All Systems Red - Martha Wells

All Systems Red

By Martha Wells

  • Release Date: 2017-05-02
  • Genre: Adventure Sci-Fi
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 2,180 Ratings

Description

A New York Times and USA Today Bestseller
Winner: 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella
Winner: 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novella
Winner: 2018 Alex Award
Winner: 2018 Locus Award
One of the Verge's Best Books of 2017


A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.


"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

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 are 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, all it really 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 their Murderbot to get to the truth.

The Murderbot Diaries
All Systems Red
Artificial Condition
Rogue Protocol
Exit Strategy
Network Effect
Fugitive Telemetry
System Collapse


At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Reviews

  • I didn’t want this to end

    5
    By jlvanderslice
    Each page better than the last. A dip into a wonderful universe and I can’t wait to read more.
  • Great unusual book

    5
    By ChambersAngie
    This was a great book, was fast moving, and very unusual to have a point of view from a robot. A very unusual, humorous, and very enjoyable book. I am looking forward to reading the sequel right away!
  • Be warned…

    4
    By Brainjax
    As with many popular series right now, this series is written explicitly to prolong the book sales as much as possible. As of this writing, it goes on for 8 books, all of which are pretty short. After the third book I began to notice even the writing itself dragged on more than it needed to just for the sake of extending its own lifespan. And to be honest, I skimmed a lot of the finer details. They got pretty muddied up often and I just kind of….gritted my teeth thru them to get to the actual plot points. I couldn’t tell if the author was attempting to paint a detailed picture for the reader or just trying to satisfy some word count. Despite all that, it is a good series. I’m invested in the protagonist. Tho, the use of parenthetical story telling did eventually wear on me.
  • Definitely a favorite

    5
    By CHA$E 1965
    Was a great read, I usually finish books over a few weeks but I finished this one in couple days.
  • Great book. Little short.

    4
    By Draco2165
    I was genuinely surprised when I started getting into the book around page 100 and then realized I was more than halfway through. But the book was amazing.
  • Murderbot? More like AutisticBot! And I love it.

    5
    By WardWesley
    I know the series is touted as if a bot was an adolescent going through growing pains. And maybe that was truly the author’s premise, but as an autistic person, I can say this reads more like if an autistic person was a bot. And I LOVE IT! Maybe minus the murdering bits, but in honesty in every book for the first time ever I am like “I can sooo relate to Murderbot.” Beyond a personal affinity for the main character, the series is just plain good. I cannot recommend the series enough, even the whole autistic connection ain’t your thang. It is just a great series with amazing relationship, none of which are sexual. Pure joy to read and to further read.
  • An appetizer at a full meal price

    3
    By GMH56
    Interesting concept and fun to read. But as many have said, the price for these novella-length books is obscenely high. Would love to continue the series but can’t stomach the price.
  • Entertaining

    5
    By SH2536
    Overall a great first series story; straight to the point. More interestingly clever reading it from robot's perspective.
  • Very engaging

    4
    By Phlat5
    4 Stars for the engaging plot and intriguing point of view from a robot. I wanted to read more. BUT, The following books in the series are less than 200 pages and are $10 a pop. $10 for 160 pages for a digital, non-printed book? That’s a bit steep for so little material. If the price drops I would consider buying more of the series.
  • I wish there was more depth to it

    4
    By Osmithy
    I love the concept, but I wish the book had been twice as long, so we could get to know the characters better. With a book this short, I just don’t care about the characters as much as I would like to. Like many other reviewers, I wish the price tag of the books in this series was more in line with other novellas. It’s a good concept and story, but the pricing makes it seem like they think it’s a jaw-dropping incredible story, which it isn’t. But it could have been, if it were longer and had more of a chance to get to know the characters.