All Systems Red

Loved the tight little plot. A great intro to the cast of characters and conceits of the series. Murderbot's intense interiority is such a great idea. It feels in a way like an autistic insert into this interesting universe of corporations and free worlds. Despite that, the story is kept very very local and immediate-stakes, and resists explicit worldbuilding.

IMO a masterpiece.

Murderbot is the grumpy, reclusive, crunchy outer shell with a golden marshmallow heart MC I've always dreamed of.

Violence: yes Sexual Scenes: no

A very interesting novella by one of the most underrated authors of the genre. I have loved her fiction since the wonderful Books of the Raksura. However, All Systems Red is nothing like her fantasy. The story is told first person perspective, by Murderbot, a rogue construct, part bot and organic components who works as a SecUnit on contracts to protect humans. They have hacked its governor module so basically have free will, and yet continue to fulfill their contracts. On their current contract they have to protect a crew of survey scientists, risking that they find out they are hacked...

Enjoyed it, continuing with the sequels straight away.