By Adrian Tchaikovsky© 2024, Tor Books
373 Pages
ISBN 13: 978-1250290298
As I’ve come to expect from any Adrian Tchaikovsky book I read, Service Model was brilliant. Told with sensitivity, humor, humanity, and a touch of philosophical wonder, the story follows the personal development—inasmuch as a robot can expect to develop on a personal level—of Master’s personal valet unit designated Charles—later designated Uncharles—a top-of-the-line, human-facing robot designed and created with one purpose: to serve. But when Master is suddenly murdered through a mysterious chain of events that Charles (Uncharles) only understands at the very end of the book, Charles is shorn of his employment, his duties, even his name. Turned out into the shambles of human civilization known as the “outside world” and left to his own devices, Uncharles must find fulfillment on his own terms—not that “fulfillment” is something a robot can truly experience. (Or can they?)
Given his new moniker by a fellow traveler known only as the Wonk, Uncharles and Wonk travel together off and on throughout the story, stumbling into adventures (or misadventures) and surviving through cooperation and friendship (not, Uncharles would explain, that friendship is something a robot would understand). The main thread of the story is Uncharles’s search for a way to fulfill his purpose. Through prolonged exposure to the devastation present in every human city, Uncharles’s thoughts stray further from his original programming until he finds himself with an unexpectedly expanded decision tree, replete with options he would never have had access to before. The changes he undergoes from page one through the very last page make him absolutely relatable, the kind of protagonist readers love to root for.
There are elements here of ecofiction and dystopia, a true cautionary tale hidden within a real “hero’s journey” sort of tale. In addition, threads of philosophical quandaries weave through the story’s fabric—deep questions about Purpose and Meaning, especially behind the Big Stuff that happens outside our control. There is also a touch of Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells) in our view of the world from inside Uncharles’s head, as well as of Monk and Robot (Becky Chambers) in Uncharles’s adventures and personal growth (not that robots experience personal growth).
There is also humor, though not hilarity, in this book. More than anything else, though, there is humanity, sensitivity, and the search for understanding. Bad stuff happens to good people—good robots, too—but ultimately, Service Model is a story of hope in the face of societal collapse and a humanity on the brink of extinction.
If you love well-crafted science fiction stories told with grace, compassion, and unexpected twists, you’ll love this book. Most highly recommended.