The Murderbot Diaries #1

I’ve recently seen this book being talked about a lot online. Lots of 5 star reviews and high recommendations. It’s currently (as of 11/27/22) available on Kindle Unlimited so I picked it up and gave it a quick read.

The story is about a security android who hacks its own governor module and starts doing whatever it wants instead of taking orders. Granted, she (yes, the android comes off as a she to my inner narrative voice) still mostly follows them so as not to raise suspicion, but she spends all her free time watching entertainment shows and programs. She also refers to herself as Murderbot but doesn’t seem particularly murderous, at least on the surface. Mostly she’s just a pessimist who wants to be left alone and feels a bit uncomfortable around humans unless in her armor and helmet. Somewhere along this current mission, things go a bit wrong and Murderbot’s android life changes, but it’s unclear whether its for the best or not.

I finished this book a couple days ago, and spend some time digesting how I feel about it. I thought it was a fun read and enjoyed the scifi elements of it a lot. I liked Murderbot’s personality. The other humans in the book were different enough but balanced personality-wise so they fit well into the story. But in the end, I was left feeling a little bit let down. This book was supposed to be “amazing!” and I felt it was just “really good”. Nothing spectacular but still worthy of praise because Martha Wells did do her android story very well. I plan to read the rest of the series because I enjoyed this one a lot and can’t wait to see what Murderbot gets up to next.

I gave this book 4 out of 5. If I like the rest of the series, I may collect a copy of this set for our library at home.

If you’d like to read more about All Systems Red by Martha Wells, check it out on Goodreads.

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