All Systems Red - Martha Wells

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by Rebecca)

Maggie's been talking about MurderBot to me for ages, and I've been vaguely wanting to read them the whole time, but I didn't know--I didn't know! This was the most delightful story I've read since House in the Cerulean Sea, my favourite book of 2020. It was just...so good. It's a short story, just 3 hours on audiobook, and I listened to it in one go on one long drive.

It follows the adventure of MurderBot, a security android who has hacked its programming to have free will but still just does the bare minimum for its job so that it can watch more TV. But now it actually cares about the humans that have hired it, oh no! And it has to save them from danger! And people are finding out it has feelings and keep trying to talk to it! It's so funny, and also so heartfelt and wonderful. The worldbuilding is so good, and I absolutely loved the discussion of robot ethics and how they should be treated, vs how MurderBot wants to be treated (ie ignored and please don't look at it). I loved the characters, I loved the plot, I loved everything. I cried a little bit at the end in my car, just because I was feeling so many things. I want MurderBot to be my best friend. I generally hate book series because I hate extended conflict and commitment, but I want to spend more time with these characters so bad that I know I'll read them all.