Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 11, 2022 7:25:57 GMT -8
I wanted to switch from detective to sci-fi...if only because it's getting difficult to find good detective novels. I ran across this short 156 page novel by Martha Wells: All Systems Red. This book is so relatively short, if I give you a synopsis I will give it all away. But basically the story revolves around a "Murderbot" who is part of the crew (security) of a planetary survey group. Murderbot is a cantankerous sort and has found a way to override it's "governor" or limiting switch. And it's kept this fact secret lest it be quickly decommissioned and scrapped. I don't know where this will go but it's a bit of a hoot so far. |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 11, 2022 20:31:15 GMT -8
I finished this novella. First, as one reviewer wrote under the title of "Give You The Razor - Sell You The Blades!":
It looks as though my library has all of them. I've placed a hold on the second section (what is being billed as the second "book"). The first was certainly good enough to want to read more.
All Systems Red is a character study, mainly of Murderbot. The plot, such as it is, is there as an excuse to throw this band of people (and partial people) together. As such, perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised that the conclusion of the plot was rushed and didn't make a whole lot of sense. But then the plot was only ever a light support structure for the character studies.
Murderbot is a hoot as he interacts with the humans he is contracted to protect. We see inside his mind and Murderbot doesn't necessarily like people. He'd rather watch a good TV series.
If you can find this, give it a go. It's not much of an investment. And even though the genre is sci-fi, the sci-fi (like the plot) is purely secondary. And that's fine in this case. The author (a somewhat rarity) takes the universe and time they live in for granted. We're not stopping to talk about some futuristic gee-whiz gadget every twelve pages.
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Post by kungfuzu on Apr 12, 2022 12:22:36 GMT -8
Sounds like Standard Oil's business practice in China. The company gave away lamps and then sold the owners kerosene.
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Post by artraveler on Apr 12, 2022 19:14:43 GMT -8
Jumping into the wayback machine. In the 60s computers were massive things with tape reels and cards. IBM tasked themselves to expand their market share. One of the ways they did so was gifting their computers to universities and colleges. They reasoned, correctly, that business students in 1965 would be purchasing managers in 1980 and the product they would buy is the one they learned on. And for the next 10 years IBM was the top of the line purchase for business. The only thing IBM did not take in to account was the sudden expansion of personal computers and of course, "Algores internet". The example IBM used in this marketing strategy was Gillett's free razors and blades.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 13, 2022 7:34:50 GMT -8
The exact specifics of the tech in this book remain in the background. But it seems everyone (including non-augmented humans) are able to get a "feed" of information from various sources. Partially augmented humans get it faster. Almost completely augmented humans (like Murderbot) can take in this information fastest of all. I started reading #6 in the series because that's all that was available to me. I get the distinct impression that the writer has one shtick and just repeats it over and over. Book #6 sounds just like book #1. And although I did enjoy book #1 as a one-off, I have my doubts that this series has any legs. I watched a very good YouTube video one time about when the non-IBM pc consortium (cloners...Compaq's famous and influential clone came in 1982) decided in 1988 (in cahoots with Microsoft) on a set of standards for pc architecture ( Extended Industry Standard Architecture). This made the pc market totally independent of IBM. IBM had exacerbated this situation (they didn't like cloners...don't really blame them) back in 1987 with PS/2 which, according to Wiki: It's a fascinating story of Big Blue going from the gorilla in the room to an outside player. Not sure what this has to do with the book but it relates to what you were saying about IBM. |
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Post by artraveler on Apr 13, 2022 10:17:15 GMT -8
Not sure what this has to do with the book but it relates to what you were saying about IBM. Comes back to razors and razorblades. In the case of IBM it means they made razors that don't fit the razorblades they wanted to sell. When you trash your own product you are either just stupid, an idiot or both. Kind of explains Joe Biden. |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 13, 2022 13:54:36 GMT -8
As I understand it, IBM was playing catch-up in the field of personal computers. That's why they needed to buy an operating system from someone else. Either the operating system they were developing in-house wasn't going anywhere or they simply needed something quicker. And as this Wiki article note: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_compatibleApple has certainly found ways to use more-or-less commodity hardware components and yet keep their systems mostly closed. Mostly in days gone by. But these days, Apple has doubled-down on making their systems as proprietary and closed as humanly (and fiscally) possible. It's interesting (but perhaps not surprising) how the PC industry really took off after there were open standards . . . and left IBM in the dust. I was watching a video about the compact cassette which was developed by Philips. They were trying to get some licensing deal with Sony in order to solidify their technology. But Sony played hard-ball because there was indeed a competing standard that they could have supported (now since long forgotten) that was offering a much more generous licensing deal. So basically Philips was forced into the "give away the razors" paradigm. Sony (and others) paid no licensing fees...and presumably Philips sold a lot of blades...err, tapes.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 17, 2022 7:58:00 GMT -8
I've started the second book in this series. Due to his heroic and loyal work in the first book, Murderbot was purchased from the corporation by Dr. Mensah and given his freedom. But that freedom comes with some stipulations. Murderbot must have a guardian (Mensah, in this case).
Murderbot is trying to "find himself" in the modern sense and doesn't hang around with Dr. Mensah and her colleagues after given his freedom. Murderbot takes off into some of the outer systems. It's not illegal for him to travel but, due to various prejudices, he tries to keep a low profile. He can pass himself off as a normal "augmented" human. To the untrained eye, they do look the same.
He's just bartered his way onto a transport by offering the transport's AI a bunch of the latest movies and TV series. Next stop, I'm not sure where.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 18, 2022 7:55:09 GMT -8
This second book is now finding some legs (a reason for being). It turns out that Murderbot is doing more than engaging in a walkabout. He's actively investigating his own history.
In the first book we learn that Murderbot supposedly went crazy and murdered several dozen miners. Because Murderbot's memory was partially erased after this event (he's too valuable simply to scrap), the details are fuzzy. He doesn't know if he himself disabled his governor in order to commit these murders or if he disabled his governor later in order to avoid any such incident again.
Murderbot runs into a highly intelligent embedded bot that is running a transport vessel. This bot advises Murderbot and gives him a perspective on the events that he didn't have before. The main angle is whether or not Murderbot was simply used by someone in order to commit these murders. So Murderbot is returning to the planet (and the mine) where this took place. And, suspiciously, the mine he was working at is no longer on the official maps.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 19, 2022 19:03:27 GMT -8
I finished the second book in The Murderbot Diary Series, Artificial Condition. The plot was snappier and the ending better than the first book, although the first book was necessary to set up the second.
Murderbot goes looking for answers and often finds more than he bargained for. His personality and motivations are further fleshed out by the author. Murderbot is no longer just the eye-rolling, cynical observer of human behavior. We begin to see him as a person...augmented human though he is. Definitely a tight novel with few annoyances or eye-rolling moments. Worth a read.
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Post by kungfuzu on Apr 20, 2022 18:05:50 GMT -8
I have to admit that I have never been a fan of science fiction. But the use of Murderbot seems to be just a gimmick. The awakening of conscience and realization that one has agency is used in "human" literature very often.
Perhaps I am missing something, but it seems to me that the stories are about the growth and development of humanity in a person from childhood onward and the robot is merely an metaphor.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 20, 2022 18:41:56 GMT -8
The blurbs on this have been way off, in my opinion. Most paint this as "Humans coming to discover and appreciate Murderbot's innate humanity." Or they say it is discovering something about AI, maybe some kind of "awakening."
Nothing so profound is (as yet) attempted. There's certainly some of that "appreciating the humanity in a Murderbot" in the first part. But the second part shows us the more-or-less same fully-formed Murderbot who isn't really evolving or getting in touch with his humanity. Rather, we learn how this particular SecUnit (a heavily augmented human with built-in weapons in its arms, etc.) understands and deals with reality...including its previous life as basically a slave.
Murderbot seemingly has a very ingrained set of ethics...whether inborn from being partially human or from his programming. We don't really know. He has always served humans and he finds this hard to get away from (even with free choice) if only because he likes this function and it gives him purpose. His cynical view of human foibles is often comical and spot-on, although this aspect in the stories functions more as a punchline than a deep philosophical treatise.
Perhaps that's one reason I find the stories (so far) appealing. This writer is not taking herself (or "AI") too seriously.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on May 3, 2022 11:18:46 GMT -8
I've started reading Rogue Protocol, the third mini-book in the series. Our intrepid murderbot is on his way to the planet, Milu. A terraforming venture there by GrayCris has apparently gone wrong. But because GrayCris is the corporation who was likely behind trying to kill everyone on the planet (book 1) where murderbot was employed protecting a colony of prospectors, he thinks the terraforming was just a cover for the illegal procurement of alien artifacts and remnants.
I smell "story arc burnout" coming as the plot becomes little more than forever chasing the tale of GrayCris. How many series have you seen on TV where "story arc" has meant the doom, especially of a good TV show? Imagine if Star Trek (although it lasted only 3 seasons) had every third episode involving Tribbles? Even when they did do "story arc" (with Harry Mudd), the second Mudd episode was pretty horrible.
