Review of Terms of Service

[odindoken]

[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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Kim trains and works with AIs at the Artificial Intelligence Company. All is well. At least in the beginning. She commutes by public transport. In her apartment, where she lives alone, the fridge approves the food she eats, guided by the Food Company’s terms of service. While relaxing, Kim watches videos or listens to music, staying clear of any violations of the terms of service. Sometimes she's out with friends. For pleasure, Kim uses Matchmaker services to get a date and access to a privacy booth.

Then Kim's life turns when she reunites with an old friend, with whom they ride up the hills and further into the prohibited territory, defying the authority even though fully aware of the consequences. The ride exposes Kim to well-hidden truth and later allows her to interact closely, even intimately, with an AI called Kimberly.

Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill offers a glimpse into a future in which almost everything we know about the world is either suppressed or altered, beginning with gender, race, birth and parenting, sex, the right to choose and even the right for one’s privacy.

Though barely relatable, the world Craig W. Stanfill has created is believable. Here, the fridge not only talks but can also refuse Kim’s request. There's a housebot, a robotic house servant of sorts, one able to pick shards of glass from the floor, serve drinks, and cower under the bed when it detects unusual behaviors from the house owner.

When Kim meets Mica, she realizes Mica is the ‘other sort—not soft and moist, but hard and firm’. I like this description. I also like the way losing virginity is celebrated in this book. The book’s ending also thrilled me, aside from giving the possibility of a sequel.

Though well written and with a strong character on the lead, Terms of Service starts slowly, so much so that a reader can put it down. However, the reader's patience is handsomely rewarded later. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and would like to point out that Craig W. Stanfill built a whole different world almost from scratch.

Because Terms of Service impressed me, I'm rating it five out of five stars . I didn't come across any grammatical errors, even typos. Therefore, the book was exceptionally edited.

In conclusion, I recommend Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill to science fiction readers. Anybody who'd like to speculate on humanity's place in the inevitable advancement of AI should also read this book.

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Terms of Service
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