All Systems Red Review

This is going to be a short review, but I wanted to squeeze it in because I need opinions. So, let’s jump into my All Systems Red review.

Synopsis

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

My Thoughts on All Systems Red

First off, I am Murderbot. Murderbot is me. He is probably the most relatable character that I’ve ever read, so I loved that aspect of the book. But that’s kind of where my excitement ends. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the book is not bad; it just felt a little lacking in worldbuilding and motivation. I felt a little lackluster toward the action because it didn’t feel very high stakes. I didn’t know why the characters were on the planet, and I wasn’t attached enough to the characters to really care, until the end.

The ending gave me a warm and fuzzy found family story that I wasn’t expecting, and I did enjoy that. Ultimately, I had decided not to continue with the series until the darn cliffhanger happened. Now I want to know where it goes. So, if you’ve read the Murderbot Diaries, let me know if I should continue in the comments. Is it worth it?