A review by hzmt
All Systems Red by Martha Wells

funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was an absolute gift of a book! Murderbot is a hilarious, awkward, and painfully relatable AI unit that just wants to watch their damn shows and hates their job. 
The prose is a fun blend of technical information about the situation with Murderbot's opinions and personal desires sprinkled throughout painting a large/high stakes/immersive science fiction setting, but with the limited information that Murderbot feels worth logging in their diaries, so we really only see what they find worthwhile. Also worth noting is that since this is the "diary" of Murderbot, the prose is almost entirely driven with showing not telling so prior experience with sci-fi terms for units such as "hoppers" and other things is helpful, but still contextually clear without any hand holding, which I personally found incredibly refreshing. However I do wish we had gotten just a little more information about the world but, I mean it's not Murderbot's job to make sure I understand! The ending of the climax did feel kind of rushed and we were left in the dark about well, pretty much everything about how the conflict was settled so I do find that sort of disappointing.
Overall this was a delightful read and I await further diving into Murderbot's diaries in their journey.