Review: All Systems Red

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed it, and I get the hype buuuuuut I think maybe the hype built it up a little too much.

The story follows a rogue Security Bot that's on site helping a bunch of surveyors on a new planet. Things go awry, and Murderbot has to save the day. Preferably without murdering.

I did enjoy the story, and I can see why MB is so beloved. It's a funny, sassy lil thing and it's easy to agree with. Its shyness is endearing and we have no trouble reading between the lines when it comes to its personality.

The story jumps into the action pretty quickly and it doesn't really let up so this is certainly an easy read.

However, because it's a short story there's not a lot of world building, and because there's not a lot of world building it can be a little hard to follow at times with all the names for things and organisations we know nothing about, and the lack of names for the things we do encounter. I admit I got a little lost in the jargon and politics.

I really loved the crew and how they all related to MB. They added a much needed humanity to the story so it will be interesting to see where the next book in the story takes the series.

I enjoyed it for the most part but it didn't really match the hype for me. Still, a fun, quick read with a host of great characters. I'll look into the next one just to see where it goes.

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