Review – Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky





Tracing a line from the likes of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, Service Model is a clever piece of satirical sci-fi. Smart, well written and insightful, it’s an interesting, far future novel.



Introduced to Charles, a highly sophisticated, human-facing robot who is currently employed in a huge manor for a master who never travels, Service Model quickly introduces the premise around which the story is built; a far future full of automated robots and machines that serve humanity. However, something goes wrong one morning and Charles realises, with some prompting, that his master is no longer alive. When the police arrive, their own operating systems behaving in seemingly odd ways, it results in Charles being sent to Central Diagnostics, losing his position in the manor and his identity.



That journey reveals things about the outside world in stark contrast to the manor and Charles’ viewpoint. A perspective only further enforced at Central Diagnostics when he meets The Wonk. Whilst the whole system seems to have broken down, robots waiting for decades to be seen and a bureaucracy stuck in an endless loop of administrative problems, The Wonk appears to have autonomy. Convincing UnCharles to accompany them on a journey to discover the truth about what has befallen the world, the pair travel across a shattered and demolished landscape. Though what they find is nothing either expected; neither with meaning nor purpose.



Playing on the trope of the hero’s quest, Service Model looks at the apocalypse with a sideways glance. Told from UnCharles’ perspective, what is apparent is misunderstood and, in that sense, laid bare. The search for purpose through work, the terrifying prospect of freedom and its unlimited potential, the sense of identity predicated on productivity. Yet, it’s also described through its opposite; scathing descriptions of what human society was (is) like with its commutes and endless grind lifestyle.



The main thesis, however, is a discussion on advanced technology and it’s abuses. Considerations on the idea of cognitive dissonance and the theory of uncanny valley are sewn through the journey and it’s bizarre landscape. But, it’s more about the complex relation between technology and it’s human creators – how flaws are built in and how malicious compliance or restrictive parameters result in disturbing behaviour. But, more. For it also looks at how technology could be used to advance humanity and redefine social boundaries as opposed to using it to oppress and subjugate people further. It’s a complex discourse that looks to support free will whilst recognising human fallibility wrapped up in the context of advancing technology set in a post apocalyptic world gone mad through logic loops.



Adrian Tchaikovsky is an impressively articulate and intelligent author and Service Model is testament to that. Satirical and , at times, sharply critical, it’s an intriguing idea couched in a well written story.



Review copy



Published by Tor