Review of Terms of Service
Posted: 18 Mar 2023, 18:14
[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]
Terms of service by Craig W. Stanfill shows a dystopian world for future humanity. The book is set 250 years into the future and follows the life of Kim. Kim works for the AI company. For each service there is only one company, for example, the food company and the transport company, and each has their own “Terms of service”. Kim, for the most part, lives an unremarkable life following the rules of society and companies. She goes to work, attends dances and baseball games, meets with friends and goes on dates. Most of which occur in the virtual reality created and controlled by the AI company. All of this changes, however, when her high school friend moves back to the city, and what was supposed to be a relaxing bike ride changes Kim's life dramatically. Kim has to face the reality of the rules imposed by the companies and how things are really run.
The book was said to have been slow to start, and although I agree the first few chapters are slower than the rest of the book, the life Kim leads is intriguing enough to keep you reading. I very much enjoyed this book and found myself not wanting to put the book down. Although this is a dystopian novel, it doesn’t feel too out of the realm of possibilities. Many similarities can be drawn between the book and real life. The reliance on technology is just one example. Within life we have easy access to a varied number of resources. Sat nav, the news, mainstream media, the ability to talk to others in real time and many more are just a few examples of what is readily available on smartphones. This is comparable to the book except, instead of smartphones, each citizen has a headset connecting them to each company that covers these resources.
The main thing I found I didn’t like about the book was that everyone is referred to as she or her, as society focuses on inclusivity. Although I found the point of this very interesting, it did make it difficult to sometimes picture the characters if no further descriptors were provided. I also felt there were a lot of questions that weren’t answered; throughout the book past events are frequently mentioned, however not much information is given about them and you are left wondering. Hopefully, these questions will be answered in the sequel, which I definitely intend to read.
Overall, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I very much enjoyed the author's take on a dystopian future and I’m excited to see where the story goes in the sequel.
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Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Terms of service by Craig W. Stanfill shows a dystopian world for future humanity. The book is set 250 years into the future and follows the life of Kim. Kim works for the AI company. For each service there is only one company, for example, the food company and the transport company, and each has their own “Terms of service”. Kim, for the most part, lives an unremarkable life following the rules of society and companies. She goes to work, attends dances and baseball games, meets with friends and goes on dates. Most of which occur in the virtual reality created and controlled by the AI company. All of this changes, however, when her high school friend moves back to the city, and what was supposed to be a relaxing bike ride changes Kim's life dramatically. Kim has to face the reality of the rules imposed by the companies and how things are really run.
The book was said to have been slow to start, and although I agree the first few chapters are slower than the rest of the book, the life Kim leads is intriguing enough to keep you reading. I very much enjoyed this book and found myself not wanting to put the book down. Although this is a dystopian novel, it doesn’t feel too out of the realm of possibilities. Many similarities can be drawn between the book and real life. The reliance on technology is just one example. Within life we have easy access to a varied number of resources. Sat nav, the news, mainstream media, the ability to talk to others in real time and many more are just a few examples of what is readily available on smartphones. This is comparable to the book except, instead of smartphones, each citizen has a headset connecting them to each company that covers these resources.
The main thing I found I didn’t like about the book was that everyone is referred to as she or her, as society focuses on inclusivity. Although I found the point of this very interesting, it did make it difficult to sometimes picture the characters if no further descriptors were provided. I also felt there were a lot of questions that weren’t answered; throughout the book past events are frequently mentioned, however not much information is given about them and you are left wondering. Hopefully, these questions will be answered in the sequel, which I definitely intend to read.
Overall, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I very much enjoyed the author's take on a dystopian future and I’m excited to see where the story goes in the sequel.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes