Book Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

T;LDR: A sci-fi novella set in an unexplored planet with a malfunctioning (on purpose) Security Unit bot, All Systems Red features humor and a possible answer to the question: Is AI humanesque and does the AI want to be?

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A novella set in space, in a different time than ours, where intrepid explorers land on planets to study them. With every exploration group a SecUnit, or security unit bot, is assigned. All Systems Red is written from the point of view of Murderbot, the self-named SecUnit who has a faulty (intentionally so) governor module. What was supposed to be a routine research mission soon turns deadly.

Overall, it is a well-written book. Murderbot is hilarious, has some human-like features, but still remains a bot in many ways, and even with the brevity (149 tiny tiny pages), gives us likeable and warm characters with which to connect. For this reason, it gets my top rating — 5 out of 5 stars.

The Plot

As mentioned, a group of scientists are on a research mission to study an unexplored planet. In this future world, corporations dominate space exploration, which requires the Company to approve and supply any missions. Exploratory teams are assigned security units, SecUnits, (androids) to ensure their safety and protocols are…