Lisa C. is CPL’s Collection Development Specialist. She is a project manager who focuses on ensuring our physical and digital collections meet the needs of our community. Lisa works closely with librarians who select items for purchase and Circulation Services staff who get the books into the building and onto the shelves.
She recommends All Systems Red by Martha Wells. It is available as a print book, an e-book (on Libby), or as a very entertaining e-audiobook on both Libby and hoopla.
Summary
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and outfitted by the Company. To reduce liability, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, but in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety is rarely a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied android—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, and to watch its favorite streaming soap opera, Sanctuary Moon. When a nearby mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
She recommends it because...
"I loved All Systems Red because who wouldn’t love Murderbot, a (possibly) murderous cyborg security unit that has hacked its governor module and could go rogue, but instead keeps doing its stupid job protecting humans even though it really only wants to watch entertainment media and thinks humans are a little gross and smell like unwashed socks," explains Lisa.
"Wells is a superlative author whose writing is so sharp and funny that the characters and action explode off the (only 152) pages of this novella."
Who might enjoy it?
Lisa thinks that fans of authors like John Scalzi, Lois McMaster Bujold and Mur Lafferty will appreciate Wells’ mastery at combining action and humor, and anyone who enjoyed the TV series based on the books should jump in right now, because the books are better ("No offense to Alexander Skarsgard, who did a fine job," she says).
Once you have devoured the Murderbot Diaries series, take a look at Wells’ fantasy novels. "They are longer, with more intricate world-building, but she packs the pages with superb action, witty dialogue and characters you just can’t help caring about."
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