 Hello hello hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome back I'm Philip Magnus and recently I read this little beauty Artificial Condition, the second book in the Murderbot Diaries, which is very very very fun. More fun than I had with the first one, but I talked to myself, since I haven't actually spoken about the first one, I might as well do something weird. A review of my review of All Systems Red, the first novella in the Murderbot Diaries. Let's get into it shall we? This review is from February 24th 2020 and was posted originally for Booknest EU. The copy I read I had also borrowed from the library, just like this one. You can figure it out by this here little thingy. Yes it says Oroman Engelska, which is probably how you would not pronounce it if you were actually Swedish. Let's move on shall we? While browsing through the rows of books in English in the Swedish library I frequent, I came across Matt Wells' All Systems Red, and the fellow who's cover I dimly recall seeing years before on tour.com. Very true, I had seen it before. I looked through my two read list and surprised this one was nowhere near it, as if that would stop me. I grabbed it stole away, had a poem that is too lightening as well, by the way that's a great novel, you should go check it out, in case someone topped this tin-vella to conspicuous. Long live sci-fi. Indeed, it has lived long. It can be phased back as far away as Edgar Allan Poe, if you believe the critics. By the end of the night I had read through the first of these titles with barely any effort. I had. These are very easy to read. For example this one, it might say that it's 158 pages, but actually when the pages are printed like this, it really is. Probably less. All Systems Red offers a fun story from the point of view of an anxiety-riddled robot, with several biological components in a touch of misanthropy. I like the imaginary people on the entertainment feed way more than I liked real ones, but you can't have one without the other. I understand that, Murderbot. This sec unit, short for Security Unit, calls itself Murderbot and seeks to avoid all direct interactions with its human wards, interested only in watching the TV, music and game programs on entertainment channels. If this isn't enough to make the Murderbot relatable, I don't know what it will. And for the record it is. It totally is. My empathy for Murderbot is far greater than my empathy for my common man outside these four walls of my prison. Stuck on a planet with a band of scientists performing geological studies, our protagonist hopes to avoid any sort of excitement. Unfortunately for him, this is a sci-fi novella intent on putting Murderbot on the spot and testing its metal. A few action scenes are only to be expected, and they were well handled and entertaining. I think that's a bit vague. I think it's got some buzzwords. I would like to think that my language has become more precise since. You know, I would probably get into the nitty-gritty of those actions, if only I remembered them. Probably a lot of… I think there was something about sec units going against one another, ripping limbs off of one another, shooting at each other with energy weapons. Anyway, of artificial condition is anything to judge by. The prose is serviceable. Not quite excellent, but it doesn't need to be. There's plenty of great interactions. The dialogue never tends towards the heavily expositional, and the personalities of all the scientists led by Team Leader Mensa shine true. Are in the humour? Golden. Yes, talk to Murderbot about its feelings. The idea was so painful. I dropped to 97% efficiency. I'd rather climb back into Hostile One's mouth. I have to say, not so bad at choosing quotes. I enjoyed that one. Yeah, it's good. It's good. In terms of antagonists, the architects behind our protagonists' woes don't make fronting especially memorable. They don't. I really don't remember anything about them other than being part of an evil corporation. Let's see what I've said. They are rather archetypal presenting the depths to which human greed tends to go when a group of people goes off the very deep end. It works well and keeps our second unit and his group of scientists on their toes and pushing themselves as hard as they can to survive. Right, yeah, that's fair enough description of what went on. Once embroiled in a crisis, Murderbot is willing to put its life on the line. For the band of humans it has been tasked with protecting, despite it hacking its governance module. The same module that allows anyone who signed a deal with the company, like the scientists, to command Murderbot. By working to save Mensa and the rest of her team from a shadowy enemy, then Murderbot is exercising its free will. And this is at the heart of what's examined in Wells' novel. The question is one of freedom and compassion and the examination of the self. And the text goes a long way in showing how Murderbot exercises all three. Right in the money here, I would probably have brought up something a little bit more literary now. I'd probably be talking about something like Dona Harroway's cyborgs and simians. It's a really interesting take on subjectivity in post-modernism. And it would be at home with the Murderbot diaries, I suspect. Maybe I will write about it a little bit once I have actually read. Oh, six, I think. Six entries into the series. And I finish the review up with MyScore for All Systems. Red is a four out of five. This is a legitimately enjoyable adventure in a science fiction setting with plenty of good zingers, a socially awkward Robocop. What's not to love? I'm looking forward to reading more about Murderbot in the future. I'll definitely be picking up his story when I'm next in my local library. I like the reference to Robocop. It's a very obvious one. Probably lots of people have made it. And it's not really all that correct. But it made me laugh. Smile. I probably laughed while I was writing it. I tend to giggle to myself uncontrollably. That's my Murderbot cell systems red review. Did you enjoy me reviewing my review? I think it wasn't too bad. I would give it either seven out of five or seven out of ten, whichever makes me look better. I'm not sure which one that would be. Am I humble or am I great? Well beyond what you would expect. I don't know, but you tell me in the comments down below. I hope to see you very soon for the actual non-spoof review of Artificial Condition. And I am looking forward to reading the next books in the series, the next novellas. And there is in fact an actual novel, which is about 350 pages long and numbers five in the series. So I have it's a ways off yet. Smash that like button, press that subscribe button and all the other button relevant things that you might enjoy or not. See you again next time. Bye.