From the jump, I found Uncharles extremely endearing as a robot in extraordinary circumstances. Each stage of his journey brought new characters, backstory, and world-building into view in a way that made me just want to know more. The Wonk was a great companion and foil for Uncharles, and even though I guessed the twist almost immediately, it felt like an instance of dramatic irony, not predictability. The narration by Tchaikovsky was so engaging, lively, and fun. I'll be recommending this far and wide, and I'm sure it'll make my end-of-year faves list.

Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio for this complimentary #promo audiobook! This book was FANTASTIC! I was transported back to reading Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide for the first time. The darkly funny humor of Charles/UnCharles was just great and between him and The Wonk I felt like C3PO and R2D2 were on a journey together. Soon it becomes clear that this is a Wizarc of Oz journey as well and just made for a wonderful adventure. Really loved this book and now I need to go get a physical book when it comes out next month!

This was an approved NetGalley audiobook ARC!
I really enjoyed this mash up of ideas, a mix between I,Robot and the depressed robot from Hitchhiker's Guide I felt is as close as I can describe this book! Full of circular conundrums, organizations, trying to disable our valet and companion and the meaning behind the world, why it becomes the way it does and about finding purpose.
I did find the whole thing a tad transparent, which is why it's not 5 stars but very enjoyable nonetheless. Also, if you pick up the audiobook Adrian seems very capable of wearing more than the writer's hat, he does a fantastic job at narration as well.

Funny, entertaining, and thought provoking.

I would say the “Murderbot” & “Red Shirts” association are warranted but less hilarious than a Scalzi novel - but not in a bad way.

This was its own book and I have to say I was likely swayed a little based on the truly excellent narration done by the author. Wow. So well done and really helped capture the heart of the novel.

And I do mean heart despite the robot protagonist.

I loved the exploration of Uncharles and how things wrap up after the rather shocking start. His journey was unique, wide spread, and intriguing. While it’s possible it could be a little slow while reading a physical copy, the audiobook negates a lot of that and is my recommendation for this read (if you like audio).

Note: Some language in this one.

My rating: 4.5*

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this gifted audio copy. All opinions are my own.

Robots?! Yes please.

This was a fun near futuristic look at a world post robot /AI popularity. Uncharles is a valet robot for a rich man, he knows he killed the man and knows how he did it but he doesn’t know why or what directive he would have been following-he goes on a journey to find out what happened and more importantly who he can valet for next.

I enjoyed this look at robots and what a world would look like with robots and if they took over to the point where some humans lost meaning in life and wanted to go to a time before robots. The logic and the round conversations between robots was very entertaining and annoying lol.

I really enjoyed the narration from the author and felt like it added a layer of exactitude to what he was conveying in the story.

Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan audio for an advanced listening copy of this book

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

I have no idea how to feel about this book. On the one hand, I felt the question of "why" quite a bit with regards to the story. But on the other hand, it left me wanting to know more. The world was extremely interesting as seeing it from the eyes of a robot, especially with the added in humor of how a robot sees the world in general. But I felt like the story started off really slowly for me and took me a while to really connect with any of the characters.

Once I did connect, I wanted to keep going and know more about them and the world. It was full of humor and depth all at once, and I really appreciated the balance between the two.

If you're a scifi fan looking for a fun read, this might be the book for you!

Adrian Tchaikovsky you are too smart for me! Sci-fi is not my go-to genre, but the premise of this story intrigued me. I have also heard great things about this author! This book was a little bit too technical for me and kind of repetitive (which was part of the point) but there was great humor laced throughout the story. The author did an amazing job narrating it himself. Tchaikovsky is an extremely skilled writer, and I think that was evident throughout the story. Although this book wasn’t my favorite, I would be very interested in reading one of his other books, Children of Time.

This book won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like sci-fi, Star Wars, Star Trek, any of that kind of stuff – this book is for you! I imagined the two main characters as R2-D2 and C-3PO the whole time 😂

This is a very funny book with a lot of comedy of manners and consideration of free will. I like the robot humor (very futurama). I however felt it had no heart. I found myself getting really bored with it.

