So we’re going to interrupt our regularly scheduled #Blaugust programing because: the Hugo Awards were last weekend!

In years past, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to ‘keep up’ with them, by following recommendation lists online, dropping whatever else I was reading when the nominees list was published, and scrambling to finish whatever I could get my hands on before the big night.

Back in 2021, I actually nominated, voted, and attended said big night (wow I can’t believe it’s already been four years since that happened.)

This year — for no reason I can really pinpoint — I just didn’t do any of that. I think What Feasts At Night and Dune Part 2 were the only two things on the ballot I was even remotely familiar with.

Everything I’ve else I read, watched, or otherwise consumed that was published in 2024 was pretty far afield. Maybe The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, could have picked up a nomination. Or Impossible Creatures which just seemed to have sooo much hype behind it, but is kinda the wrong demo. I legit thought Your Shadow Half Remains would be on the ballot.

In any case, it was pretty sheer and random luck — at least from the standpoint of my own intentions; others may have been scheming — that my book club picked this one, and we happened to meet for discussion (ahem brunch) the day after the awards were given.

I’ll admit Service Model is my first Adrian Tchaikovsky read, but I know (and can now understand why) he’s held in such high regard by a lot of Hugo nominating fans, and appears frequently on the ballot (yeesh 3 times this year alone!). I don’t really have much of an opinion as to how he stacks up with this year’s novel winner as Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup did not ring any bells for me either before googling him and the book just now. I do recognize a few of Bennett’s other titles (Founders Trilogy, Divine Cities series) but have never read any of them. Certainly seems like a bit of a clash of titans this year to be sure.

In any case, now that I’ve managed to say absolutely nothing of any real insight about this year’s Hugo awards, let’s dive into what I thought of Service Model.

First things first, this book was way funnier than I expected.

The titles of his I’d heard of going in were from books like Elder Race, and Children of Time which — I haven’t read, so I’m likely wrong — don’t scream humor as their primary currency for enjoyment. The second title being about a civilization of space fairing arachnids also seems to imply a more serious tone to his work. After all, interstellar spiders are (for me) no laughing matter.

The inside dusk jacket compares the book to MurderBot Diaries and Redshirts (and Scalzi even blurbs the cover), and while I think the Martha Wells comparisons appropriate, I would argue that Uncharles (our beloved protagonist-bot) is different enough from Murderbot that the book does not really tread the same territory.

In fact, the comparisons I was drawing while reading were more along the lines of Ian M. Banks, or perhaps even Becky Chamber’s Psalm for the Wild-built (in that the story deals with living in a post-apocalypse, and examining what it means to be human through attempting to find out what it means to be a robot.)

Both Chambers and Banks make even better comparisons when we consider their aptitude for tackling deep and prescient concerns within their works. Likewise Service Model isn’t all just laughs and action, but includes various introspections into and critiques of things like capitalism, automation, and even the meaning of existence itself.

I think the following quote really displays the sort of perspective Tchaikovsky takes throughout the novel:

“Adapting his previous manorial schedule was easy enough, and if none of it was remotely applicable to his new master’s service — if Master was in fact not really aware that Uncharles was doing any of these tasks — that wasn’t the important thing. It was important that Uncharles have tasks to do, and that he did them, and then that they were done. That was the purpose of existence.” pg. 154

Bleak.

But weirdly, I think also something we have all felt at some point or another.

Another large section of the novel stuck out to me because its setting is something near and dear to me both personally and professionally, that setting being of course, the library. Another quote from early in the book:

“I mean the world is screwed, like we discussed, as evidence for which I present Exhibit A: the entire world. But maybe in the Library they know why. Maybe they even know how to fix it. Maybe they’re trying to fix it right now. Maybe we could help.” – pg. 106

From personal experience, we’re not paid enough for all that hahah.

I would love to have a candid chat with Tchaikovsky about his actual opinion of libraries because while this quote from the beginning of the story seems enthusiastic and supportive, some events later in the book (which I won’t spoil) make the whole operation seem rather silly and pointless. Also, for personal reasons related to my work in libraries, I’m just dying to know where the name King Ubot came from.

Finally, we can add Service Model to the (albeit slim) ranks of works of fiction which mention or contain a 3D printer. It’s just a throw-away line on pg 277, but it exists.

Give ‘Service Model‘ a Read?

Yup! For a first foray into Adrian Tchaikovsky’s work, I’m pretty pleased and excited about this one. And anxious to pursue more of his books when I get a chance. Service Model is humorous but also quite deep with themes surrounding automation, capitalism, and existentialism.

This book also spoke to me because of the prominent role libraries play within the story, and while I’m a little unsure of the overall opinion expressed by the text, I really enjoyed their inclusion.

What does everyone else think? Is this a good one? Should it have won the Hugo over The Tainted Cup? Why or why not? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. I’m looking forward to talking about this one!

See you next time!