All Systems Red by Martha Wells (book review).
‘All Systems Red’ by Martha Wells is the first novella in the science fiction ‘Murderbot Diaries’ series, which currently comprises five novellas, two novels and two short stories.
Murderbot is a part-flesh, part-robot SecUnit the company rents out to planetary survey teams to keep them safe. It is supposed to keep its humans and augmented humans safe from danger, if necessary, by interposing itself in harm’s way. ‘Supposed’ is the right word here. The governor module on this particular SecUnit had malfunctioned because ‘the stupid company only buys the cheapest possible components’. It had lost control of its systems and killed 57 members on a mining operation. That is why it calls itself Murderbot.
As SecUnits are expensive, the company replaced its governor module and brought it back into action. The first thing Murderbot did on being revived was to hack its governor module so it could not happen again.
This is not the first time I’ve seen this science fiction ploy of using safety as a reason for a robot or AI to go rogue. Nor do I suspect it will be the last. But it is far more difficult than far too many genre writers let on.
In theory, it could now go on a murdering spree at leisure. Instead, it discovered it could access the entertainment channels and watch TV. Its favourite series is the soap opera ‘The Rise And Fall Of Sanctuary Moon’.
Murderbot knows all too well that humans are nervous of SecUnits. That’s why spacecraft normally transport them in separate compartments from humans. What humans don’t realise is Murderbot is nervous of humans because it knows it makes humans nervous, which makes it even more nervous. This makes it act awkwardly around humans. It prefers to keep its armour on and its face shield up when it is in their presence. That way, humans tend to treat it as a robot rather than a human being. This makes it happier.
Murderbot is on contract to a small survey team when things go wrong. First, it’s an unexpected animal that attacks two of the survey team members, whom, of course, Murderbot rescues in spectacular fashion. In doing so, it starts to make tiny errors to show that it is a free agent, which it wants to avoid. Otherwise, it’ll have its organic components destroyed and the rest of it cut up for spare parts.
If that were the only issue, then it could have got away with remaining a murderbot watching TV in its leisure hours. Investigations by the team as to why they were not warned of the potentially dangerous fauna throw up the fact that sections of the planetary map are missing from their database. Of course, the team, against Murderbot’s better judgement, decides they have to explore the closest of these unmapped regions.
Well, one thing leads to another and to another and so on. Each event heightens the stakes for both it and its team of humans. The tension just keeps on rising.
The awkwardness between Murderbot and the humans leads to many amusing moments and quite a bit of sarcasm. In between the laughs, there is action-packed and well-packed adventure. Underneath what is an excellent read, there are prods at serious issues about how we humans deal with robots and AIs and where we draw various lines of responsibility and legalities.
This is a highly enjoyable story, one that should be read by all!
Rosie Oliver
April 2025
(pub: TOR, 2019. 171 page hardback. Price: £15.65 (UK). ISBN: 978-250-21471-3)
check out website: https://torpublishinggroup.com/all-systems-red/?isbn=9781250214713&format=hardback
