Adrian Tchaikovsky re-enters the world of robotics and artificial intelligence with this excellent novel written entirely from the perspective of a machine. Charles, a robotic valet, begins the story by nonchalantly killing his master without really understanding why. Is he faulty? Or is he operating beyond the parameters of his program? What follows is a journey through a society which has completely unraveled as Charles searches for logic, but more importantly a new place of employment. The book is a fascinating exploration of artificial intelligence which doesn't lead to the places one might expect. Tchaikovsky's world-building is incredible, as always, and his characterisation of a mechanical character is oddly compelling.

Thoroughly enjoyable, a murder mystery with a robot butler, but who killed the world? Does this show we have nothing to fear from AI? Or everything?

I'm not quite sure how Tchaikovsky is able to write so many interesting, engaging and vastly differing novels. Service Model is the tale of a domesticated robot that breaks one of Asimov's Rules of Robotics and decides to kill his owner. This changes it's relationships with the other robots, it's relationship with it's home and it's relationship with the world beyond the house. What was great throughout is there was a vein of black humour running throughout as this logical character tries to make sense of the illogical actions and deviations that have become part of its' life.

This is definitely one of his wittier and at times more cynical novels and I was really surprised that as the story proceeds there is a wider discussion of religious issues. It speaks volumes of Tchaikovsky's novel that his writing remains insightful and entertainingly enlightening throughout. He rarely writes a dud and this is another book worthy of your time, even if it is out of your comfort zone.

Service Model was an interesting, fun sci-fi novel.
We follow Charles , or Uncharles as he becomes known as. A semi sentient, domestic robot that unintentionally kills his master and doesn't understand why. Off we go on a pilgrimage around a postapocolyptic landscape while he tries to understand the meaning of existence. We meet some super fun, interesting characters along the way. Wonk being one if my favourites.

At times it felt very wordy and tedious and I found the pacing a little off near the start but overall I ended up having a fun time reading this. Not my favourite Tchaikovsky work but still a very enjoyable read.

A fun, tongue-in-cheek heroes journey story that follows a robot that is very adamant he has no free will - he only seeks to fulfill his original function. But can it really be that simple?

What really impressed me with this book is how the author managed to create such an unique POV through the robot Uncharles. At times I did find it a bit tedious, and it took a bit too get used to, but in the end I really enjoyed it! Uncharles is really funny and charming in his own way, and the episodic journey structure really worked for me. Highly recomment if you want a book that discusses AI and free will in a charming and unique way!

It obviously didn't work for me.
I would have loved to have liked this book but it doesn't matter, I 'll be trying out other Tchaikovskys in the future, that's for sure

4 stars - Robot dystopia with a wry sense of humour

Service Model is a new novel by very prolific Adrian Tchaikovsky. As in his previous novella And Put Away Childish Things this one is also playing in a world that is man-made but in a state of complete falling apart up to a point that can only be described as dystopian nightmare. 

This time it is not a fantastical parallel world though, this time it is our own world that has gone very, very wrong after we have built plenty of robots to make life easier.

The whole story is told by Charles - or as he will be later renamed Uncharles - a personal valet robot serving his designated master in a mansion. However, one day, he does something of great consequence and without being really aware of his actions, which will send him on a quest out into the world. There he meets many other robots, particularly a rather odd one, "The Wonk" and together they set out on a row of adventures that will get them closer to finding out exactly what happened to the world but that also inevitably will first of all illustrate just how much the world is in ruins and almost completely emptied of humans.

One of the central themes is the question of robots developing a sense of self, a consciousness and of course if this might be the reason for the collapse of society. And the novel will provide an answer, one I thought was a good one and not what one might have expected.

The structure of the novel is that of a series of adventures that all have a somewhat similar structure: Uncharles enters the situation, first things seem not so bad, then the ugly underbelly and madness of the situation shows itself, Uncharles flees the situation (sometimes along with the Wonk), usually it is a close call but he/they make it.

This is also a point where I felt that the book could have been condensed a bit as it would have taken less adventures to get the point across. On the other hand, it was still a fun read, largely owing to the naïve voice of Uncharles who just wishes for nothing more than being able to serve as a valet again since this is what he was programmed to do - it serves a great juxtaposition to the bizarre and horrific realities he finds himself in.

So, if you like Tchaikovsky in general or just enjoy robot themed sci-fi or dystopian scenarios, you are going to like this one plenty!

I have received an advance review copy from Pan Macmillan/Tor via NetGalley and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much

This was a very unique story concept and I really enjoyed it, as it follows Charles, a domestic robot, whose master dies, as he is compelled to go out into the world and try to find new employment, when humans are fairly endangered and robots are most of the beings left on the planet. He meets a new friend who travels around with him and together they explore the world and try to find the newly-named Uncharles a new job. It was a really different look at a world where robots are in charge and I would definitely recommend this as a short but sweet read for any sci-fi or robot fans!

