All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The Murderbot Diaries #1

“Murderbot + actual human = awkwardness”

When I say I like sci-fi The Murderbot Diaries are one of the first things people recommend to me. I heard Martha Wells speak at WorldCon in Glasgow in the summer of 2024, where she talked about her influences and her approach to writing. This finally prompted me to pick up a copy of All Systems Red. Having now read the book I can say to everyone who recommended the series that you were right! I can certainly see why this has now been adapted for television, with Alexander Skarsgård playing the lead role as Murderbot on Apple TV+.

Going back to the source material, All Systems Red is a short book at just 149 pages, so this is a sci-fi novella, although the overall story arc is still a long one, with seven books in the series. I found the first novella to be compulsively readable, and it was one of those books that had me staying up long past my bedtime. I was unable to resist the urge to read just one more chapter. Oh, go on then. Just one more…

Murderbot is an armoured ‘SecUnit’, part cloned human grown in a lab and part robot, fitted with a deadly arsenal of weapons. Its role is to protect a small human survey team that is exploring a distant planet. Murderbot has chosen their own grim name after an error in their programming on a previous mission led to the deaths of those under its protection. As an expensive asset, it was reprogrammed after this traumatic event by its mega corporation owners. Murderbot has now been sent back out to work once more but, unbeknownst to the company which provides the survey team with its equipment, vehicles and SecUnit, it has managed to hack its own programming. Murderbot is therefore acting autonomously throughout the story, protecting the survey team because it wants to, not because it has been ordered to do so. This raises the question of whether the survey team are safe from their SecUnit, although Murderbot is actually more interested in binge-watching the TV show Sanctuary Moon, which it has downloaded to help break up the monotony of their assignment.

The story is told entirely from Murderbot’s perspective and I loved how Wells made it feel distinct from the humans it was protecting. It shares many human qualities, due to its semi-organic nature, but Murderbot’s upbringing and training means it has blind spots when it comes to understanding humans. Some of the best scenes involve the social interactions between the SecUnit and the survey team. I loved the wry humour this story is infused with, especially where it details the social embarrassment Murderbot experiences when the humans try to interact with it on a more personal level.

The crucial point to note here is Murderbot does have feelings. It hides behind its armour and helmet to help create distance, the survey crew themselves not fully appreciating how human their SecUnit is until they see their protector wearing ordinary clothing. The development of the relationship between the humans and their SecUnit is one of the main foundations of this novel.

Since Murderbot is primarily concerned with the practicalities of protecting the survey team (when it’s not watching TV), the book is written in a sparse and direct style. There are no in-depth descriptions of the alien world or even the other humans, because Murderbot isn’t particularly interested in those elements. Wells is a clever writer, though, so the personalities of the survey team are slowly revealed through little snippets as the story unfolds. Overall, this first book is primarily an action story and Wells does a great job building up the tension, as Murderbot realises they and the humans under their protection are in great danger from a mysterious emerging threat on the planet.

All Systems Red is a fun, entertaining read. It’s written in an engaging style and you can enjoy this purely for the action and adventure. However, I think the reason this worked so well for me was the way it explored themes about what it means to have free will and choice. I can see why this novella won multiple awards and why this series has its legions of fans. After reading All Systems Red, I think I might be one of them.