Many series (especially streaming series) do a "story arc" as a means to avoid writing something new and creative. We'll see if Roque Protocol succumbs to this.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on May 4, 2022 6:01:05 GMT -8
Well, Murderbot has done it again. He's got himself involved with a group of humans. This group was sent by a corporation that is now in charge of investigating (and presumably correcting) the aborted terraforming of Planet Milu by the corporation, GrayCris.
Murderbot stows away on the shuttle (intent on his own investigation of GrayCris) that is taking the group to the planet. In order to do so, he's had to negotiate privately and secretly with the onboard bot of the shuttle who is a member of this team. This has led him to make some promises (such as protecting the humans) that then gets him involved. And things start happening (of course) as this group begins to investigate the abandoned terraforming facility.
So far so good.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on May 5, 2022 6:41:51 GMT -8
I finished the third mini-book in the Murderbot series, Rogue Protocol. There wasn't much need for this book as it was more or less a reprise of the previous one: Murderbot explores outer planets looking for evidence against evil corporation. Gets involved with innocent fellow travelers on the way. Becomes some combination of contract-bound/morally-bound to protect them. Shit hits the fan. Still, two-thirds of the book was interesting enough...until they made it to the planet that was abandoned by the evil corporation in the midst of an apparently botched attempt at terraforming the planet. We know that the terraforming was likely a cover for procuring alien artifacts, although this fact was not absolutely established, even in this third book. So we go to an alien planet that has all kinds of abandoned terraforming equipment. There is a big mystery here and lots of opportunity for discovery and exploration. But the author almost immediately goes into boilerplate mode. The evil corporation had left some bots at the station that were programmed to try to kill everyone. It then devolves into corridor-hopping as they try to avoid the bots and bet back to the ship. Along the way, Murderbot is able to control various bit of the station's technology in order to help them escape. Rinse and repeat. And, oh yes, of course some of their own crew were plants from the evil corporation. Eyeroll. There were tremendous opportunities to explore the station and delve deeper into the mystery...maybe even find some alien technology which is ostensibly the motive for the evil corporation. But the writer's writing simply lacks ambition. She is content to basically just re-arrange the pieces of the previous mini-book. Still, I'm on the waiting list now for the fourth mini-book in the series. It looks like about a five week wait which suits me fine. Right now I'm reading Robert Heinlein's yute novel, Red Planet. I'm too early into this one to make any judgment on it. |
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Post by Brad Nelson on May 12, 2022 6:46:08 GMT -8
I just finished Exit Strategy, #4 in the Murderbot series.
On his way back from his investigation of the planet, Milu, Murderbot hears that his guardian, Dr. Mensah (the leader of the group he saved in book #1), has been kidnapped by the evil corporation, GrayCris.
She may have been nabbed as a way to influence an ongoing investigation into GrayCris' illegal harvesting of alien artifacts. Or they could be using her as bait to attract Murderbot who they know has some highly incriminating memory chip files he took from GrayCris' terraforming facility on Milu.
The first half of the book is definitely in the realm of phoning it in. There is a basic set of schtick regarding Murderbot (constantly referencing various data "feeds" and usually trying to jam these feeds in some way so that he can move about undetected as a rogue SecUnit). That constitutes much of the volume of the first half.
Finally the book does pick up the plot about halfway in and is fine (for a Murderbot book) from there. There are some recurring characters (including Dr. Mensah) who come up again and Murderbot strangely finds himself acting with human emotions a time or two. He does not like this but is resigned to it.
Murderbot, along with some old "friends" from book 1, plan a rescue for Dr. Mensah. This occurs in a way that is neither surprising nor unique for this series. But it's mostly good fun all the same. Murderbot and Dr. Mensah are reunited again. And Murderbot still isn't quite sure what to do with his life.
There's some successful droll comedy sprinkled here and there that mostly works. The books are short so the investment is minimal. I've got the fifth book on hold right now.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Jun 10, 2022 10:49:04 GMT -8
I finished the MurderBot series yesterday. It was comprised of six shortish books in all.
I can say that if you like quirky sci-fi, read the first two. And parts of a couple of the other books were okay. But mostly the final four books were just a rehashing of basic elements and motifs. The sixth book was probably the most phone-in of all and hardly worth the effort to read.
The opportunity to explore something deeper was lost in what were obviously somewhat disingenuously churned-out novellas...especially since these six novellas were sold as full-priced books. This series ultimately was not an honest engagement with the reader. Nor did it even try to flesh-out the humanity (or roboticity) of the main character as we go along. Basically it's a one-trick pony all the way. Murderbot never does really change. And we learn very little about him although his quips are often funny.
Enjoy the first two, and then just end it there.
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