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All Systems Red by Martha Wells
A sarcastic security unit that calls itself Murderbot has hacked its own controls and just wants to be left alone with its favorite serials—until its human clients are in real danger. Fast, funny, and unexpectedly tender, All Systems Red is a breakout sci-fi adventure with a heart of circuits.
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In All Systems Red, did you enjoy ...
... the dry, self-deprecating snark cutting through life-or-death sci-fi scrapes?
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
If Murderbot's deadpan asides—like wanting to binge Sanctuary Moon while grudgingly saving Dr. Mensah and the PreservationAux crew—made you grin, you'll vibe with the breezy, wisecracking voice in The Kaiju Preservation Society. While the stakes escalate under corporate pressure and field ops go sideways (much like hacked maps and rogue drones did on the survey mission), the humor keeps the danger buoyant without undercutting it.
... a hyper-competent, morally gray protagonist who'd rather run their own agenda than play hero?
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
If you loved how Murderbot quietly hacked its own governor module and did the right thing on its own terms—protecting Mensah while pointedly avoiding hero worship—meet Jean le Flambeur. He's a legendary thief sprung from a game-theory prison and dragged into an audacious caper across the Oubliette on Mars. Like Murderbot, Jean's brilliance, secrecy, and reluctant-altruist streak propel a propulsive plot where personal freedom collides with obligation.
... a sardonic first-person voice from a not-quite-human protagonist puzzling through personhood?
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
If Murderbot’s confessional, first-person log—juggling mission triage, hacked feeds, and its own boundaries with Dr. Mensah—hooked you, Bob’s voice will too. Uploaded into a self-replicating probe, Bob narrates with the same wry, problem-solving candor as he explores, forks copies of himself, and debates what it means to be a person—echoing SecUnit’s journey from contract-bound asset to self-directed individual.
... the locked-room, corporate-space whodunit energy behind the sabotaged survey and hacked systems?
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
If the way Murderbot unraveled the sabotage—missing cartography files, compromised comms, and enemy drones while keeping the PreservationAux team alive—pulled you in, Six Wakes scratches the same itch. A crew of clones awakens on the starship Dormire to find their previous bodies murdered and their memories tampered with, forcing a tense, clue-by-clue investigation under threat, with shipboard systems and corporate secrets complicating every step.
... tight, problem-solving survival stakes centered on a small team under hostile environmental pressure?
The Martian by Andy Weir
If you enjoyed how Murderbot managed triage on a hazardous world—patching video feeds, jury-rigging equipment, and shielding Mensah’s team from sudden fauna attacks—The Martian delivers that same practical, step-by-step ingenuity. Mark Watney’s logbook voice tracks potatoes in the HAB, resurrecting Pathfinder, and hacking life support, mirroring the satisfying competence-porn beats behind SecUnit’s quick, no-nonsense saves.
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