Thursday, May 30, 2019

Book Beginnings + Friday 56: All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two.

This week I'm sharing All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells. I finally read this recently and LOVED it. I can't believe it took me so long to get around to it.

About the Book
"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.

Book Beginning
I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don't know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.

Friday 56
Everyone stood there, quiet. I could tell from their expressions they were all thinking hard. The HubSystem that controlled their habitat, that they were dependent on for food, shelter, filtered air, and water, was trying to kill them. And in their corner all they had was Murderbot, who just wanted everyone to leave it alone so it could watch the entertainment feed all day.

What have you been reading lately?

14 comments:

  1. Great choice! I have the first two books and have plans to binge read them. I'm thinking this would be great as a tv series or movies.

    My Friday 56 from The Daydreamer Detective

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    1. I think it would too. I'd love to see that happen. Thanks for coming by, Laura! :)

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  2. Wow. The first lines are really funny. I wasn't expecting that. Please check out my Friday Quotes post

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    1. I wasn't either, but I found myself laughing quite a bit all throughout. Thanks for the visit, Anne! :)

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  3. Sounds great. I haven't read this author. This week I am spotlighting The Liaden Universe Constellation IV by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - a collection of short stories. Happy reading!

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    1. This was my first time reading this author and I really enjoyed it. I'm definitely wanting to check out the rest of the series. Thanks for coming by, Kathy! :)

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  4. I'm glad you liked this one. It's on my list of books that I have to read this year! :D

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    1. I hope you like it too! Thanks for visiting, Lark! :)

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  5. I've got this on my tbr. Happy reading!

    Lauren @ Always Me

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    1. Hope you enjoy it too! Thanks for the visit, Lauren! :)

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  6. Glad to hear you enjoyed your latest read. Happy Weekend.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Nicki! Happy Weekend to you too! :)

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  7. Sounds like a real page-turner! Happy weekend!

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