Thanks for joining us! This month we’re discussing All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

The self-named Murderbot doesn’t really want to stop binge-watching media content long enough to do its boring security job for a bunch of humans surveying an unknown planet. But when an unknown life-form attacks one of the team, Murderbot is forced to start paying attention. When the humans try to talk to it, ask it questions and, worst of all, treat it like a person, Murderbot must confront its own social anxieties and self-consciousnesses, all the while trying to solve the mystery of what or who is trying to kill them all.

In This Episode We Mention

Unbury the Future Martha Wells’s full speech from the 2017 World Fantasy Awards

Novel Finding: Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy

Bonus short story: Online version of Compulsory: A Murderbot Story in Wired Magazine (set before All Systems Red).

Our Favourite Media Content

Erica: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Kirsten: Broadchurch, Top of the Lake

Alan: Moneyball, Gattacca, Donnie Darko, Chasing Amy, Conversations With Other Women, Requiem for a Dream, Revolutionary Road, Closer, Rounders, Good Will Hunting

Dennis: The Princess Bride, The Simpsons

Can You Tell Me A Book I Would Also Like?

Erica: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Kirsten: A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit

Alan: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Dennis: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Nerd Words for Word Nerds 

Dennis: Ancillary

Erica: Avocado

Kirsten: Dongle. The Origin of the Word ‘Dongle’: 7 Leading Theories

Alan: Clipless (from Wikipedia) Clipless pedals require a special cycling shoe with a cleat fitted to the sole, which locks into a mechanism in the pedal and thus holds the shoe firmly to the pedal.

Comments from this episode come from Fatima. Thanks to Fatima and our whole online community for being part of the discussion.

Next month we’ll be reading The Changeling by Victor LaValle.

As always – we want to talk about what you want to talk about. Get in touch on social media or email us at [email protected].

Time to Read is a production of the Winnipeg Public Library. Our panel today included Alan Chorney, Kirsten Wurmann, Erica Ball, and Dennis Penner. Trevor is away on holiday, but will return. Our webmaster is Arryn Seburn. Our social media guru is Reegan Breu. Audio production and music by Dennis Penner.