All Systems Red

The star of the murderbot diaries is murderbot, the neuroatypical, disaffected cyborg filled with ennui and a desire to binge TV. Certainly, the series was sold to me that way but much as I liked murderbot, the true heroes of this first novella for me were Wells' fascinating setting playing out the corporatocharcy of the 21st century and a cast of characters that were united as a team to communal ends (as shocking to murderbot as it was to the reader!)

Although the central mystery was decently compelling, most of the tension in this book comes from Murderbot's reluctance to be treated as a person, concern that people will see their face and assumption that all people are dumb, profit-motivated and ready to betray the group at any time. It's rare that the first book in a series isn't the strongest, but I just really enjoyed the later books where more character and setting development really shined.