BPL volunteer (and Alaina's dad!) Keith shares his thoughts on All Systems Red by Martha Wells.
Keith says:
This novella is the first of a 5-part Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. What is different about this science fiction story is that is told through the eyes of a cyborg that is part of the crew of a scientific research team. Unknown to the crew, the SecUnit cyborg had previously disabled its own governor module prior to their acquisition of him for this mission, thus releasing him of human control.
This story is about a mission to explore fauna on a new planet, but things go awry when one of the crew members is hurt by a native creature and the murders of another research team are discovered. The Murderbot must tangle with his inner feelings about humans and his actual job as security specialist. Having thoughts about his past, doing his job as crew protector, and maintaining his ploy to keep his secret is a constant internal battle.
I particularly found the Murderbot's constant internal soliloquies about humans and their strange behavior through his eyes particularly humorous. When not interacting with humans (which he would rather not do) he idles down and watches thousands of hours of soap operas via his internal feeds. I found this a very good read and an obvious set-up for the next book in the series. I caught myself laughing out loud at the Murderbot’s hilarious comments throughout. This is a great mix of a good science fiction/mystery story, with a bit of humor thrown in. It made me want to read the next book in the series (Artificial Condition) to see what the further exploits of the Murderbot would be. I would highly recommend this book!
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