her “Books of the Raksura” series) but this is the one that the internet decided to like.
Murderbot is an interesting protagonist with a distinctive first person voice. SecUnits are asexual and agender by design, which is why Murderbot uses “it” pronouns. It integrates both human tissue and robotic technology into its body, but does not consider itself a “cyborg” as it was never “human” despite a strong resemblance when not wearing its armor. Murderbot prefers wearing full armor and an opaqued faceplate when around humans so they will just think of it as a robot.
As an outsider, Murderbot has both a large amount of confusion and unusual insight into the human condition. The shows it watches help a bit. And it’s amoral by human standards, which can cause some worrying thoughts.
The humans of PreservationAux seem a decent enough bunch. They’re as baffled by Murderbot once they learn more of its true nature as it is by them, but seem to be willing to learn and show empathy to varying degrees. (By comparison, some previous clients had done things like order their SecUnits into gladiatorial combat for their entertainment.)
There’s a bit of world building, and I am hoping to see more of that in the sequels.
Content note: Murderbot engages in deadly combat, including a particularly dark incident before the events of this story. SecUnits and other artificial people are considered property by the Company. In PreservationAux’s home culture, the situation is better but they still aren’t treated as humans with full rights. There’s mention of “sexbots” which has bad implications. High schoolers and up should be okay.
Overall, an excellent introduction to this series, and recommended to science fiction fans.
