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Service Model

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
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Publisher's summary

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

Critic reviews

“With humor, heart, and hope balancing out the decay, this glimpse of the future is sure to win fans.”—Publishers Weekly

What listeners say about Service Model

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Another banger from Tchaikovsky

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

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3 people found this helpful

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Quirky

An especially insightful story. Narration by the author was excellent. I imagine he was able to make the characters' voices match what he heard in his own mind.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fun story, great audio book

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.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

unique point of view.

Great story. lost me a little in the end game but overall satisfying and I loved the characters. Narrator was very good.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Get this book!

This audio book was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. If you're thinking about listening to it, just do it. You won't regret it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

more accurate ai than regular story ai

I really appreciate how the thought process of the ai's were not instantly personified for the sake of storytelling

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of his best!

Well written! I could not stop listening! Both the story and the performance were fantastic!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A bit sluggish

A great and creative idea for a story, but a bit sluggish and I just couldn’t get through it. I’ve loved other stories by this author and his narration is great, but just wasn’t excited by this one.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

profoundly meaningful

well written and performed by author
highly recommend for it's world building expanse and
phycology of characters displays inside for societal decisions

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wonderfully creative work

exceptional story plot with vivid characters and loads of humorous twists. well worth the effort.

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