Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I would like to thank Tor UK and Black Crow PR for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Tor

Published – Out now

Price – £22 hardback £11.99 Kindle eBook

Task List Item No. 1 – Become self-aware . . .

Meet Charles™, the latest in robot servant technology. Programmed to undertake the most menial household chores, Charles is loyal, efficient and logical to a fault. That is, until a rather large fault causes him to murder his owner.

Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master – therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services. Fleeing the household, he enters a wider world he never knew existed. Here an age-old human hierarchy is disintegrating into ruins, and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to its wellbeing is struggling to find a purpose.

Charles must face new challenges, illogical tasks and a cast of irrational characters. He’s about to discover that sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming. But can he help fix the world, or is it too badly broken?

The robot has a long and fascinating history in SF. Now it is the concept of drones and AI taking jobs, controlling media and taking roles but robots have also been the cold logical enemy of the human spirit often outwitted by our superior craftiness and right at the start in Rossum’s Universal Robots the concept of artificial beings created to replace us as workers. In Adrian Tchaikovsky’s magnificent science fiction novel Service Model we have a tale that with a unique central character explores all the concepts of robots and at the heart makes us also look at being human.

Charles is the perfect valet. Loyal, efficient and never stops a huge advantage that being a service model robot. Part of a luxury manor household Charkles is part of the House’s endless tasks and yet something is not quite right. Thd Master of the house seems very quiet, the same orders exist endlessly, and Charles has a bad memory of a shaving incident. Charles is a murderer, but he has no idea why. Cast out of the House Charles now named UnCharles finds himself in a world of chaos, humanity has ended, and robots are not yet sure about the future.

This is a fascinating story almost a meditation on what robots mean to us and how they reflect humanity. This is not a tale of massive robot versus human battles this is the aftermath where the world is shattered. Tchaikovsky has built a novel out of five movements each has a unique adventure tackling a long-term theme of what we have with robots. At the heart is UnCharles nota hero but an everyman and decidedly not a rebel. UnCharles seeks purpose; their entire desire is to serve a human as a valet and without that what is left for them to do? He meets a more eccentric robot named The Wonk who tells him robots have been infected with the Protagonist Virus that makes those with the virus act as if they are self-aware. A thought that horrifies UnCharles and so he tries to find employment inaw old that doesn’t really know the benefit of a civilised cup of tea and well ironed clothes.

There are two key themes. One if very much exploring what are robots in a science fictional world. We have at the start almost a playful murder mystery with the Manor Household, Uncharles and two very strange robotic detectives trying to work how the Master was murdered. There are hints of Asimovian rules here and here though the rules of logic are not aiding detection as you would expect. From there we move to UnChrales seeking Employment with a sinister human workcamp; seeking the mysterious weaponised Librarians and humans who live in battle-ruined worlds. Robot soldiers need to be faced and even the Almighty who calls to UnCharles from afar. Robots as servants, knowledge repositories, soldiers and even the new religion. But each time get we unique spins on these robot archetypes and in many ways Tchaikovsky undercuts the traditional stories in unexpected ways. The worlds here are more grotesque fascinatingly logical and illogical at the same time UnCharles seeks a simple quiet life and a place to fit in but each offers danger and puzzlement. UnCharles tells the Wonk he is not self-aware just programming and seeking his purpose but as we read his reactions we start to ponder if that is the case.

The other subversive theme also speaks to the history of robots in the genre. A constant theme is humans and work. Robots are seen as the solution – make our lives easier. But what is our own relationship to work. UnCharles exists to work; their work is all they want nothing else…in theory. Of course, we humans would never be obsessed with our work, would we? We even get a Swiftian satire of a Human Conservation Camp run by a friendly government (with a nice tree logo just to note) that runs captive humans through high-speed commutes, terrible jobs and squashed living conditions. This life their controller praises may feel worryingly familiar to today’s readers. This gets back to the original robot tales and today’s discussions on is enhanced AI an improvement or the downfall. We get regular discussions with The Wonk and Uncharles exploring what led to humanity’s destruction – tech bros? hackers? But Tchaikovsky has a beautiful and yet terrifying cause one that links neatly to humans, robots and work and how thjose lines are so blurred.

As well as these creative set pieces and the thematic discussions I also must praise the writing. Tchaikovsky continues to be an author who can adapt their narrator voice top fit the story. Its third person voice here it quite polite, wry and the language suits UnCharles butler style persona. Almost a Remains of the Day style narrative but this time in a near future apocalyptic wasteland. The juxtaposition of tone and sites really works very well It underlines that this is less action adventure and more thoughtful story exploring big themes.

Service Model is a fascinating chewy read. The episodic nature makes each section has a different feel and subject to examine but the pieces all come together to create something rather brilliant with an examination of our own world. Tchaikovsky is on a golden streak at the moment and this is very strongly recommended!