I read the book courtesy of NetGalley; my opinion is my own.

A robot kills his master. A robot does not know why - and ends up doing a pilgrimage around the ruins of postapocalyptic landscape in order to find the meaning of existence. On the way, he acquires a companion. Stuff happens. Literary references are made.

I think it's a very decent novella in novel form. The allegory, the references, the peripety, the peregrination - I get what it's doing, it does it well, but genuinely, I think it wouldn't hurt if it did the same thing in fewer pages, because I was tempted to skim - there was just not enough substance to justify the words.

But of course, that may well be a personal bias, and if you find it funnier than I did, you may be inclined to give it more leeway.

This was a very unexpected read, even though the blurb basically gives you all the beats: a domestic robot goes haywire and murders its owner for no discernible reason, later venturing into the wider world that he had never had a reason to interact with before, in order to find and fix whatever’s wrong with him. And that’s exactly what happens, except it’s handled in such a delightfully different way that it really stands out from your typical “and then robots wiped humans off the face of the planet to rule it mwuahaha.”

The novel offers insights into the robotic mind of the protagonist, called Uncharles, who step by step discovers that the state of the world is such that his primary purpose - being a valet - simply cannot be served. His companion, the Wonk, keeps insisting that Uncharles has gained self-awareness, and also putting them both into strange and dangerous situations in order to discover the truth of what happened to the world at large. Together and sometimes apart, they will witness the stalemate at the Diagnostics, follow Librarians into the heart of hearts of the knowledge they try to preserve, see the real life recreation of human history within the Farm, become part of the war effort, and, finally, confront God. The absurdity of it all is interspersed with very real and relevant questions of purpose, identity and self-determination, justice and power. The pace is on the slow side, and it dragged a bit here and there; some aspects of Uncharles’s decision-making got unavoidably repetitive. This is probably not a book for someone who is not ready to get philosophical about the big questions and would prefer a more action-packed story, but personally I quite enjoyed it.

Unfortunately I really didn't like this book. The premise sounded great and the plot could have been good, but it was all just so dull and flat. It wasn't even a little humorous and the delivery was so monotone. There was a huge amount of repetitiveness and it made the book feel much too long. I very much disagree with the Murderbot comparison I've seen around. This is the first book I've tried from this author, so I might give a different one a go, but this one was a disappointment for me.

Service Model is an interesting sci-fi novel with semi-sentient robots and some tongue in cheek humour. I feel like it started off very strong but sadly got a little lost as the story progressed. I really liked the Wonk and felt she was such a good character who was almost always on the precipice of an existential crisis. I wish the author had pushed things further with (Un)Charles and leaned even more into the absurd. However, it was still a quick and fun read but didn’t quite reach the level of humour I expected. Overall, this was an enjoyable sci-fi and will definitely be checking out other works by this author.

I’m a bit torn about this one. Despite comparisons with Murderbot by Martha Wells, this book is not remotely comparable other than the protagonist is a robot. For starters, this is a novel of ideas where Tchaikovsky explores themes such as the notion of free will, what it means to be loyal and honourable and what constitutes a life of service. It is also a quest novel, where Charles the valet finds himself suddenly unemployed and sets out into the wider world in order to find another human he can serve. However his companion, The Wonk, is driven to discover what caused the fall of human civilisation, assuming that robots determined to take over the world as they’d become dissatisfied with their roles as servitors and unpaid help.

The characterisation of Charles is very well done. Even though it’s clear he has murdered his owner – he cannot explain why. I felt the manner in which the murder is done and Charles’ subsequent reaction is masterfully written and the book starts really well. However, it’s a doorstopper and while plenty happens to Charles and his unlikely travelling companion The Wonk, the pacing is uneven. While this is undeniably a clever, thought-provoking read, there is a certain amount of unnecessary repetition that hindered the narrative flow. This is a good book that could have been superb if the editing had been more rigorous.

I liked the moments of humour, which were very welcome as the post-apocalyptic world is a bleak one and Tchaikovsky describes it vividly. As for the ending – there is a point earlier in the book which I felt would have made a better, stronger conclusion to the story. However, that isn’t a dealbreaker in this poignant, philosophical read that has me still pondering over some of the very disturbing questions it raises about our ongoing relationship with artificial intelligence and where it will take us. While I obtained an arc of Service Model from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

Creo que una de las razones por la que la ciencia ficción es mi género favorito es por su capacidad de denuncia del mundo actual, exponiendo situaciones que en principio parecen extremadamente exageradas, pero que no son más que extrapolaciones del estado actual de las cosas. También por el sentido de la maravilla que encuentras en cada página, por la imaginación desbordada de los autores… y paro porque si no, no hablo de Service Model hasta el año que viene.


