Service Model Audiobook By Adrian Tchaikovsky cover art

Service Model

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Service Model

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
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Long-listed, Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2024

This program is read by Hugo Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time.

To fix the world they must first break it, further.

Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service.

When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away.

Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.

Sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.

©2024 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2024 Macmillan Audio Science Fiction Humorous Robotics Murder Adventure Thought-Provoking Technology Witty Funny Crime Hard Science Fiction

Critic reviews

“With humor, heart, and hope balancing out the decay, this glimpse of the future is sure to win fans.”—Publishers Weekly
Philosophical Depth • Witty Humor • Excellent Character Voices • Thought-provoking Themes • Unique Perspective

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Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of the best sci-fi writers in the business today. Every one of his books is utterly unique, promising you won't ever get the same experience twice. Service Model might be written off as a light hearted sci-fi romp, and it is, but where it differs from other recent light hearted tales *cough* Starter Villain *cough* is that it actually has quite a lot to say. I found myself laughing just as much as I found myself saying, "huh..." in a hand-to-chin contemplative manner. Is the book preaching about the evils of modern society? Maybe...? Is it poking fun at the current political and socioeconomic issues that currently divide society? Also maybe. At its core, is it a funny and ridiculous snd sometines sad tale about a robot trying to find his place in the wasteland of a fallen civilization? Definitely.
The science fiction may not be as engrossing as his Children series, and the humor may not reach quite the riotous level of laughter (for me anyway) of his Tyrant Philosopher series, but this is a worthy notch in the belt of a great story teller.
4/5

Another banger from Tchaikovsky

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Read by the author... I'm always skeptical, but after reading, I'm honestly impressed. It's clear Adrien has talent for this, and I quickly forgot I was listening to the author as the characters came to life. I loved the concept, the characters, the real feel of the world in this post apocalyptic sci Fi story. It's story doesn't find some perfect clean conclusion or anything, but I think that's ok, it was fun.

Fun story, great audio book

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The world building was fantastic. Characters are wonderful, Douglass Adams references abound. This is an excellent book for somebody missing additional Douglas Adams works. This is my first experience with this author and as a result of it, I will be exploring additional titles of his.

HHGG reminiscent

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Feels like something written during the 60s or 70s in the best way possible. Doesn't cover new topics, but it does examine AI, robotics, sci-fi tropes in an entirely new perspective. Tchaikovsky keeps the memorable hits consistently, fantastic narration by him as well

instant classic

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I won't give away any details by saying this but the robot character is quite endearing. the author does a good job of providing entertainment while also pointing a spotlight at many societal challenges and encourages consideration by the reader. 👍

a lovely cup of tea

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