Everyone raves about this series, so I thought I'd grab the first book. It's basically fine, I guess.
It is moderately amusing having the Muderbot be an awkward teenage boy who just wants to watch videos and cringes when people stare at him. But it is a bit one-note. Similarly, evil corporations hiding details from exo-planet surveyors is a trope which has been a thousand times before.
This is a novella, serving to introduce the protagonist and fill us with a little too much exposition. The trouble is that nothing much happens. There's a bit of world building and a light smattering of action - although I found it rather plodding.
Essentially, a lot of telling and not much showing. Rather underwhelming given the hype. I might give one of the many (many!) sequels a go once I reach the end of my reading list.
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ISBN: 9780765397522
13 thoughts on “Book Review: All Systems Red - The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells”
@Edent I enjoyed reading your review much more than the book. I think you’ve captured my feelings about it pretty well. ‘One-note’ sums it up.
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@Edent AFAIK murderbot wasn't gendered until the tv series
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sikander
The novellas are excellent and so much fun! Please do read the sequels; they only get better.
The tv show ... sigh, I couldn't finish the first episode because they made everyone super dumb. TV MURDERBOT is not the MURDERBOT I know from the books.
@Edent Aligns very much with my reading of the same book.. maybe it gets better?? But until then I have longer lists of stuff to read
(If you've not read Roadside Picnic, I enjoyed it much more than Tarkovsky's movie of it, Stalker, and I've picked up a couple more of the Strugatsky brothers' books in the SF Masterworks series)
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@Edent There are subtleties regarding the unreliable narrator you may not have picked up.
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@Edent It's in All Systems Red; certainly the more narration one reads from the bot's perspective, the more clues one gets, but it's in the first book too.
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I thought they were ideally suited for conversion to TV shows, in that they're quite shallow. Enjoyable as a snack, not a meal.
@mia @Edent I thought Murderbot was still only ever accidentally misgendered on the series too. Janet “not a girl”-style.
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@maco @mia @Edent
That is my recollection as well. (Which as an agender person I appreciated)
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@Edent I did quite enjoy most of the (book) series; the last published ("System collapse") for me matches your review most thoroughly.
It's been observed that the 1st person narrator appears to be a nonbinary autist who is troubled and confused by relations with non-autists. That's different to "awkard teenage boy" although I get why that description kinda fits.
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@brainwane @Edent the flashbacks start to show up in All Systems Red, don’t they? The flashbacks from the incomplete memory wipe set up a whole other mystery that’s like the series arc, versus just the episode plot.
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@Edent They’re an enjoyable comfort read. No need to think too deeply, but each book adds more nuance to the world and character.
The first four novellas form an arc. Certainly worth reading at least the second one if you plan to read the longer novels (which are the best ones IMO).
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@Edent I found those books to be fun reads. The setting gets expanded on in later ones but if the tone isn't grabbing you then I'm not sure you'll get much more out of the later ones either.
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