Scan barcode
A review by ryanberger
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Sad to say I don't get the hype. It's not even that it doesn't live up to it's hype in my estimation. I suppose it doesn't, but I truly don't understand what is here to fall in love with.
The big selling point is the titular Murderbot, a sort of cross between GLaDOS from Portal and The Predator. Much has been made to me in the pitch about its love of soap operas and disdain for conversation and human interaction. But that example I just used is really as far as the dynamic goes. We're told it watches a soap opera, and that it doesn't like talking to people-- and that's really the end of it. It doesn't wax poetic about its favorite shows or begrudging desire to do violence like it was built for. No humor or intrigue stems from this personality. It's bizarre. It could have been an iconic character and it's a complete and utter nothing.
Wells's style doesn't really inspire a reaction out of me. I never rolled my eyes at any jokes or cringed any anything overwritten. There's no complexity to the prose, but that fits the POV. If only the POV were any notable, though.
I enjoyed the glimpses of worldbuilding. I liked the idea of these scientists acting without corporate backing so they have to ball-on-a-budget and get a semi-defective Murderbot for their security needs. I thought the book might lead to some interesting or funny observations about incompetence and cheap-gear being mistaken for evil (and where the line between them gets fuzzy) but it never really gets there.
A lot of this short book is just dedicated to sweeping rooms watching drone footage for hostiles. It's a lot of military SF, which I admit I don't have a huge appetite for. Going in, people told me it was like a Discworld-esque farce. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Could have made a middling episode of Love Death and Robots, maybe. As a novella I'm pretty lost as to the appeal.
I have the box set of the first four novellas so I'll probably continue on and see if the concept gets any better. But I really don't have much to say about this.
The big selling point is the titular Murderbot, a sort of cross between GLaDOS from Portal and The Predator. Much has been made to me in the pitch about its love of soap operas and disdain for conversation and human interaction. But that example I just used is really as far as the dynamic goes. We're told it watches a soap opera, and that it doesn't like talking to people-- and that's really the end of it. It doesn't wax poetic about its favorite shows or begrudging desire to do violence like it was built for. No humor or intrigue stems from this personality. It's bizarre. It could have been an iconic character and it's a complete and utter nothing.
Wells's style doesn't really inspire a reaction out of me. I never rolled my eyes at any jokes or cringed any anything overwritten. There's no complexity to the prose, but that fits the POV. If only the POV were any notable, though.
I enjoyed the glimpses of worldbuilding. I liked the idea of these scientists acting without corporate backing so they have to ball-on-a-budget and get a semi-defective Murderbot for their security needs. I thought the book might lead to some interesting or funny observations about incompetence and cheap-gear being mistaken for evil (and where the line between them gets fuzzy) but it never really gets there.
A lot of this short book is just dedicated to sweeping rooms watching drone footage for hostiles. It's a lot of military SF, which I admit I don't have a huge appetite for. Going in, people told me it was like a Discworld-esque farce. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Could have made a middling episode of Love Death and Robots, maybe. As a novella I'm pretty lost as to the appeal.
I have the box set of the first four novellas so I'll probably continue on and see if the concept gets any better. But I really don't have much to say about this.