All Systems Red [Dramatized Adaptation]

The Murderbot Diaries [Dramatized Adaptation] #1

by Martha Wells, David Cui Cui (Narrator), Khaya Fraites (Narrator)

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.

Genres: Audiobook, Science Fiction, Fiction, Novella, Adult, Adventure, Book Club

3 pages, Audible Audio

Published September 12, 2023

About the author

Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, the Ile-Rien series, The Murderbot Diaries series, and other fantasy novels, most recently Witch King (Tordotcom, 2023). She has also written media tie-in fiction for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, Locus Awards, and a Dragon Award, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the British Science Fiction Association Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, the Sunday Times Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. She is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, and her books have been published in twenty-five languages.

She is also a consulting producer on The Murderbot Diaries series for Apple TV+.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just an awesome dramatized adaptation of the first Murderbot book.



I'm listening to them willy-nilly as they come in from library holds (see postscript before you freak out), and have actually listened to the graphic audio version of Network Effect, which is the adaptation of the full-length Murderbot novel.
For whatever reason, and I'm sure a lot of people will say that it's because these work better as short stories, I preferred this to that one.



If you're a fan, these are so much fun. Unnecessary, but fun.
Recommended.


PS - I'm listening to the audiobooks in the correct order for those of you whose OCD can't take the idea of just grabbing random books in a series!

[Laurens.Little.Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. Just… fine ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was lightly entertained. There’s really not much more to it lmao

[steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murderbot and its humans 🫶

---

Planning to start a (re)read via GraphicAudio thanks to Ashley posting about ART 😌

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun, loved the music and sound effects. Dr. Mensah definitely needed to have a more mature voice, but otherwise, I enjoyed the cast of character voices. I don't seem to ever get enough Murderbot 😍

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay FINE! graphic audio isn’t so bad when the sound effects are sufficiently sci-fi. laser zaps are fun!! sue me!

[Angelina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Murderbot series. And I love graphic audios.

But I did not love this.

Most of, if not ALL of the cast also performs in the ACOTAR graphic audio, which is incredibly distracting. The fact that their voices didn't change at all makes me wonder if they are actually voice actors, or if they are just people performing these roles? I think one of them attempted to do the worst West Country accent I have ever heard.

Murderbot's voice actor was the most irritating for me, but this part is subjective. I never pictured Murderbot's voice to sound like that (higher register, very upbeat, both casual and uncomfortably robotic?)

Finally, the sound effects. There wasn't enough of it to get a decent "movie for your mind" experience, and the actor performances didn't match up with the scene. For example, during a gunfight, the VA for Murderbot was completely calm. Now, I know Murderbot doesn't care and often is calm during these scenarios, but the performance just didn't work? Tough to explain but it just didn't work for me.

All in all, the story was good but the performance was distracting. Sadly I won't be continuing the series on graphic audio.

[Rebekah]

This is specifically a review for the Graphic Audio dramatized version of the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series. In terms of story, it's still Murderbot, just abridged. It terms of casting and sound design...I don't want to get overly critical and I'm not giving it a star rating, but honestly, just get the unabridged audiobooks read by Kevin R. Free. He gives a phenomenal performance and you get the complete, unabridged story.

[Thureka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murderbot is such a relatable character, and their narrator was enjoyable to listen to. The worldbuilding is also intriguing. I wish I listened to the original version. I was getting lost who was speaking and lost the train of plot, which makes sense because it's an adapted work. Overall I'm excited to continue this series but likely the non-dramatized version.
· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·
POV: 1st Person - Single
Format: Audiobook - Full Cast

[Kristi Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️
This was a fun super quick novella! I listened to the dramatized adaptation, and it was like a movie! I like that the author split the story up like this and made it into smaller books. The pacing was great, and the story didn’t drag on. Overall, I would recommend this to a sci-fi lover who wants a quick, fun, and non-serious book!

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

H
I had high expectations for this. Sadly it did not deliver. The audio book performance by Kevin R Freed is much better.

[mikaela (spinebreaker) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love dramatized things. period.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murderbot is my comfort story.

[Ingvild Sofie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leste på nytt i form av dramatised adaptation, så det var gøy :D Minna meg om BBC Radio Hamlet i måten den var spilt inn

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it - the different sounds added to the atmosphere, even though it was a bit hard to tell which character was speaking.

[Demmie Sunnanväder Hellberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t get me wrong! En så bra bok, MEN, den var så kort! Å jag som alltid tjatar om min fobi för långa böcker, men denna var banemaj för kort!

Jag kände inte riktigt att jag fick den emotionella anknytningen till karaktärerna för att ge den ett bättre betyg…

Det är verkligen en så bra bok, och jag längtar efter resterande delar av serien! En mördarrobot på ett mission med ett gäng människor som inser att han kanske är mer än en mördarrobot?

Men jag kände bara att jag fick för kort tid på mig att utveckla känslor och anknytning för karaktärernas relationer. Jag förstår liksom det fina i att människorna inser att den här roboten är så intelligent, inte bara på ett robot-aktigt sätt, men faktiskt emotionell intelligens och moral. Jag önskar bara att vi fick en längre introduktion till karaktärerna och hur dem hamnat där dem hamnat!

Sen begrep jag mig inte riktigt på deras mission? De skulle in i något habitat, och göra vadå? Det kan också vara att jag missat detta när jag rageade på bilköer.

Men iaf, en så bra start på serien och jag ser stor potential i var vi kan sluta upp!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good series! Can’t wait for the next one

[Jeana Cheque · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading these because I've heard good things and Apple will be doing a series with Alexander Skarsgard. The book was a lot like Lost in Space-the Netflix series. I listened to the GraphicAudio and liked it. I thought it was funny when the bot said that he fast forwarded through the sex scenes. He overrode his 'Governor' software and downloaded a bunch of soap operas and books for his downtime. He didn't automatically install software updates. He picked and chose what he wanted from them. He was hired out by the company that owned him for security detail for humans. He was mostly bot with some organic components. He liked humans on TV, but got uncomfortable with them in real life. He kept his helmet on and opaque whenever possible. He has a human face. He feels protective of the humans, even though he tells himself he doesn't care and is bored. Everything is recorded for data mining for the company that owns him. He'll hide and delete conversations when he feels like it. Some researchers were on a planet. Their maps had been tampered with. There was another, unlogged, human crew there too. That crew had already killed another crew and were gunning for Murderbot's humans. They never figured out what the other crew was doing and why they were trying to hide it. Murderbot helped them escape and took on significant damage to shield the leader's body with his own. There is a place where bots live free. When they were back to safety, he woke up and was healed. He was told that the crew leader had bought his contract and that he could live with her at her farm until he decided what he wanted to do with his freedom. That made him uncomfortable. He left her a note thanking her, but he didn't want to do what a human suggested. It ended with him going off by himself. Also, he had killed 40 people on another mission. He needed to find out why. His hardware had been scrubbed, but he retained memories in his organic material. He needed to know if he'd done it of his own volition, and why, or if his software had been overridden. The company covered it up because units like him are expensive.

[Deb the Reading Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I knew about this series going into it is that it was a bit divisive, but beloved by most who usually read science fiction and knew what they were getting into. I also heard of some comparisons of Murderbot's experiences with those on the spectrum, so I was curious to explore that as well.

I enjoyed listening to the dramatized adaptation, the voice actors all had pleasing voices and performed well, even though Murderbot's inner monologues took up about 90% of the story. It took some time to catch all the characters, but the Murderbot's thinking and feelings were quite relatable and at times a bit quirky in a sweet way (no offense).

I liked the detective-type storyline, but honestly did not connect much with the other characters, and by the end of this book I kind of understood why that might have been the case (I wouldn't like to spoil this too much for whoever might be reading this).

I've seen a lot of negative reviews just DNF-ing this perhaps too soon, some finding it a bit juvenile (Murderbot just got himself hacked, so I perceive him like a teenager on the emotional level even if he's intellectually capable), and most just did not care about the characters or found the story incomplete - but I quite enjoy short reads where not everything is revealed and spelled out for the reader, so it was a good fit for me.

It did take ne time to get into this book, but it was worth it. I might consider re-reading this at some point, for a fuller experience.

[Issa · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first experience with graphicaudio! at first I was thrown off from the little changes I noticed when I read along to make the dialogue flow better, but overall really liked it. Some of the voices didn’t exactly match what I imagined for the characters, but murderbot’s VA was great and the small creative liberties taken all added to the experience.

honestly the ability Martha Wells to be so hilarious yet sneakingly heartfelt is unparalleled and hit even more on this listen. “My favorite human” still kills me

[Sarah Hillocks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved listening to this dramatized audiobook. Witty humour and an incredible story, I can't wait to continue the Murderbot series!

[Wendy White · Rating 4 out of 5]

For any Murderbot book, I recommend reading the original first (either as text or via Kevin R. Free's fantastic, expressive narration of the unabridged audio book) but the dramatised versions are fun just to mix things up, especially if you re-read this series regularly, like I do!

5 stars for the original work, 4 stars for dramatised just because sometimes the sfx take me out of the story rather than immersing me.

[ekrobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic as always! I really liked the dramatized (graphic audio) format! It didn't drop any of the context/coherence of the story overall and the performances were amazing! 5/5

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I understand why the Illumicrate peeps like this series so much. Murderbot, you aroace agender autistic monarch l, you.

[Amanda Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is for the Graphic Audio dramatization specifically, not the source material—All Systems Red remains an excellent novella.

The sound design is solid, but nearly everything else falls short. The core problem is that the lead actor playing Murderbot seems to think he's voicing Peter Parker. He sounds *perky*. Murderbot is defined by world-weariness and a bone-deep fed-up-ness with everything around it; this performance misses that entirely.

The supporting cast fares little better. The female characters are difficult to distinguish from one another—not necessarily the fault of the individual actors, but a failure of direction. Someone should have gathered the cast together to develop distinct vocal identities for each role. Mensah is particularly miscast; she sounds like she's in her twenties when the character is an older woman in a leadership position with grown children. She should sound forty at minimum.

The accents are baffling. Ratthi sounds Irish? Scottish? It's unclear. Meanwhile, everyone else defaults to standard American English. The lack of vocal variety makes an already difficult-to-follow ensemble even harder to track.

Which brings me to the script. You cannot have actors deliver threatening dialogue to a room full of people without making clear *who* they're addressing. There's a scene where Murderbot threatens Gurathin, but because Mensah was the last to speak, new listeners would reasonably assume she's the target. A failure by the scriptwriters.

The performances aren't bad, exactly—they're underdeveloped. Listening to this made me appreciate how much character work Kevin R. Free brought to the original audiobook. His narration remains the definitive version.

Of all the Murderbot performances I've experienced, this is my ranking:

1. Original audiobook narration by Kevin R. Free
2. Apple TV+ series
3. Graphic Audio full cast production

[Akilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

UGH, this is going to screw up my page count and amount of books read for the year, but here we go.

I love Murderbot. But I need him to come up with a better name than either Murderbot or SecUnit, so. I also appreciate that Martha Wells really said if a robot became sentient, it wouldn't (a) SkyNet and try to take over the world [very male, Western, colonizer oriented) but would (b) finally take a chance to chill and watch all the TV it wanted [very tired female/woman oriented]. So, it's a refreshing change from most media with this bent.

I'm reading this because of the TV show, and I enjoy the humor of both a lot.

I tried the unabridged audio first on a road trip but we all agreed that the way the voice actor did the women's voices on there was annoying, so we switched to this version and had a much better experience.

[Bryce Kessler · Rating 1 out of 5]

uwuuuuu robot who’s whole personality is that he’s scared of ✨emotions✨ (but is *eyeroll* the embodiment (or half-n-half indecisive embodiment) of escapism (aren’t they literally on ANOTHER PLANET?!) and is such a shy wittle boy). This is like Twilight from Edward’s perspective (Team Jacob for lyfe) but Robocop.

(sorry i’m mad rn) ALSO this audio version is barely “dramatized.” The same footsteps and door whoosh sounds with nonstop talking and ig that’s all it takes. @GraphicAudio hire me

[Sandra L. Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the full cast production of the audiobook…twice actually. The first time I was so confused about the story. The second time, it made more sense, but not enough for me to want to seek out the other stories in this series. It just seems too trite to me. The characters were plain without much depth. I was seeking more detail and less of a contrived plot.

[Robert Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulp scifi.

I can see that this makes for a good TV show: episodic and simple.
But spending the time to read it (or listen to the audio) is too simplistic. Not interesting enough to continue reading. I'll wait for the video adaptation.

[christina.reads88 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book or not. But I am hooked. I will for sure be binging this whole series!

[Billie ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75