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Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Service Model
4/5. A robot butler discovers that he has, to his surprise, murdered his master. This sends him on a journey out of a secluded estate and into an apocalyptic landscape.
I think Tchaikovsky is in something of an experimental period. There’s just been a lot of playing with styles, modes, voices. This one seems to be a bit controversial, but did land with me. Other reviewers have reached immediately for Murderbot as a foil; I think yes, not wrong, but Azimov is more right.
What I liked about this was how it subverted my expectations for this kind of story – a hero’s journey for a robot who does not credit itself with personhood. This book is kind of about not being that, and a lot about what work is, and what fulfillment is, and a lot a lot about the “AI revolution,” definitely in skeptical quotes here. It’s topical without being didactic, farcical without annoying me (imagine that), and quite accomplished as a stylistic piece. Not everyone will like it, but I did.
4/5. A robot butler discovers that he has, to his surprise, murdered his master. This sends him on a journey out of a secluded estate and into an apocalyptic landscape.
I think Tchaikovsky is in something of an experimental period. There’s just been a lot of playing with styles, modes, voices. This one seems to be a bit controversial, but did land with me. Other reviewers have reached immediately for Murderbot as a foil; I think yes, not wrong, but Azimov is more right.
What I liked about this was how it subverted my expectations for this kind of story – a hero’s journey for a robot who does not credit itself with personhood. This book is kind of about not being that, and a lot about what work is, and what fulfillment is, and a lot a lot about the “AI revolution,” definitely in skeptical quotes here. It’s topical without being didactic, farcical without annoying me (imagine that), and quite accomplished as a stylistic piece. Not everyone will like it, but I did.