Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Jul. 11th, 2024 10:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lightreadsService 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.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-11 07:31 pm (UTC)That sounds delicious — I’ve been waiting for a Tchaikovsky without spiders: would this be a good starting point?
no subject
Date: 2024-07-11 10:53 pm (UTC)I think so. There are a few descriptions of robots with insectile shapes because he cannot help himself, but I do not recall any actual giant spiders or the like.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-12 02:27 am (UTC)This sounds like absolutely my sort of thing!