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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
I just couldn’t get on board with the writing style. The novel felt weirdly dense to me because of it. I think this is because the robots all speak in a monotone tone and repeat sentences (of course, they’re robots), there’s very little interaction in certain segments but there are many environmental descriptions. The setup in each segment is the same as well, which doesn’t help. There were some fun jokes and character moments, and I bet the setup means it’ll work great as a tv-show. I personally just couldn’t get into it.
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky was a fun and yet thoughtful read.
I am a big fan of non human characters, ever since I first encountered Mr. Data - and this book obviously has a ton of them!
The main character is a fancy valet, who goes on a quest to find new employment, after unintentionally killing his master. Only the world outside the manor is no longer as he expected, and finding humans to serve is quite the task, and an adventure.
Not that a robot would care for adventure, they just do as they are told, but what if there is no one to tell you?
I enjoyed this journey through a broken world, full of quirky and weird AIs, robots and accidental adventures.
While it is funny and entertaining, it also has quite a bit of depth, wondering what being human actually means, and what it needs to be self aware and have consciousness. It also sheds a light on human society and how we tend to break things instead of making them better.
I really enjoyed the mix and will miss my time with Uncharles and The Wink!
I am a big fan of non human characters, ever since I first encountered Mr. Data - and this book obviously has a ton of them!
The main character is a fancy valet, who goes on a quest to find new employment, after unintentionally killing his master. Only the world outside the manor is no longer as he expected, and finding humans to serve is quite the task, and an adventure.
Not that a robot would care for adventure, they just do as they are told, but what if there is no one to tell you?
I enjoyed this journey through a broken world, full of quirky and weird AIs, robots and accidental adventures.
While it is funny and entertaining, it also has quite a bit of depth, wondering what being human actually means, and what it needs to be self aware and have consciousness. It also sheds a light on human society and how we tend to break things instead of making them better.
I really enjoyed the mix and will miss my time with Uncharles and The Wink!
This book is all over the place. It starts off super strong and ends in a deeply boring way. Uncharles' journey is a series of loosely connected vignettes about humanity, cruelty, kindness, corporations, ai, and many other sci-fi concepts. The best bits are the comedy of failing systems trying to work with one another and effectively failing because the specificity of robotic construction acts as a level of bureaucratic red tape to confound Uncharles. Who, to be honest, is quite frustrating in his naivety. He reminds me in many ways of Candide, who goes on a journey of self-discovery but never moves beyond his initial program or fulfills the book's promise of becoming more than he was programmed to be. This ultimately leaves the reader wondering if the whole point of this is that we shouldn't try to be more than what we are told to be.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The beginning was great. The computer logic was entertaining. The ending was okay but it felt too short. It's an easy read but disappointing in terms of expectations from the author. Not his best by far but still a fun read.
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This book was very funny, the dialogues between robots were well done, and the prose delivered. I liked the more reflective/philosophical parts of the book, but unfortunately the pacing could have been improved. The first 100 pages are very slow (which is more than 25% of the book). Some of the discussions between robots were also repetitive.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced