Paperback, 373 pages
English language
Published May 20, 2025 by Tor.
To fix the world they first must 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 their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose.
Service Model reminds me of Tchaikovsky's Dogs of War.
Written for a very novice sci-fi audience, every concept is explained in exhaustive detail and in first person. which turned out to be a very convoluted way of conveying the sciencefictional idea behind the novel that the experienced reader got early on.
I got through about 30% of the book and gave up.
This one starts out slow and repetitive, and I almost stopped early on. But I’m glad I didn’t and pushed through. Service Model is part parable, part “be yourself” even if all you want to do is serve tea and fold shirts through a series of unfortunate events during the collapse of humanity.