In a world where humans are becoming extinct, we open this story following a robotic valet named Charles. Charles follows a very rigid task list. Everything is in its place. But this day is different. As Charles begins to do each of his tasks he begins to notice that something is just not right. Charles is noticing blood on everything he’s touched. When Charles becomes aware of the crime he’s committed he’s then thrusted into the world outside of the manor he’s tied to. As more and more of the world unravels around him he pushes to have his life go back to normal. But those days may just be a thing of the past.

This book is DELIGHTFUL. It is laugh out loud funny. If you love books like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Murderbot Diaries, or Good Omens this book is for you. I’ve noticed that I’ve become attached to books told from a robot’s perspective. This is quirky and fun but also a little ominous as it discusses the advancement of AI replacing humans in the very near future. All of the robot characters Charles comes into contact with make the story even more of a roller coaster. I can’t talk about this enough. I loved this book. Tchaikovsky’s narration of the book makes it even more of a delight. His inflection and nuance makes the story come to life. 5/5 stars. I will be reading this again in the future.

Thank you @netgalley @tordotcompub @macmillan.audio #partner for the gifted audiobook, eARC and physical copy of this book!

I fell in love with the last robot book I read (actually couple) and so I thought why not add this one to the mix. And a murdering robot at that?! Sign me up! 😂

We follow a domesticated robot who downloads a new idea into its core being. The idea? Well, that idea is to murder its owner. 😱 Once that happens the robot understands that it can almost think for itself and can now run away. What it discovers when out in the world is a dying human race and the robot world which was dedicated to making sure humans were at the top of their game. Now everything is changing!

I love the idea of robots gaining a conscious and thinking for themselves. Although the thought in real life is terrifying I do like it in a fictional book! The commentary between Charles (the good robot) and UnCharles (the murdering robot) was on point. I found myself chuckling a bit out loud at this dark sense of humor. I will say overall this book made me think about what it really means to be a human and of course the future of AI and robots. I am glad authors are writing about these topics and exploring the world of “what could happen”. It makes for a an interesting and intellectually stimulating ride! The audiobook definitely enhanced my reading experience and made me appreciate the humor and robots even more! I highly recommend giving it a try!

3.5 rounded to 4 stars.

Service Model is a heartfelt and amusing stand alone dystopian sci-fi novel about a robot named Charles/un-Charles who is trying to find new employment after he murders his master.

The novel takes place in a world in which humans became dependent on robot labor and service. Our protagonist Charles/un-Charles is placed in a perplexing dilemma when they unintentionally murder their master. Alone and with a desire to complete his tasks, Charles sets out to find a new master. Along the way Charles/un-Charles meets a companion dubbed the Wonk who is looking for answers as to what happened to humanity. It is clear from the start that humans are hard to come by ? Is it possible they're extinct? If they are what does this mean for the robots left behind who need human permissions to complete their tasks?

This is my first novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I've been eyeing his series, ' Children of Time' and after seeing he was coming out with a new novel , I thought this would be the perfect time to check out his writing.

I quite enjoyed Service Model. Some people are comparing it to Murderbot. Admittedly, Ive only read All Systems Red which I didn't fully enjoy. I found the pacing to be weird at times and Murderbot too self aware. That series is also set in space (or at least the one novella I read). Although in Service Model we do follow a quirky robot, this story is set on Earth and Charles/un-Charles is set on finding a new human to serve. Charles ACTUALLY wants to get his job done. He gets a satisfaction off of ticking items off of his list.

The tone of Service Model has quite the range. There are parts that are quite melancholy and other parts that are witty and laugh out loud funny. I personally also enjoyed the audiobook and Im glad this is the way I consumed this book. The narrator did an excellent job at capturing Charles's essence and persona.

I will definitely be reading Children of Time sometime in the near future.