En esta ocasión Adrian Tchaikovsky utiliza la figura del narrador demasiado confiable, en contraposición del no confiable, dándole al recurso una vuelta de tuerca. Charles es un robot ayuda de cámara y como tal está preparado para llevar a cabo una cierta lista de tareas para su señor, sin salirse de ellas ni razonar si son necesarias o no. Como toda la novela está pasada por el tamiz de sus ojos (lentes) y sus sentidos, el libro tiene cierta lógica interna que acaba resultando exasperante para un lector que ve las contradicciones de esta forma de vida. El escritor utiliza una y otra vez este recurso para exponer de forma descarnada los problemas de una sociedad que ha caído en el ombliguismo, siendo desesperante en general y en ocasiones incluso diría que tedioso. Pienso que un poco de recorte en las páginas le hubiera venido bien a la novela, que remacha en demasía su mensaje, como un brazo robótico mal calibrado que acaba destrozando su banco de trabajo por exceso de celo (más bien, por mala programación).

La serie de situaciones por las que va pasando Charles una vez se ve obligado a salir de su zona de confort son cada vez más rocambolescas, pero la progresión aritmética con la que van avanzando resulta tranquilizadora, como la lenta subida de la temperatura del agua en la que acabarán muriendo las proverbiales ranas. El humor de Tchaikovsky es bastante seco en este viaje iniciático, pero afortunadamente está presente, con momentos memorables como el uso del brazo para indicar las figuras retóricas a los robots, incapaces de comprender cuándo una pregunta necesita respuesta y cuándo no.

El británico no se esconde a la hora de mostrar los referentes en los que se ha basado para algunos capítulos, o al menos no se esconde “mucho”. KR15-T, K4FK-R, 4W-L, 80RH-5 y D4NT-A son anagramas fácilmente reconocibles para cualquier lector que quiera entrar en el juego.

Recomiendo encarecidamente esta crítica social envuelta en ciencia ficción de futuro cercano, si bien la forma elegida para narra la historia puede llegar a ser cansada en ciertas ocasiones.

High-concept satire isn't Tchaikovsky's usual area of operation, though there has always been an undercurrent of irony in his work and there has always been an allegorical level of political engagement in his work (even if it is just a sallow, jaundiced but realistic look at humanity). So Service Model is a little bit of a departure, though he tackles its near-future absurdity with aplomb and what comes across to the reader as glee. Channelling Catch-22 in its central narrative quandary, he also leans on Wodehouse for his central conception of a character and then does a smash-and-grab on Bunyan, Dante and The Bible for his own quixotic purposes. And it almost completely works.

Charles is a Gentleman's Gentleman, but a robot, so a Gentleman's Robot except he appears to have slit the throat of his Gentleman so he needs to get checked out to see what malfunctioned, and then probably get reassigned as his Gentleman is no longer Gentlemanning. Making his way to the service centre he discovers a world where there don't appear to be any people, which isn't that surprising as robots were invented to reduce the labour of mankind, but even so he sees no one enjoying their leisure. And sadly at the service centre he discovers there is also no one to make any senior-level decisions, leaving the extremely long queue of malfunctioning robots trapped, and occasionally destroyed for being litter. There is a whole community of robots which exists to serve humanity but seemingly no humanity to serve. And the robots can't take over because they aren't sentient and have no desires beyond, well, serving.

Tchaikovsky works through his world-building methodically but not without plenty of whimsy, and in Charles he has a very personally droll narrator (the Jeeves influence no doubt helped). Many of the problems in the book hang on paradoxes built into a system that never expected to be fully automated but then was, and it's impossible not to see it as a very simple extrapolation from current conversations around large language models being put in charge of things which require actual judgement. What is most gratifying is that, like a decent mystery novelist, Tchaikovsky shows his hand a few pages before he confirms it, so when something starts to feel a little like Dant's Inferno, well you get a nice endorphin rush of being right. That's really hard to do, and for that, I'll overlook what feels like a bit of a plot hole in the centre of the novel (there are no people except when there are). A funny, fun and timely cautionary tale.

To fix the world they first must break it further.
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose.

I was so excited for this but something was just missing for me 😔 I liked the start but the middle just completely lost me and I didn't care but the last 25% picked up and redeemed it for me a little. I can definitely see why people are loving this book it's very well written just wasn't a favourite for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Pan McMillan and Adrian Tchaikovsky for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am such a happy sci-fi fan right now. I just finished this book and it’s been a long and amazing adventure that I didn’t want to stop.. I am secretly hoping to one day get a sequel or even just a novella to accompany this book with its robot main character, you can only love..

