Review of Terms of Service

[Tahmina Akter MIli]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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5 out of 5.

Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill is an outstanding and remarkable dystopian story which has been written about a young woman named Kim, who works for the Artificial Intelligence Company. She dreamed of doing this job. Over a few years of service, she has been in training with simple Automata or devices that are not being capable of thinking for themselves, and she is ever ready for a change. Outside of her work, Kim is a part of a citizenry who has long been deprived of civil liberties, as every aspect of human lifestyle is subjected to evaluation and approval. There comes Kimberly Jefferson Haley, an AI of her own creation. They work together, they break symmetry and challenge each other, and Kimberly will open her mind to the hidden truth underneath the external appearance of what is trying to pass off as a perfect and disciplined world.

Here, the Terms of Service is a savage social commentary, though it is wise and well-informed. Craig W. Stanfill definitely sustains a level of innovative world-building that has a similar intensity as his second book of the series. The theme in this book is quite vital in the present day as we continue to explore ways of making artificial intelligence as well as becomes a vital part of our lives. Same as the plot has taken a position on totalitarianism which is considered near to the truth, as there are countries experiencing the evils of this method of government. Most of the action in Terms of Service has taken place in a virtual reality system which seems so similar to reality.

This book transports the readers over 200 years into the future where freedom and privacy are ancient memories and not maintained at all. Everything and anything done or thinking of doing, even the slightest contact with anyone across the street, is closely monitored by AIs. It is a society where the human needs humane consideration from the machines and little things are considered as crime and punishable by the law. No kingdom is there, however the society treats people as subject and oppress them in every opportunities.

Stanfill might be having a prophetic vision of how nations could engage in conflict in the future. If anyone loves reading dystopian novellas such as Animal Farm and The Handmaid’s Tale, and watching movies as The Matrix and Tron, I would highly recommend this reading to them.

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Terms of Service
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