All Systems Red Review: I Finally Caved and Read Murderbot

My mother has been begging me to read The Murderbot Diaries for years.

One of my personality flaws you should be aware of is that I tend to do the opposite of what people tell me to do. I hate being told what to do. It is a flaw I have been working on, trying to do a dispassionate analysis of what is best for me, but I still have a knee-jerk reaction against “required reading.”

Despite this flaw (which gets me into lots of trouble), I finally picked up the first novella, All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

Spoiler Alert: I loved it. It was great from top to bottom. Let’s dive in.

Meet Murderbot

The protagonist is Murderbot (its own chosen name), a SecUnit hired to provide security for PreservationAux, a small, non-corporate research team conducting a planetary survey.

Outwardly, it’s a silent, terrifying armed guard in a helmet. Internally, it’s a self-directed, socially anxious intelligence that has secretly hacked its governor module. Instead of going on a rampage, it just wants to hide its free will, do the bare minimum work required, and watch thousands of hours of downloaded entertainment feeds. To me, Murderbot felt like it had the mentality of a teenager.

The Setup: A Mission Gone Wrong

The expedition’s first alarm rings when a scientist is attacked by a massive native creature. Murderbot saves them, but the incident forces the team to confront what their SecUnit actually is: not just equipment, but something unsettlingly aware.

Dr. Mensah, the expedition leader, treats it with respect, while others (like the suspicious Gurathin) watch for any sign that their security unit might be dangerous.

As the survey continues, the team notices inconsistencies in their maps and hazard data. It smells like sabotage. The situation spirals when they lose contact with another expedition, DeltFall. Mensah organizes a rescue mission, and Murderbot, already assuming the worst, tags along.

The Mystery of DeltFall

When they reach DeltFall, they find a slaughter: systems tampered with, humans killed, and rogue SecUnits on the loose. Murderbot has to defend its clients against its own kind, taking heavy damage in the process.

The attackers reveal themselves as GrayCris, a corporate team determined to eliminate competitors to secure a valuable discovery on the planet. GrayCris proposes a “negotiation,” but Murderbot knows the score: they intend to leave no witnesses.

The Climax & The Choice

The climax is a tight, tactical showdown. Murderbot uses layered deception, hacking, and its own non-human nature to outmaneuver the corporate bad guys.

In the aftermath, Dr. Mensah makes a decisive move: she buys Murderbot’s contract to save it from being scrapped. This is a huge step toward autonomy, but it lands complicatedly for Murderbot. It doesn’t want to be owned by anyone—even a nice person. So, it makes a choice that defines the series: it slips away on a transport, free in the most technical sense, and completely unattached.

Why I Loved It

I highly identified with Murderbot. Growing up as a disaffected teenager in America, I knew that feeling of reluctantly doing my responsibilities while just waiting to get back to video games. Murderbot isn’t a killing machine; it’s an introvert forced to attend a party it hates.

The mystery was engaging, the action was fast-paced, and the character voice is unique in science fiction.

Final Verdict

I highly recommend All Systems Red and can’t wait to read the next novella in the series.Question for you: Have you read The Murderbot Diaries? And are you excited for the upcoming TV show adaptation? Let me know in the comments below!