I recommend Service Model to people who are looking for a cozy yet entertaining read. The plot is meandering although there is a quest at hand. If you don't mind taking a stroll with this funny and duty bound protagonist I think you will have a fun ride.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for an advanced reader of Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

As with his previous work, Tchaikovsky demonstrates a remarkable ability to write an inhuman protagonist with whom the reader can relate without the need to anthropomorphize their thought patterns. I have never seen this done as masterfully before and am continually in awe.

One impact of the use of a robot as our point of view character is that the narrative can believably introduce story elements whose meaning is obvious to the reader, but which completely pass over his head. This is an interesting mechanism I haven’t really seen done in a believable way before, so that frequently we have greater empathy with the goals and thoughts of the human he befriends.

It’s a super interesting concept for a book which is carried off well, succeeding at an engaging slow burn narrative. Like the best sci-fi, Service Model engages with interesting philosophical questions - in this case looking at the meanings of self awareness and personhood - in a fascinating way. I really can’t recommend this book enough!

Service Model is an odyssey through a crazy robot-dominated world, as a valet is cast out for cutting his house-bound master's throat and then has a surprisingly hard time finding other humans to serve - and not even hard for the expected reason of the whole killing thing. It takes great pains to look at how the cold logic of programming quickly becomes ridiculous without or with poor judgment as to how or when to apply or adapt it.
The apparent robot uprising does not seem to be the result of any robot agency, despite many attempts to establish that. The robots just keep doing what they were meant to do, and don't need humans to do anything or care if they get in the way.
All the while, UnCharles (the robot is stripped of his valet name but doesn't have the agency to give himself a new one) goes to great pains to deny any agency but also inexplicably deviates from the strict interpretation of his programming, while the author goes to great lengths to provide conditional emotions or agency to the various bots he meets, which makes it all the more surreal.
UnCharles' quest takes him to all types of hopeful areas, like a historical zone with humans living pre-robot lives, a Library collecting all human knowledge, "God," etc. -- and also altogether different areas, like a robot-on-robot perpetual war zone. Each of these visits go sideways through the robots robotting to the extreme, while UnCharles continues wandering through his following-not-following his programming.
A "robot" going by The Wonk meets him in Diagnostics and is convinced robots are getting agency like a virus, and that's why the uprising, but is it?
It's a very good premise, with some dragging on the repetition, but overall very thought-provoking on how/why the robots will overtake us and what that would be like, and if there's a narrative ther.e

What a fun and quirky read!! Highly recommend for fans of Murderbot, or even Wall-e… if you have sympathy for nonhuman, semi-sentient beings, you’ll adore Uncharles!!

A valet robot with a set of duties to be performed, a sense of wanting to be useful, and no master to take care of, he sets off on a journey to find a new master. The worldbuilding unfolds as you go and I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave it here. It’s highly enjoyable, and I was immediately sucked in. The author’s narration is excellent and audio is definitely the way to go with this one!!

This seriocomic novel addresses the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, in which humanity declines and robots ascend.

*****

Charles is a valet robot who's been serving his master, who resides in a swanky manor, for many years. Charles is performing his daily duties as usual, which include checking his master's travel arrangements, though his master hasn't ventured out for the past 2,230 days; setting out his master's travel clothes for the non-existent trip; and so on. Charles is also programmed to ask the majordomo about the lady of the house, and the majordomo replies, 'Charles, there has been no lady of the house for seventeen years and twelve days.'

Charles is detached about all this, and remains emotionless upon discovering that - this morning - he killed his master with a shaving razor. Charles promptly confesses to the crime and is ordered to present himself to a robot analysis complex. There the cyborg will go to Diagnostics - for investigation of his aberrant behavior; and then to Decommissioning - where he'll be retired. The valet is also stripped of his designation, Charles, and becomes an 'Undesignated Valet Unit' (UVU).

The UVU embarks on the long walk to the robot analysis complex and - along the way - observes an absence of humans. The UVU does see a non-functioning gardener robot, and a footman robot with green decay. It's clear something has gone wrong with society.

