A review by robin1010
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I loved the premise, and the execution mostly lived up to it.
The characters were enjoyable, even if most weren't very fleshed out yet. Murderbot was a fun protagonist, I especially enjoyed their awkwardness and how much they clearly struggled with juggling the humans emotions. The humans didn't get as much focus, so mostly were left a bit underdeveloped, but there were hints here and there that the author had plans for them, or that there was more going on. I ended up preferring it over having more time on them, especially given our perspective character's lack of interest or capability in reading humans.
The plot was decent enough and I enjoyed it and wanted it to move forward, but I think it could have benefited from some varied pacing. The whole book feels like it moves sort of at the same pace, and it undermines some of the more tense situations. There were also large parts of it that felt like they were explaining the plot to us, rather than giving us the information to work it out ourselves or showing us how it unravelled, and it really clogged up some of the scenes. The scenes and plot points and writing was all there, but I think another pass from either the author or an editor might have smoothed it out a bit.
The characters were enjoyable, even if most weren't very fleshed out yet. Murderbot was a fun protagonist, I especially enjoyed their awkwardness and how much they clearly struggled with juggling the humans emotions. The humans didn't get as much focus, so mostly were left a bit underdeveloped, but there were hints here and there that the author had plans for them, or that there was more going on. I ended up preferring it over having more time on them, especially given our perspective character's lack of interest or capability in reading humans.
The plot was decent enough and I enjoyed it and wanted it to move forward, but I think it could have benefited from some varied pacing. The whole book feels like it moves sort of at the same pace, and it undermines some of the more tense situations. There were also large parts of it that felt like they were explaining the plot to us, rather than giving us the information to work it out ourselves or showing us how it unravelled, and it really clogged up some of the scenes. The scenes and plot points and writing was all there, but I think another pass from either the author or an editor might have smoothed it out a bit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content