I’m sure you recognize that last name. Yes, Scott Tipple is Kevin Tipple’s son, but he’s a reader and reviewer in his own right. Scott’s preferences are science fiction and graphic novels, but he does read some crime fiction, and he agreed to review an occasional crime novel for us. While, I’m visiting my Mom, how about a little nepotism here? Thanks, Scott, for the review of All Systems Red.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells is the first novella in a series of novellas and at least one book
that is part of The Murderbot Diaries. It stars as a security unit that is part robot and part human
that calls itself Murderbot. It is an antisocial mix of robot and human that is not fully either. In
the far future where everything is run by corporations, Murderbot has a simply defined job. That
task is to protect the human exploratory teams that are doing research on unsettled planets. Like
most things, contracts are awarded to companies based to the lowest bid so they don’t have the
resources Murderbot needs to do her job. When a team of scientists on a planet stop responding
to any calls and go missing, it is up to Murderbot and her team to figure out what happened. The
planet is not supposed to have any threat, so where is the team and why are they silent?
This novella is an interesting first work in a long running series. Murderbot is an introvert trying
to deal with doing her job and the fact she is not like anyone else. She was built to do a job of a
security guard to be embedded with exploration teams. That mix of organic and robot parts has
created an introvert that would much prefer to be away from everyone and just watch their
version of television. But, she has a job to do and does so in this read that has a nice mix of
action, drama, and humor.
I recommend All Systems Red by Martha Wells if someone is looking for something different
with a unique protagonist and likes space exploration stories. I am currently on hold at the library
for the sequel, Artificial Condition. This read is also a novella.
My reading copy came from the Skyline Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2024
Thank you for your review Scott. I have never read any books in the sci-fi genre and a novella sounds like the perfect way to start.
Hi, Scott. I enjoyed your review. I read quite a lot of sci-fi, and I think I’ve read all the books so far in the Murderbot series. Some are better than others, as with any series, but overall I’ve enjoyed them a lot, so I add my recommendation to yours. There’s a lot of humor in them, thanks to the bot’s opinion of humans.
Thank you all. Big time thank you to Lesa for doing this today.
Most times he does not want to review crime fiction and mystery books as I have already read them and he thinks there is no point. I tell him that is nonsense as he reads things differently than I do. Anyway, he did this one as I have never read this book or the series.
This is a very good review. I read this book and had a horrible time reviewing it. I think I have read three books now in this series, but this was my favorite.