Review of Terms of Service
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Killerfiend
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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.]
Don’t stand out. Keep your head down. And always mind the Terms of Service, no matter how unjust they seem. Kim knows her place in the world: her whole career has been based on reporting whoever breaks the law, or, in other words, breaks the Terms, to Artificial Intelligences.
Kim doesn’t understand how people can be so selfish. The Companies take good care of everyone, in exchange for something as trivial as our individual freedom. Why do so many choose to disobey them? Why do so many think they have the right to choose how to dress, what to eat, or who to spend the night with? Why should they fight the Companies? It is much easier to let them rule over our lives: if you are a good worker, you shall be rewarded. Kim knows this and likes her life. She doesn’t love it; she just likes it. The drugs, the bottles, and the wild parties that the Companies so kindly provide her with are enough to live on a day-by-day basis. And that is fine. Cause this is how her life is supposed to be. Or is there anything more?
Terms of Service, by Craig W. Stanfill, catapults the reader in a fascinating dystopic reality ruled by heartless corporations who use their Terms to dictate every facet of human life, even before contraption. Such a reality is brought to life by Stanfill’s outstanding writing: Kim’s world is colorful and full of frantic dances and bright 3d simulations. It’s a world full of wonders such as Artificial Intelligences, holograms, and technological miracles, and yet it is dull and void. It’s a façade, that uses its distractions to enslave people into subservience. A façade that Kim can’t help but see through, no matter how hard she tries to deny it. Stanfill fills every page with gorgeous depictions that always reveal a tiny detail of the people living in them. To put it in other words, the author has played close to the heart the core rule that every good writer should mind: show, don’t tell.
Kim is the hero the reader can’t help but cheer for. Her character is initially tragic, flawed, and pathetic. She’s just a human put against an impossible foe: the cruel and powerful Companies. Her slow acceptance of the cruelty and injustice which constitute her world is the highlight of the book, and it is developed naturally, without any plot contrivances or favoritism. I loved that the Companies maintain their aura as a fearsome entity till the end: they are supposed to be a faceless, omnipresent, and omnipotent Orwellian-like superpower, and the writer never forgets that or gives his characters a special pass on occasion to get them out of trouble. In Terms of Service, every action has its consequences, therefore every character needs to tread lightly to avoid the Companies’ watchful eye, but never manages to get rid of their frightening presence.
I just found some minor issues in this book, for example the use of modern terms (such as LOL or OMG), which feels a tad anachronistic and inappropriate at times, and the character of Shan, which is inserted quite abruptly in the narration, despite it having a strong connection with Kim and being the ultimate reason for her metamorphosis and personal growth.
I can’t stress enough how much I liked this book: the style is simple but never dull, the descriptions are gorgeous but never unnecessary and, most importantly, it has a good main character and a good plot. For all these reasons, I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
I strongly recommend this book not only to every sci-fi enthusiast, but also to every young reader who’s looking for a story set in a dystopian future that is not a coming-of-age drama in disguise. It’s possible that some elements of this book could be misinterpreted as being used to hide a political agenda, such as the choice of using female pronouns to refer both to male and female characters, but the author manages to play with them in a very clever way, using them as tools to enforce concepts and ideas about consciousness and sense of self identity. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Don’t stand out. Keep your head down. And always mind the Terms of Service, no matter how unjust they seem. Kim knows her place in the world: her whole career has been based on reporting whoever breaks the law, or, in other words, breaks the Terms, to Artificial Intelligences.
Kim doesn’t understand how people can be so selfish. The Companies take good care of everyone, in exchange for something as trivial as our individual freedom. Why do so many choose to disobey them? Why do so many think they have the right to choose how to dress, what to eat, or who to spend the night with? Why should they fight the Companies? It is much easier to let them rule over our lives: if you are a good worker, you shall be rewarded. Kim knows this and likes her life. She doesn’t love it; she just likes it. The drugs, the bottles, and the wild parties that the Companies so kindly provide her with are enough to live on a day-by-day basis. And that is fine. Cause this is how her life is supposed to be. Or is there anything more?
Terms of Service, by Craig W. Stanfill, catapults the reader in a fascinating dystopic reality ruled by heartless corporations who use their Terms to dictate every facet of human life, even before contraption. Such a reality is brought to life by Stanfill’s outstanding writing: Kim’s world is colorful and full of frantic dances and bright 3d simulations. It’s a world full of wonders such as Artificial Intelligences, holograms, and technological miracles, and yet it is dull and void. It’s a façade, that uses its distractions to enslave people into subservience. A façade that Kim can’t help but see through, no matter how hard she tries to deny it. Stanfill fills every page with gorgeous depictions that always reveal a tiny detail of the people living in them. To put it in other words, the author has played close to the heart the core rule that every good writer should mind: show, don’t tell.
Kim is the hero the reader can’t help but cheer for. Her character is initially tragic, flawed, and pathetic. She’s just a human put against an impossible foe: the cruel and powerful Companies. Her slow acceptance of the cruelty and injustice which constitute her world is the highlight of the book, and it is developed naturally, without any plot contrivances or favoritism. I loved that the Companies maintain their aura as a fearsome entity till the end: they are supposed to be a faceless, omnipresent, and omnipotent Orwellian-like superpower, and the writer never forgets that or gives his characters a special pass on occasion to get them out of trouble. In Terms of Service, every action has its consequences, therefore every character needs to tread lightly to avoid the Companies’ watchful eye, but never manages to get rid of their frightening presence.
I just found some minor issues in this book, for example the use of modern terms (such as LOL or OMG), which feels a tad anachronistic and inappropriate at times, and the character of Shan, which is inserted quite abruptly in the narration, despite it having a strong connection with Kim and being the ultimate reason for her metamorphosis and personal growth.
I can’t stress enough how much I liked this book: the style is simple but never dull, the descriptions are gorgeous but never unnecessary and, most importantly, it has a good main character and a good plot. For all these reasons, I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
I strongly recommend this book not only to every sci-fi enthusiast, but also to every young reader who’s looking for a story set in a dystopian future that is not a coming-of-age drama in disguise. It’s possible that some elements of this book could be misinterpreted as being used to hide a political agenda, such as the choice of using female pronouns to refer both to male and female characters, but the author manages to play with them in a very clever way, using them as tools to enforce concepts and ideas about consciousness and sense of self identity. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out.
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill
