Day: August 9, 2025

  • Murderbot: All Systems Reread

    Now that I’ve had a few weeks to let my feelings about the televised adaptation settle, I did a re-read of the novella which started it all: Martha Wells’ All Systems Red. Part of my motivation to do so was to put “faces” to characters, and another part was to consider the questions of adaptation. Mostly, though, I read it because it’s a damned good book. There’s a reason this series is so beloved, after all. And a lot of what hooked us with the first installment did, in fact, make it into the TV show.

    Screenshot from the Murderbot TV show depicting a character (Ratthi) falling backward. Overlaid is a caption, itself a screenshot from The Onion, which reads, "Report: Average Male 4,000% Less Effective In Fights Than They Imagine."

    Just, for the most part, not exactly as in the original text.

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