Thursday, March 20, 2025

Service model, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

I really loved this science fiction novel by British author Adrian Tchaikovsky. Humanity is in decline, and when a virus disrupts the work of most robots, the robot valet Charles murders his employer, then is set adrift on the world. Ordered to go to the Diagnostics Center, he walks for days until he locates the center, but along the way he observes how all the estates that he passes are run down, and the robots tending them are all dysfunctional. When he gets to the Diagnostics Center, he meets up with another robot and they team up to find appropriate work for Charles, who is now unemployed and who has been renamed Uncharles. What follows is a series of adventures as the two cross what appears to be a post-apocalyptic landscape with few humans left alive. Service model is a compelling and funny take on the human condition. The dialog between the two robots as well as others whom they meet along the way is both provocative and hilarious. I was completely entertained by this book and couldn't put it down. Each new situation that they encountered was outrageous but plausible, and the ending was both highly entertaining and satisfying.

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