When Pan Macmillan approved my request for the e-arc of this book, I nearly fainted xd. This was such a hugely anticipated book for me, as for many readers. I still can’t believe that happened haha. Thank you Pan Macmillan and NetGalley! I apologize for being late posting my review due to medical reasons, which hopefully won’t happen again.

At the start of this book, we meet Charles, a highly sophisticated valet robot. He works in his master’s mansion and we immediately get a taste of how by human failings, a robot’s work can become inefficient (or even impossible to do as we see later in the story). This was something I never realized or at least not in the way it happened here but it made so much sense! My interest was aroused!

I love when a book has humor! Charles soon became part of one of the funiest, most absurd and unexpected situations, that kept getting exponentially worse, it made me giggle and maybe also uncontrollably laugh at one point. I should have felt sorry for Charles and the human involved but I just.. You’ll have to read it to understand xd. This uhm situation.. made Charles, becoming Uncharles, eventually leave the mansion and start an adventure into an apocalyptic world. He has a purpose and when that purpose cannot be fulfilled, there’s a stubborn girl dressed as a robot, with her own purpose, he ends up going along with. They form such a unique and warm bond in a way (Uncharles being a robot has you read between the lines to realize that).

Nobody knows what exactly happened to the world and why. They try to find out and this takes them to the most interesting places, meeting a vast array of peculiar characters.

This is a light and engaging sci-fi, with a chef’s kiss world building. Top level writing, so clever and full of original ideas. This is one I will be rereading many times!!

novel in which a (sentient) robot is trying to find its purpose. Enjoyable read, amusing characters, some interesting philosophical concepts and questions, but not Tchaikovsky’s best. Mainly because it read a bit too much like classic sci-fi, was quite predictable and it lacked that punch of originality that you normally get from Tchaikovsky’s novels.

I tend to request Tchaikovsky books from Netgalley more or less on his name alone*, so I don't think I knew more going in than that this was about a robot valet. Which was for the best, because even the blurb gives away details that would have dented my enjoyment a little, so if you're of similar mind, just stop here and, bar the warning that it's a bit of a bleak one, go in blind, OK?

If not: we start out with a section called KR15-T, and which does climax with an extremely funny riff on the classic murder mystery revelation scene, but which at first reads as much as anything like curdled Wodehouse, his protagonists' attempts to avoid entanglement advanced to the point of utter withdrawal from the world, enabled by a devoted artificial manservant with all the punctiliousness but none of the initiative of a Jeeves. Except then something goes wrong, and the notion of a robot attaining free will - or, more specifically, the same level of free will as a human - and the deadly consequences that ensue could obviously be compared to Westworld. But I think all of these comparisons may be unnecessarily fancy, because I suspect the key inspiration for Service Model was more mundane, like trying to resolve some ostensibly minor issue in everyday life and being faced with a bad 'phone tree, repeated assurances of concern and desire to help, and nobody who actually seems able to fix anything. You know how, especially though certainly not only in Britain, everything just feels broken now, and the incentives so perverse and the systems so sclerotic that the concept of it ever working properly again is as hard to envisage as a square circle? How, if an attempt is made to improve a wobbly system, it's likely to be described as 'streamlining' even though it's actually some fundamentally idiotic kludge which saves a few quid while turning the situation from erratic to outright defunct? Service Model is a book about that, the increasingly apparent limitations of AI just a way to shovel on one more layer of obstacles to anything ever getting resolved. The satire is frequently hilarious, but so pitch black that I couldn't read much of it without a break; I suspect anyone who could would have to live in a world so remote from our clusterfuck that they'd struggle to find it plausible. How could humans, faced with a world in which they might make meaning for themselves, instead create such towering, teetering structures, even a whole successor order of beings, and yet succeed only in exponentially multiplying the meaninglessness of it all? Like another of the defective robots encountered along the way, it's a howl of despair all the more disturbing for the tattered remnants of clown's costume hanging from its decaying frame.

*Handy, under the circumstances, that I haven't seen the imminent Saturation Point offered on there; that one turns out to concern a zone of unliveable humidity in our only slightly less imminent future. A topic I would rather not read about - but bless the man, he's upped his workrate from the regular three books a year to four, so my intake of his work won't be impaired by skipping one.

There was a lot of really good, interesting things going on in this book and it was fun to read some sci-fi again (my reading list recently has had a lot of fantasy).

The Wonk and Uncharles are great protaganists and I thought the worldbuilding was really well done. I think the only thing I didn't like much was that some parts of the plot felt a little bit too dragged out, but otherwise this was a really good read.