All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1)

Powell's Essential List

25 Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Books of the 21st Century (So Far)

With a title like Murderbot Diaries, you might expect Martha Wells’s award-winning series to be about a ruthless killing machine. What you get instead is a moody, slightly sarcastic security unit who just wants to be left alone to watch all the entertainment feeds it’s downloaded. But as weird things start to glitch, Murderbot’s newest mission of keeping a scientific team from getting themselves killed while on planet might just teach it a few things about human interactions and even lead to the development of some gooey “emotions” (whatever those are). This is the first in the series and it is highly addictive — nine out of ten people will suffer major withdrawals while waiting on more to be released. Murderbot has quickly become one of my go-to comfort reads. #Murderbot4ever Recommended By Mecca A., Powells.com

I absolutely loved this book. If like me, you love anything set in space, give this one a try. I’m a sucker for a good space opera/Western, and this is the best one I’ve read. Don’t let its short length and deceptively simple plot fool you, All Systems Red is full of action, heart, and surprising depth. “Murderbot” may not technically be human, but they could easily fool me. It’s the perfect book — whether you’re an avid reader, a reluctant one, or find yourself in a reading slump. Recommended By Charlotte S., Powells.com

Winner: 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella
Winner: 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novella
Winner: 2018 Alex Award
Winner: 2018 Locus Award
One of the Verge's Best Books of 2017
A New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

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.

"Endearing, funny, action-packed, and murderous." Kameron Hurley, author of The Stars are Legion

"Clever, inventive, brutal when it needs to be, and compassionate without ever being sentimental." Kate Elliott, author of the Spirit Walker trilogy

"I love Murderbot!" Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

Martha Wells has written many fantasy novels, including The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, the Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads and ending with The Harbors of the Sun), and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer, as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, and non-fiction