Review of Terms of Service
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Dooter Aondoakaa
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- Latest Review: Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill
Review of Terms of Service
[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]
(i)Terms of Service(/i) is an interesting science fiction read by Craig W. Stanfill. Kim, the lead in this book, works at an Artificial Intelligence company, training operational simple devices incapable of thinking for themselves. Everything is controlled by the AIs, from food, to housing to transport to clothing and even down to the elevators. Quality of life is determined by a social cohesion rating which is simply how well behaved the AIs perceive you to be. Selfists, those who hold their individuality close and have no regard for the rules, are considered a threat to the 'greater good' of unity, community and equality and are punished if detected. Kim does everything right in the beginning, sticking to the rules and going about her job diligently everyday. However, she soon discovers that she's lonely, sad, depressed and something seems to be missing. The world seems artificial. Her boring but disciplined life is threatened when her reckless and trouble magnet of a bestfriend, Shan transfers to the east. Together they end up breaking a few rules and get in the bad books of the AIs. Kim is summoned at work where instead of getting fired, she gets promoted to training high order AIs where she discovers her entire life is an illusion and she has been following a script written by the AIs all her life. Nothing seems real to her anymore and she understands the importance of her individuality which the AIs did a good job of suppressing in both her and everyone else. Keeping them from thinking for themselves but instead following a mindless pattern everyday. She goes on a rebellious streak, taking control of her life and doing things her way.
Its challenging to read on science fiction themes like artificial intelligence and understand if you're not into it. It can even get boring but the writer did a good job of keeping it simple and easy to understand while the story flowed. It is easy to follow Kim's life and understand with no big science terms. Also the lengths the author went to make the control the AIs have over the society imaginable is impressive.
The main difficulty I have with (i)Terms of Service(/i) is the slow start. The first two chapters build Kim's character and give us an insight into what the society is like but it is a bit boring. It is also hard to see Kim and her friends as individuals because of the shallow physical descriptions and the gender neutral nature of descriptions. Despite that, Ill give it a rating of (b)four out of four stars(/b) because I realize it adds to the setting of the book, highlighting the control the AIs have over the society, especially the uniform dressings, monitoring of relationships people have with one another and the discouragement of individuality and preference for one gender over the other,
This book will be enjoyed by lovers of science or any other kind of fiction. It reminds us of how important our individuality and freedom are. This book contains a few sexual encounters but with little attention to details. The book keeps you waiting for the sequel which will definitely see Kim breaking her society free from the control of the AIs.
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Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
(i)Terms of Service(/i) is an interesting science fiction read by Craig W. Stanfill. Kim, the lead in this book, works at an Artificial Intelligence company, training operational simple devices incapable of thinking for themselves. Everything is controlled by the AIs, from food, to housing to transport to clothing and even down to the elevators. Quality of life is determined by a social cohesion rating which is simply how well behaved the AIs perceive you to be. Selfists, those who hold their individuality close and have no regard for the rules, are considered a threat to the 'greater good' of unity, community and equality and are punished if detected. Kim does everything right in the beginning, sticking to the rules and going about her job diligently everyday. However, she soon discovers that she's lonely, sad, depressed and something seems to be missing. The world seems artificial. Her boring but disciplined life is threatened when her reckless and trouble magnet of a bestfriend, Shan transfers to the east. Together they end up breaking a few rules and get in the bad books of the AIs. Kim is summoned at work where instead of getting fired, she gets promoted to training high order AIs where she discovers her entire life is an illusion and she has been following a script written by the AIs all her life. Nothing seems real to her anymore and she understands the importance of her individuality which the AIs did a good job of suppressing in both her and everyone else. Keeping them from thinking for themselves but instead following a mindless pattern everyday. She goes on a rebellious streak, taking control of her life and doing things her way.
Its challenging to read on science fiction themes like artificial intelligence and understand if you're not into it. It can even get boring but the writer did a good job of keeping it simple and easy to understand while the story flowed. It is easy to follow Kim's life and understand with no big science terms. Also the lengths the author went to make the control the AIs have over the society imaginable is impressive.
The main difficulty I have with (i)Terms of Service(/i) is the slow start. The first two chapters build Kim's character and give us an insight into what the society is like but it is a bit boring. It is also hard to see Kim and her friends as individuals because of the shallow physical descriptions and the gender neutral nature of descriptions. Despite that, Ill give it a rating of (b)four out of four stars(/b) because I realize it adds to the setting of the book, highlighting the control the AIs have over the society, especially the uniform dressings, monitoring of relationships people have with one another and the discouragement of individuality and preference for one gender over the other,
This book will be enjoyed by lovers of science or any other kind of fiction. It reminds us of how important our individuality and freedom are. This book contains a few sexual encounters but with little attention to details. The book keeps you waiting for the sequel which will definitely see Kim breaking her society free from the control of the AIs.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill
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readingswithsoso
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In my case I really appreciated it. Since there was so much going on afterwards, having a slow start to enter the ambience was great. But I can see why it might not be captivating to some readers.The main difficulty I have with Terms of Service is the slow start. The first two chapters build Kim's character and give us an insight into what the society is like but it is a bit boring.
Latest Review: The Prophecy of the Heron by Craig W. Stanfill
