★★★★☆ Murderbot is a grumpy introvert

All Systems Red

Martha Wells

** spoiler alert **

I'm sorry, but I cannot do it. I can't refer to Murderbot as "it". I know that's the pronoun she and her colleagues use throughout the book, but as a native English speaker d'un certain âge, I can't help but see "it" as the impersonal pronoun, the pronoun used for things that are things, not persons. And THE WHOLE ENTIRE POINT of All Systems Red is that Murderbot is a person. I could tolerate "they", since, although it is grammatically impersonal, there is long English language tradition of using "they" for a person. But not "it". So, hoping that I don't offend anyone by misungendering our protagonist, I will call her "her" in this review.

All Systems Red has two linked plots. Both revolve around mysteries. The obvious one, which I will call Plot One, is hinted at by the last sentence of the publisher's blurb:

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

That's an action plot, and it's a good one. I'll say little about it in this review, since I think the less obvious mystery is the heart of the novella, and the most interesting. The mystery at the heart of Plot Two is this question, "What kind of being is Murderbot?" Murderbot refers to herself repeatedly as a "construct", but it is never spelled out what that means. She makes it clear that she has both organic and inorganic components, and that both are essential to her function. She is a security robot, a SecBot, and is chattel of "The Company", which has rented her out to a company of explorers. In the view of The Company, and (initially) the explorers, she is a machine.

Murderbot is engaged in a secret revolt against The Company -- as the publisher tells us, she "has hacked its own governor module", making her capable of disobeying commands she is supposedly compelled to follow. And in the course of Plot One she repeatedly displays motivation and independence, which make it completely clear that she is, in fact, a person. I will quote one example here (with minimal context, to avoid spoiling). Murderbot is suspected of binge-watching a TV serial called "Sanctuary Moon". One of the explorers, Ratthi, tests that suspicion.

Ratthi said, “The one where the colony’s solicitor killed the terraforming supervisor who was the secondary donor for her implanted baby?”
Again, I couldn’t help it. I said, “She didn’t kill him, that’s a *filthy* lie.”

The word "filthy" (which, in the original is a different word beginning with "f" -- I substituted it so I can post this review on Amazon) is revealing -- it shows that Murderbot, although entirely aware that "Sanctuary Moon" is fiction, is emotionally involved with the characters. You understand this, because you're human, and it is a very human feeling. (This, I thought, was impressive story-telling on Martha Wells' part -- one word conveys so much!)

I believe that the not-so-secret purpose of All Systems Red is to introduce us to Murderbot as a person. Plot One is there to help with that by giving her opportunities to show her personality through her actions. But Plot Two is the heart and purpose of All Systems Red.

Amazon review

Goodreads review

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