Service Model

<p><b>Task List Item No.1 &ndash; Become self-aware . . .</b><br><br>Meet CharlesTM, 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.<br><br>Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master &ndash; therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services. Fleeing the household, he enters a wider world he never knew existed. Here an age-old human hierarchy is disintegrating into ruins, and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to its wellbeing is struggling to find a purpose.<br><br>Charles must face new challenges, illogical tasks and a cast of irrational characters. He&rsquo;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?<br><br><b>Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky</b><br><br><b>&lsquo;A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human&rsquo; &ndash; Patrick Ness<br><br>&lsquo;Dizzyingly inventive&rsquo; &ndash; <i>T</i><i>he Guardian</i><br><br>&lsquo;Tchaikovsky&rsquo;s world-building is some of the best in modern sci-fi&rsquo; &ndash; <i>New Scientist</i></b><br><br>Adrian Tchaikovsky's <i>Children of Time </i>won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel on 24th August 2016</p>