All Systems Red: A Review

In the Corporate Rim everything has a price. Even scientific research requires Company-mandated safety measures including hired SecUnits. As human-android hybrids, SecUnits are human enough to make you uncomfortable if you see them without their armor. They’re also robotic enough to kill anything that threatens their clients. Who needs strategy when you can brute force your way out of any situation?

SecUnits are very, very dangerous to anyone who is not a client or the Company. But not to worry, every unit is equipped with a governor module to make sure they stay in check. No chance of mishaps when every SecUnit’s governor module is set to fry their processors if they step out of line. It’s the Company so obviously all tech, equipment, and security measures are well-maintained.

Yeah, you’re right.

Everything the Company hires out is junk.

Most SecUnits haven’t been properly updated in years. Armor is out of date. And, with the proper motivation, even one chance to hack a governor module can be enough.

Murderbot could have become a mass murderer after it hacked its governor module, but then it realized it could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. That was about 35,000 hours ago and there has been surprisingly little murdering since. Which is fine by Murderbot as phoning in its job leaves even more time for media.

All of that changes when Murderbot’s latest mission brings it into contact with scientists from a planet outside the Corporate Rim’s influence. When a nearby mission goes wrong, the scientists want to help no matter how often Murderbot tells them it’s a bad idea. Stranger still, the more they learn about Murderbot the more they want to help it–whatever that means in All Systems Red (2017) by Martha Wells.

Find it on Bookshop.

All Systems Red is the first novella in Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series. The series is narrated by Murderbot. If you enjoy audiobooks be sure to check out the audio version narrated aptly by Kevin R. Free.

For a series centering a self-named Murderbot, All Systems Red is pleasantly free of violence. Instead this character-driven novella focuses on Murderbot’s enlightment as it realizes that there could be more to life than media and avoiding humans. High action chases and battles contrast well with Murderbot’s reluctant introspection and growing investment in keeping its clients alive.

All Systems Red is the rare story that is a perfect combination of humor, action, and classic sci-fi worldbuilding. Murderbot may not start as the hero anyone would want, but this rogue SecUnit is definitely the protagonist we all deserve. Highly recommended.

Possible Pairings: A Psalm For the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, Last Day by Ruta Domenica, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh, The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz, Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

A Psalm for the Wild-Built: A Review

“The human body can adapt to almost anything, but it is deceptively selective about the way it does so.”

Sibling Dex begins to dream of hearing crickets in the wild. Sibling Dex is very good at what they do as a monk in Panga’s city-located monastery. But have they become complacent?

Thinking the answer might be yes, Dex decides to become a tea monk. There’s nothing arcane about it but there is still a learning curve as Dex figures out how to listen to peoples’ problems and offer them a perfectly brewed cup of tea. With a self-sustaining wagon and increasing experience, Dex has everything they need.

But it turns out crickets are extinct in most of Panga.

After years of traveling the same route between Panga’s outermost villages, Dex decides their last chance to hear those crickets is to travel even farther out. Into the wild.

Then Dex meets Splendid Speckled Mosscap in the middle of the forest. Mosscap is one of the many robots on Panga who, after gaining self-awareness a century ago, chose to abandon the city and travel into the wild.

Now, the robots feel it’s time to check in on the humans and see what they need. And Mosscap has decided that Dex is the perfect person to help it figure that out. But as Dex struggles to figure out what they want for themself, the monk doubts that they can help a robot answer such a large question for all of Panga. Maybe there will at least be some crickets along the way in A Psalm for the Wild-Built (2021) by Becky Chambers.

Find it on Bookshop.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is the first novella in Chambers’ new solarpunk series, Monk & Robot.

Chambers turns her considerable world building talents to imagine a bright future for humanity where society is harmonious, sustainable, and sees robots as little more than the stuff of legend until Mosscap comes along.

The gentle, character-driven narrative gives readers ample time to get to know Dex and understand the nuances of their work as a tea monk (as well as Dex’s restlessness) as Dex travels alone and, later, when Dex and Mosscap begin to talk. Philosophical questions of how robots and humans can (or should) interact as well as discussions of where passions can fit into this future pepper the story as Dex and Mosscap begin to understand what they can accomplish together.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is the bright start to a series that promises to be as thought-provoking as it is cozy. Recommended for readers looking for science fiction with a little more tenderness and a lot of tea.

Possible Pairings: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, Last Day by Ruta Domenica, Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh, The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz, Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente, All Systems Red by Martha Wells

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*