Back of Book: 

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth. 

Book Number: One

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: 🌟🌟

A sci-fi novella featuring a killer robot that has gained free will and wants nothing more than to be left alone. 

In the distant future, giant corporations dominate every inch of space. Missions are sent out by the Company to explore the galaxy. Such missions are accompanied by Company-supplied robots to protect the humans. However, contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, and the safety of humanity isn't really any of the corporations' biggest concerns. One such mission is exploring a planet and conducting tests on its surface. The team's robot has hacked into its government module and has gained free will. It referes to itself as "Murderbot" and dreams of a simpler life. In order to keep its cover, it must act as the mindless robot that the government has created it to be or risked being reprogrammed. 

I've heard some pretty great things about this series, but I didn't find myself all that impressed by the first book. It falls in the humorous realm of science fiction and features a sentient robot that is ready to take control of its own life. There are elements of this one I enjoyed, but I didn't find myself attached to all that much. 

I did enjoy Murderbot's vibe as a character. It is pretty relatable to be stuck in one life and dream of more, even if one isn't a robot manufactured to kill. I thought it was pretty great that it enjoyed watching anime and binged as many TV shows as it could on its downtime. Seeing Murderbot grapple with its human like elements was definitely one of the best parts about this novel, which is why I could see future installments become more interesting. The fact that it is so shy and antisocial was also pretty comical, though I found myself heavily relating to many of its thoughts. 

I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi involving space, so much of the plot flopped for me. I didn't really care about the scouting party or anything that they were trying to accomplish. I also couldn't tell any of the members of the party apart from one another, except for the ones with super extreme accents in the audiobook. I didn't want anything to happen to the characters, but I didn't feel an ounce of connection to them either. 

Much of this book is also made up of fight scenes, which I don't much care for. This made it hard for me to engage with the conflict. The action fell flat for me and had me longing for Murderbot's internal dialogue once more. 

Overall, I didn't connect all that much with "All Systems Red." I've heard great things about his sci-fi series of novellas, but I didn't find myself latching on to much in book one. I think Murderbot has a great vibe, and it may be fun to follow its journey as it learns to cope with its human aspects, but I still haven't decided if I'm going to continue this one or not. 

Audiobook Note: I read the immersive audio edition put together by GraphicAudio. This is only the second immersive audio I've listened to and the first with a full cast, but I can't say I loved it. It made it easier to keep track of the characters, since they all had different voices, but they still seemed like robots to me. The main narrator who voiced the Murderbot did a great job of capturing its shy nature and its general avoidance of humans, which I adored. However, I found all the sound effects to be really distracting. I don't mind knocking on doors, bells tolling, or other such simple effects, but explosions constantly was a tad much for me. 

Back of Book: 

It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks… 

Book Number: Two

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: ? 

Back of Book: 

Starring a human-like android who keeps getting sucked back into adventure after adventure, though it just wants to be left alone, away from humanity and small talk.

Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?

Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good. 

Book Number: Three

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: ? 

Back of Book: 

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?

Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught? 

Book Number: Four

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: ?

Back of Book: 

You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.

Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century. 

Book Number: Five

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: ?

Back of Book: 

No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

Book Number: Six

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: ?

Back of Book: 

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work. 

Book Number: Seven

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: ?

Back of Book: 

Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.

After volunteering to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know.

Including human children. Ugh.

This may well call for... eye contact!

(Emotion check: Oh, for f—) 

Book Number: Eight

Genre: Adult | Science Fiction 

Review: ?