I’ve got a bit of a bet going with myself. Reread the Murderbot books and I’ll have earned out the $12.99 a month I’d give to Apple to watch the show (I might also try to finish the Silo books as well just to really be an overachiever). But a quick Google shows me this is a bit of a dumb bet, as apparently the show only covers the first book?

How?

In any case, I’ve taken another — according to goodreads, my third — look at All Systems Red and am finally sitting down to write a review for it.

I reviewed Network Effect back in 2021 in the lead up to the announcement of the winner in August of 2021. And apparently missed the mark completely. Network Effect DID win the award, beating out Black Sun, Harrow The Ninth, and The City We Became (I still haven’t read The Relentless Moon or Piranesi).

In that post, I mentioned that Murderbot was probably one of my favorite characters in fiction because of how relatable the character felt. I said then:

“It doesn’t want to fail its contract because this will make it harder for it to sit around in its repair cube (or really anywhere) and watch its favorite TV show . . . Who here has not undertaken extreme measures in the pursuit of laziness?”

I wrote that in March of 2021, and All Systems Red first entered the scene back in May of 2017 (though apparently my first read through wasn’t until April 2018).

Rereading All Systems Red near the end of 2025, it is phenomenal to think of how clearly Wells found the signal through the noise. I suppose that 8 years ago, we had social media feeds, and endless supply of media at our fingertips, and all the technological components which would go into a voice like Murderbot, which had all been around for about a decade. And yet, the unbearableness of being seen by other people, the strain of muddling through even basic interactions, the want to just be left alone . . . The begrudging acceptance that being by yourself isn’t actually what you need . . . And most importantly, the desire to exist outside of corporate interests . . .

It’s all incredibly “of this moment”. It’s startling in how much more this has seemingly become mainstream.

But these heavy topics are only really apparent upon thinking about the story afterward. In the moment, the reader is mostly distracted by the spectacle of Murderbot’s existence. All Systems Red doesn’t read much like an Alien movie, or Blade Runner, but Murderbot’s milieu kind of feels like it could loosely belong to these two properties. Murderbot is a sort of vaguely defined cyborg with organic and in-organic parts. And throughout the story we find that it’s the organic parts that are kinda starting to dominate Murderbot’s actions over the in-organic/robotic parts. There are also people in this milieu who are human, but augmented with machines.

Obviously, there are questions here about “what it means to be human”, but in this installment, they’re asked, but not answered. Since I have read most of the other novellas already, I know certain questions will be addressed in later books, but in this one, we’re mostly laying groundwork.

But this doesn’t mean that All Systems Red is not a complete story. It is. It just does what any good story does, ask more questions than it answers.

This is usually the part during a review where I start to throw criticisms at the work. I don’t really have any. I’m sure there are problems, but I’m not sure what they are. I did read a review which essentially stated that Murderbot has too many feelings, and there wasn’t enough action in the book. I think this person fundamentally misunderstood what they were reading.

This book has explosions. Bullets are fired. Fighting happens. The fight scenes in this book are surprisingly tactical. But the real action of this story takes place in Murderbot’s mind. In their relationship with the other characters.

Give ‘All Systems Red‘ a Read?

Yup! In 2021 I stated that Murderbot was one of my favorite characters in fiction. By 2025 that hasn’t changed. If anything this — third — read through has only allowed me to better understand why that is so. I’ll admit, I was somewhat startled by Well’s ability to really foretell the zeitgeist of 2025. And equally impressed by how much groundwork is laid in this first installment for what is to come!

Has anyone else read this one? What where your thoughts? What parts surprised you? Which ones are old hat?

Leave your thoughts in the comments. I’d love to talk some more about this one!

Until next time!