Upon arrival at the Diagnostics edifice, the UVU sees a VERY long line of robots that aren't moving at all. The UVU, determining it would take hundreds of years to get to the front of the line, walks past the automatons into the center. There the UVU meets an odd-looking unit he calls the Diagnostician. The Diagnostician is a defective cyborg who, unlike robots that can communicate 'online', relies on speaking and hearing. In any case, the Diagnostician renames the UVU 'Uncharles', and introduces itself as The Wonk. The Wonk insists Uncharles is infected with the 'protagonist virus' that permits him to have free will.

To cut to the chase, Uncharles and The Wonk embark on a kind of joint quest: Uncharles to find another valet position; and The Wonk to investigate the protagonist virus and discover what went wrong with humanity. Along the way the duo visit a series of places, including an underground habitat called 'The Farm' - which houses a group of people living without robots; and a facility called 'The Library' - which stores information.

Afterwards, Uncharles gets ethereal messages from an entity he calls God, who directs Uncharles to a demented family; and to a robot army. Whenever Uncharles and The Wonk are separated, Uncharles 'imagines' the advice he'd be given by The Wonk, which turns out to be very helpful.

The story builds to a dramatic action-packed climax.

The novel seems realistic about a world in which robots supersede humanity. In real life, scientists express concern about the risk artificial intelligence poses to society, but will people who deny global warning take the threat of AI seriously? Who knows?

Anyhow, this is a good book from a seasoned sci-fi writer. Read it for a laugh or a warning.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Adrian Tchaikovsky (the author), who does an excellent job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.

"Murderbot" meets "Wizard of Oz" - this was a fun, post-apocalyptic, robot-uprising, philosophical "what's the point" novel. There are many different "waves" of plot which was helpful for when one part starts to drag, suddenly new part! The Archives was my favorite (might be biased as an archivist). Uncharles and The Wonk are good characters, and the audiobook narrated by the author Adrian Tchaikovsky was brilliant.

This was a very interesting read. Not your typical robot vs humanity book we often see. I loved every bit of the main characters journey. Even though it was a bit slow a parts I couldn’t put it down. This writer did a fantastic job and I’ll be reading more of their books in the future.

Welcome to a world where the remaining robots seem to outnumber the remaining humans. The robots aren't evil, they are just doing the jobs they were programmed to do. Then along comes Charles, a valet robot who discovers he somehow, accidently, sliced his masters throat, without the programming or script to tell him to do it. What is a faithful servant robot to do? Well, probably go on a Wizard of Oz meets Goldie Locks and the Three Bears type journey.

Charles/ UnCharles must find his new place in the world where humans are limited and service is no longer as "in-demand" as previously. He also seems to have gained a bit of sentience or learning AI with the way his personality does progress and evolve through the story. the good thing about this book is that the robots are portrayed as robots. They are programmed and can only deviate from their programming on a minimal level. The times we do see them branch beyond their programming, is when they are able to make all the 0's and 1's mean something different to them to choose a different course of action.

I gladly give this book 5* with the sincere wish I had more antics to explore from this world. Maybe I am on a quirky book kick lately but this book gave me everything I wanted and a bit I didn't know I needed. I have to give my heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Tor books for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! I did get the audio book and it was incredibly well done. I will be doing an episode on myy YouTube channel to talk about all of the things I loved about this book soon.

There was so much to love about this book. It's witty and a in-depth view of humanity from a faulty robot. Reading this was lovely and fun - I fell in love with Tchaikovsky's work with children of time and have found myself reading all of his work since. Cannot wait for this to come out and see everyone's reactions..

A special thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This is an extremely difficult review. It gave off Candide, Catch-22 vibes both of which I enjoy. I think what I struggled with was the actual story. It was one random adventure after another with little progress. The difficult part was is this leans into the message of the book but I sometimes felt it was more a chore to finish. Maybe it should have been a little shorter. Definitely worth a read but definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.