Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the nicer weather. I have a confession to make. I haven’t been reviewing everything I’ve been reading. Recently, I’ve become more selective about what I review. There are a few books I read recently where I didn’t have anything important to say, whether it was good or bad. I merely enjoyed the book, and that was it. I’ve also been pursuing other creative hobbies, which have helped me immensely with my primary creative hobbies. That is why I’ve been a bit delayed in blogging. Fear not, though. I definitely have a bunch of books I fully plan on reviewing soon. Before I get into this review, I highly recommend you check out my review for the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series. Now, it’s time to check out the sequel.

Content Warning: Some Violence, Some Strong Language

A rogue SecUnit is on the loose, and it calls itself MurderBot. The problem is that it doesn’t remember how many it’s killed, or if it caused a massacre that led to its name change. The MurderBot is on a mission to find out. It has a trickier task ahead: pretending to be human. With the help of a research transport ship named ART, MurderBot returns to the original mine where the massacre occurred. Unfortunately, other humans need its help. The MurderBot has no idea what truths it will uncover.

Martha Wells continues to shine in the MurderBot Diaries. I’m going to say something that feels like an insult, but I fully mean it as a compliment in this instance: this book felt longer than it actually was. That, though, is more of a testament to how good Wells is at pacing the action and story. Even with all of the technological jargon being tossed around, I, as a reader, didn’t get lost in that aspect of the novel. The best part of this book was seeing how MurderBot continues to develop and contend with the side effects of free will. I love the MurderBot as a narrator and its strangely relatable personality. I don’t know what it says about me that I relate to a robot with anxiety, but I’m not going to question it. I am still having a lot of fun with this series and highly recommend it if you need something fun and fast-paced to read in a day or weekend. I also highly recommend the TV adaptation, MurderBot, if you were curious about it.

Hey everyone! I hope you are doing well! I also hope you are staying safe, especially if you live in the path of Hurrican Helene or Milton. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. If you have to hunker down, maybe this post will distract you for just a bit. After this review, I will be getting into the spooky stuff so fear not! (Or fear a little because, you know, Halloween and stuff). Either way, I’m sending you all my love. Now, let’s talk about All Systems Red.

Content Warning: Violence, Strong Language

Corporations rule outer space. Missions are regulated and delegated by these corporations. Safety, though, isn’t much of a concern. Humans rely on specialized robots for protection on dangerous planets. One particular robot, who refers to itself as “Murderbot”, is reluctant to leave its serials and venture out with a team of human scientists. The mission quickly takes a dangerous turn and its up to the Murderbot and humans to figure out the truth.

All Systems Red is a fun, fast-paced read with plenty of classic sci-fi thrills and wry humor. What really helped this novella stand out is Murderbot as the narrator. I related to the Murderbot because I too don’t like being important at my place of work. Martha Wells manages to pack in a lot of interesting world building and concepts in less than 150 pages. I personally would have loved for this book to be longer because I loved Murderbot’s voice and wanted to know more about the world of this novel. I will probably be picking up the sequel some time in the future. If you are looking for your next sci-fi read, look no further than The Murderbot Diaries.