I have decided that this is the year I shall dedicate to Adrian Tchaikovsky. Having been reminded of his brilliance when reviewing The Hungry Gods, I just knew I had to dive into more of his work. Service Model is the book I decided start with, and it did not disappoint.
Service Model is the story of a valet robot Charles who seems to have found himself in a bit of a predicament. He has apparently killed his master but has no recollection of any such activity whatsoever. What follows is Charles’ search for a new human abode to provide valet services, but this time maybe less murder involved. This unfortunately isn’t going to be easy as we soon come to realise that the world isn’t what Charles expected it to be.
A look at a dystopian world where the human society seems to have collapsed, and the remaining robots just appear listless, performing tasks that no longer need to be performed. The book follows Charles as he looks for a new purpose all the while grappling with a growing sense of ‘self’. This results in Charles finding himself in a bit of a pickle at times when trying to rationalise certain actions of his. It’s quite a funny, and oddly charming, story about a robot in search for meaning. We encounter several robot companions along the way and with each interaction we see Charles gain a bit more ‘humanity’ in his reasoning.
This was a very cosy book to read and I absolutely adore some of the robots we encountered. The speech mannerisms may have been robotic but there is a sense of earnestness and at times helplessness about following a strict protocol that made me want to help them. Maybe its just Dogs of War biasing me but it is what it is. Really enjoyed this book. If you’re fan of The Murderbot Diaries then this might be a much cosier version with significantly less violence to cosy up to. Definitely recommended.
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Links:
- Goodreads: Service Model – Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Book Review: The Hungry Gods – Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Book Review: Dogs of War – Adrian Tchaikovsky
Liminal Ramblings 