ROBOTIC -UNSTUDENTS'- ROUSING : MASTER GLOBAL ESSAY

STUDENTS' ESSAY FICTION : A sci-fi novel with a robot as a protagonist is a sarcastic commentary on human society and the futility of human ambition.

The main character is a sophisticated robot - A SERVICE MODEL called Charles, built to interface with humans as a high class valet.

The story opens with Charles doing his daily chores and sealing with all the other robots that serve in the manor where his Master lives. The Master is never introduced as a character, yet he is central to the story.

Without any logic or prompt from his encrypted programme. Charles slits the throat of his Master while shaving him.

The robot does not understand what he has done and continues with his job until everything he touches is streaked with red. A closer look at the Master reveals what has been wrought and the doctor and police are called.

THAT is when Charles and the reader realise something is very wrong.

The robot police and doctor faithfully follow the programme encoded in their make-up. But the problem remains unaddressed.

Charles is forced to the conclusion that something is malfunctioning within himself and he sets out for help, which is known to be available at Central Services.

Tchaikovsky is to be recommended for admirably retaining the logic of the world he has created.

Page after page describes the scene that Charles sees as he treks to his destination. Everything follows the rules laid down by the author. The reader quickly realises that something is radically flawed with the land that Charles is traversing.

Charles himself does not understand the significance of what surrounds him. He just registers what he sees. To analyse the sights are not within his remit. His sole quest is to get fixed so that he can carry out his programmed purpose.

IN CENTRAL SERVICES and especially in Diagnostics, Charles is confronted with a strange circular logic.

No task can be completed because of rampant shortages created by human decrees and and the rules cannot be amended because of a dearth of human beings. Unending queues of robots requiring aid are formed outside every department.

Days and even years have passed in this way. All the office robots are labouring hard and following the dictates of their operating systems, yet all has ground to halt. The procedure failure is apparent to the reader but not to the robots.

It is in Diagnostics that Charles meets The Wonk, who becomes his friend. The Wonk gives him the name 'Uncharles' , since the Master who had christened him earlier is no more.

It is also The Wonk who saves him from sudden ' death'. Even though The Wonk wants answers and Uncharles merely seeks a Master, they decide to journey together.

Each stop on their odyssey only makes clearer that the world is seriously out of whack. The two end up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where meaningless, but never-ending, battles are being fought between warrior robots.

And it is here that, finally, some answers are forthcoming.

This Master Book '' Service Model '' By Adrian Tchaikovsky is a must reading for students.

The World Students Society thanks reviewer Rehana Alam, a Freelance writer, and author of the novel  The Tea Trolley.