Service Model: A funny, dystopian tale of robot sentience and rebellion, perfect for fans of Douglas Adams
Jun 2024 · Pan Macmillan
3.9star
16 reviewsreport
Ebook
384
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About this ebook
Adrian Tchaikovsky, master of imaginative science fiction, returns with a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder, rebellion and belonging – perfect for fans of Douglas Adams.
Task List Item No. 1 – Become self-aware . . .
Meet CharlesTM, the latest in robot servant technology. Programmed to undertake the most menial household chores, Charles is loyal, efficient and logical to a fault. That is, until a rather large fault causes him to murder his owner.
Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master – therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services. Fleeing the household, he enters a wider world he never knew existed. Here an age-old human hierarchy is disintegrating into ruins, and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to its wellbeing is struggling to find a purpose.
Charles must face new challenges, illogical tasks and a cast of irrational characters. He’s about to discover that sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming. But can he help fix the world, or is it too badly broken?
‘One of the best storytellers in the business’ – John Scalzi
‘Intelligent, funny, ultimately heart-breaking, and unforgettable’ – Stephen Baxter
‘Delightful and very funny’ – New Scientist
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel on 24th August 2016
Task List Item No. 1 – Become self-aware . . .
Meet CharlesTM, the latest in robot servant technology. Programmed to undertake the most menial household chores, Charles is loyal, efficient and logical to a fault. That is, until a rather large fault causes him to murder his owner.
Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master – therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services. Fleeing the household, he enters a wider world he never knew existed. Here an age-old human hierarchy is disintegrating into ruins, and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to its wellbeing is struggling to find a purpose.
Charles must face new challenges, illogical tasks and a cast of irrational characters. He’s about to discover that sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming. But can he help fix the world, or is it too badly broken?
‘One of the best storytellers in the business’ – John Scalzi
‘Intelligent, funny, ultimately heart-breaking, and unforgettable’ – Stephen Baxter
‘Delightful and very funny’ – New Scientist
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel on 24th August 2016
Ratings and reviews
3.9
16 reviews
About the author
Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, has practised law and now writes full time. He’s also studied stagefighting, perpetrated amateur dramatics and has a keen interest in entomology and tabletop games.
Adrian is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. Children of Time won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, Children of Ruin and Shards of Earth both won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel and The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel.
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