Service Model cover art

Service Model

A funny, dystopian tale of robot sentience and rebellion, perfect for fans of Douglas Adams and shortlisted for Best Novel at the 2025 Hugo Awards

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Service Model

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
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Task List Item No. 1 – Become self-aware . . .

A witty tale of robotic murder, rebellion and belonging from the master of science fiction, Service Model is perfect for fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Brilliantly performed by the author, Adrian Tchaikovsky.

‘Intelligent, funny, ultimately heart-breaking, and unforgettable’ – Stephen Baxter

Meet Charles™, 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 world he never knew existed. Human hierarchy is disintegrating, 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?

‘Entertaining and thought-provoking . . . Tchaikovsky does an excellent job narrating’ – IGN

‘One of the best storytellers in the business’ – John Scalzi

‘Delightful and very funny’ – New Scientist

Shortlisted for Best Novel at the 2025 Hugo Awards

 Dark Humour Dystopian Humorous Literature & Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Satire Science Fiction Witty Funny
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Critic Reviews

Intelligent, funny, ultimately heart-breaking, and unforgettable (Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima)
A wonderful examination of the pitfalls of AI and a plausible prediction of the collapse of mankind . . . A fabulous read, as I have come to expect from one of our finest sci-fi and fantasy authors (James Oswald, author of the Inspector McLean series)
Picking up an Adrian Tchaikovsky book is proof you love your brain and want it to be happy (John Scalzi, author of Starter Villain)
Brilliant science-fiction and far-out world-building (James McAvoy, actor (Split, X-Men: First Class))
One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction (Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon and Fractal Noise)
[Adrian Tchaikovsky] writes incredibly enjoyable sci-fi, full of life and ideas (Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go)
Unfolds like a brilliant, horrific game of Clue . . . very clever world-building
A funny, allegorical science fiction about the end of humans and the rise of robots . . . entertaining and thought-provoking
All stars
Most relevant
I love the lead characters Un-Charles and the Wonk in a post-apocalyptic landscape as inventive as Alice in Wonderland with a dash of PG Wodehouse. The underlying thoughts about society, capitalism and justice never block the humour or clog the narrative and that is due to the wonderful writing and tone.

Darkly Funny and Thought Provoking

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Love Adrian's stories, but his narration volume is inconsistent and so one second I'm straining to hear what is being said, and the next it's blaringly loud. Also his 'S's whistle and pierce. Not a comfortable listen

Poor narration

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This is a story of the travails of a robot personal valet after the collapse of human civilisation through greed and selfishness, amplified and accelerated by advances in robotics. Its sardonic humour can occasionally seem too heavy, and at times the logic is somewhat overstrained, but these occasional lapses are more than compensated for by the brilliant performance of the author himself as reader.

A darkly humourous tale of the pitfalls of blind logic

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honestly took me back to when I first read hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy. love it

one of the best listens I've had in a while

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I demand a Murderbot/(un)Charles team up. In between trying to make sense of human behaviour they can make cups of tea and watch soup operas together. This is a fun book about our relationship with technology and the nature of free will.

That was really good.

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