Frank Burns reviewed Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Ended up a DNF
3 stars
Still giving it three stars as it is Tchaikovsky but this was a slog for me. Sorry, Adrian.
Hardcover, 376 pages
English language
Published June 4, 2024 by Tor Books.
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose.
Still giving it three stars as it is Tchaikovsky but this was a slog for me. Sorry, Adrian.
This is one of the ones you can tell he had fun writing.
The tone is all across the spectrum, from farcical to bleak to heartwarming, and the writing is characteristically delightful, with lots of flippant throwaway lines.
I love that @[email protected] got a well-deserved mention in the acknowledgements.