All Systems Red

Book 1 of the Murderbot Diaries series

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This is a fast-paced adventure which follows the Murderbot on a short-term contract position as the SecUnit for a scientific expedition on an uncolonized planet.

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In this first volume of the series, the bot bonds with the team it’s assigned to, something most everyone would say was impossible.

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"She said, “Are you all right? I saw your status report.”

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“Uh.” That was the point where I realized that I should have just not answered and pretended to be in stasis. I pulled the blanket around my chest, hoping she hadn’t seen any of the missing chunks. Without the armor holding me together, it was much worse.

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“Fine.” So, I’m awkward with actual humans. It’s not paranoia about my hacked governor module, and it’s not them; it’s me. I know I’m a horrifying murderbot, and they know it, and it makes both of us nervous, which makes me even more nervous.

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Also, if I’m not in the armor then it’s because I’m wounded and one of my organic parts may fall off and plop on the floor at any moment and no one wants to see that.

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“Fine?” She frowned. “The report said you lost 20 percent of your body mass.”

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“It’ll grow back,” I said.”

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The story is not very deep and it's not very science-fictiony. I’m genuinely surprised it won the Hugo and Nebula awards as the writing is just okay.

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Lovers of hardcore science fiction would probably be disappointed in this one, but after having read all seven volumes, I can say that this one is a set-up for all the books that come after. It's a soft launch into a fun-to-read series.

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