All Systems Red

The story here is relatively straightforward - it is, after all, a novella, where there isn't too much space to make things complicated. Essentially, a scientific survey team on an alien planet finds itself in trouble when they suddenly lose contact with their teammates at another base. There's not too much special here, but what makes the story good is the protagonist. This is the partially organic robot assigned as the group's security and the story is told in first person from its perspective. Murderbot, as it secretly refers to itself, only wants to be left alone and feels uncomfortable having to interact too much with humans, but nonetheless has to protect them. It's a witty story about a sympathetic yet deeply antisocial and cynical individual who has to put on a different face to the outside world, as well as having something to say about how different people react to something that's only supposed to be valuable property but which is capable of thinking and feeling.

Murderbot is a great and original character with potential for more stories to come.