Audiobook
English language
Am 11. September 2023 von Graphic Audio veröffentlicht.
A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists …
A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
Performed by David Cui Cui, Khaya Fraites, Zeke Alton, Alejandro Ruiz, Aure Nash, Bradley Foster Smith, Holly Adams, Megan Dorminy, Natalie Van Sistine, Michael John Casey, Rayner Gabriel, Shanta Parasuraman, Tanja Milojevic and Wyn Delano.
Loved the tight little plot. A great intro to the cast of characters and conceits of the series. Murderbot's intense interiority is such a great idea. It feels in a way like an autistic insert into this interesting universe of corporations and free worlds. Despite that, the story is kept very very local and immediate-stakes, and resists explicit worldbuilding.
IMO a masterpiece.
I am reminded of one comment I read some time ago from somebody talking about machine intelligence - tehy weren't so much interested in what art a machine would make for humans, but what they would make for one another. To some extent, this series explores that.
Content warning Vague spoilers involving Murderbot's character arc.
I loved the funny, witty inner voice of Murderbot, and I also love that it chose the name based on the coolness factor and not because it actually likes to murder. My mom has been bugging me to read this book for years, and I'm so glad I finally listened and read the first installment. I love how Murderbot grew to trust and care about the humans they were reporting to. 10/10, can't wait to read the next one.
It's a short novel so I can't expect much in character development outside of the main one, but that is my one critique: I'd like to know more about the other members of the crew and their situations.
But overall it was a fun listen; engaging, interesting, suspenseful.
Nothing too fancy here but an entertaining and fast paced character focused adventure story. Looking forward to picking up the next installment.
I haven't been so compelled to read since a teenager. Murderbot sucked me in completely.
