Review of Terms of Service
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Steph M
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Review of Terms of Service
[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]
Terms of Service, by Craig G. Stanfill, explores the possibility of a world in which every aspect of our lives is dominated by artificial intelligence. The story follows Kim, one of the more fortunate members of society, who lives comfortably, always following the rules… until she doesn’t. As Kim’s missteps add up, she is given an ultimatum: give up her freedom for a life of luxury, or defy the UCE and spend the rest of her life in labor camps.
Of all the things I liked about Terms of Service, my favorites were probably the interesting plot twists and the development of Kim as a character. In regards to the plot, the use of a limited third person narrative was extremely effective because it allowed the readers to learn as Kim did. As such, when Kim deepened her understanding of the functioning of the AI’s, I, as a reader, was just as much in shock as Kim was. The withholding of the truth of Kim’s society until later in the book also helped create suspense, which kept me hooked while reading. I also thoroughly appreciated Kim’s character development. It was refreshing to find a dynamic character that not only learned from her mistakes, but whose morals adapted throughout the book. This character development made me both love Kim as a character, and admire her for her strength at the end of the book.
While the book was extremely well-edited (no visible typos/errors) and generally well-written, there were some writing choices that I felt detracted from the quality of the book. For example, in the exposition of the book, the frequent use of sound effects to build the setting interrupted the fluidity of the reading. Additionally, I thought that there were times where Kim’s emotions were “told” instead of “shown”. By this, I mean that the narrator would often simply write Kim’s sentiments as opposed to spending time describing her reaction to a situation more holistically. There were also times where I thought that there was an excessive use of rhetorical questions, especially at the end of every chapter. While the rhetorical questions were effective, using them more sparingly would have accentuated their effect when they came along.
Overall, as Stanfill’s book was an interesting read, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars(if given the option of half stars, I would give 3.5 out of 4 stars). The only reason for which my review would not be a perfect 4 out of stars is due to what I thought was an occasionally mismatched style of writing such described in the previous paragraph (eg. excessive use of onomatopoeia and rhetorical questions at times). Otherwise, the book was extremely enjoyable and a great read.
I would recommend this book to all fans of dystopian and science-fiction novels – both teenage, young-adult and adult readers. I strongly believe that those who enjoy the sub-genre of science-fiction focused on AI would enjoy Terms of Service, and given the minimal profane and explicit content, I believe that it is well suited to younger, teenage readers. While I am sure more experienced would enjoy the book, I also think that Terms of Service is a good book for readers who are newer to science-fiction, since Kim is a relatable character and the novel does a very good job in world building(making it both interesting and easy to follow for readers who are new to science-fiction).
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Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Terms of Service, by Craig G. Stanfill, explores the possibility of a world in which every aspect of our lives is dominated by artificial intelligence. The story follows Kim, one of the more fortunate members of society, who lives comfortably, always following the rules… until she doesn’t. As Kim’s missteps add up, she is given an ultimatum: give up her freedom for a life of luxury, or defy the UCE and spend the rest of her life in labor camps.
Of all the things I liked about Terms of Service, my favorites were probably the interesting plot twists and the development of Kim as a character. In regards to the plot, the use of a limited third person narrative was extremely effective because it allowed the readers to learn as Kim did. As such, when Kim deepened her understanding of the functioning of the AI’s, I, as a reader, was just as much in shock as Kim was. The withholding of the truth of Kim’s society until later in the book also helped create suspense, which kept me hooked while reading. I also thoroughly appreciated Kim’s character development. It was refreshing to find a dynamic character that not only learned from her mistakes, but whose morals adapted throughout the book. This character development made me both love Kim as a character, and admire her for her strength at the end of the book.
While the book was extremely well-edited (no visible typos/errors) and generally well-written, there were some writing choices that I felt detracted from the quality of the book. For example, in the exposition of the book, the frequent use of sound effects to build the setting interrupted the fluidity of the reading. Additionally, I thought that there were times where Kim’s emotions were “told” instead of “shown”. By this, I mean that the narrator would often simply write Kim’s sentiments as opposed to spending time describing her reaction to a situation more holistically. There were also times where I thought that there was an excessive use of rhetorical questions, especially at the end of every chapter. While the rhetorical questions were effective, using them more sparingly would have accentuated their effect when they came along.
Overall, as Stanfill’s book was an interesting read, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars(if given the option of half stars, I would give 3.5 out of 4 stars). The only reason for which my review would not be a perfect 4 out of stars is due to what I thought was an occasionally mismatched style of writing such described in the previous paragraph (eg. excessive use of onomatopoeia and rhetorical questions at times). Otherwise, the book was extremely enjoyable and a great read.
I would recommend this book to all fans of dystopian and science-fiction novels – both teenage, young-adult and adult readers. I strongly believe that those who enjoy the sub-genre of science-fiction focused on AI would enjoy Terms of Service, and given the minimal profane and explicit content, I believe that it is well suited to younger, teenage readers. While I am sure more experienced would enjoy the book, I also think that Terms of Service is a good book for readers who are newer to science-fiction, since Kim is a relatable character and the novel does a very good job in world building(making it both interesting and easy to follow for readers who are new to science-fiction).
******
Terms of Service
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Dark Matter Empire (Book 1) by Alex Zadeh
