BeboSep 23, 2023

What I felt after reading "All Systems Red" by Martha Wells

https://literature.cafe/post/1669128

What I felt after reading "All Systems Red" by Martha Wells - literature.cafe

What an enjoyable cozy scifi adventure! The story centers around a security bot with a self-hacked governor module, who refers to itself privately as “Murderbot” and likes to watch serials and movies surreptitiously in it’s free time. The socially awkward bot repeatedly assures us that it definitely does not care about humans. When the team of scientists which have hired Murderbot are confronted by life threatening situations, it goes out of it’s way to save their lives if only just so it is not labelled as an incompetent. Over the course of the story we observe how it’s relationship with the humans in the group develops and changes. Murderbot’s at times hilarious internal monologues concerning “her humans” were my favourite parts of the book. So those of you who have read the book, how did you like it? How are the rest of the books in the series?

Show threadAlien SurferSep 23, 2023

Ive read the first few so far. The next book on my list looks to be a full length novel.

I find your reference of “her humans” is interesting. I never thought of muderbot as a her. Perhaps I missed an important line somewhere in the story?

I think your review is right on. You captured exactly what it’s like. I look forward to reading the next book.

Show threadclockwork_octopus

I never thought of Murderbot as a her, either. Possibly this is because I listened to All Systems Red as an audiobook, and the narrator was male, but even without that, it just seems a little more masculine to me. (It? Seems weird to call it an it. Maybe a they instead)

Not that it matters, of course. I just find people’s projections fascinating, is all!

Sep 23, 2023 at 8:04amWeb
Show threadMentalEdgeSep 23, 2023

Murderbot does have a conversation in one of the later books, and states that it prefers to be referred to as “sec-unit” as a name, dropping “the” from before the word.

The rest of the characters typically refers to sec-unit, as sec-unit, from that point on.