Review of Terms of Service

[kcollins14]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Life seems great for Kim in the futuristic society of Terms Of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice. Her home is filled with robots who tend to her needs, from a housebot that gives her coffee in the morning to a refrigerator that churns out fresh, healthy meals. While her job helping with AIs who run this society that so fascinates her isn’t as glamorous as she thought, a promotion may be the key to finally working with the higher intelligent robots that really run things. However, from the very beginning, we can tell that all is not as it seems. We see that Kim drinks herself almost into a coma every night as she struggles to live in this world. The benefits of the advancements this society has achieved are outweighed by the mysterious companies that make sure their constantly changing terms are obeyed by the massive surveillance systems used by the AIs. Her gloomy world is soon to change forever as she slowly learns the truth of the reality she lives in and is forced to finally make choices for herself.

I liked how the prologue sets the story up, adding a touch of realism. It talks as if this is a history book, explaining the ‘translation’ decisions made in the book as a historian might explain how they handled Old English. Society uses only one language, Panglobal, and, for example, Panglobal has no gendered pronouns so our mysterious narrator has decided to simply use female ones for all characters, leading to a very interesting reading experience. The author of the book also uses their own times and dates for events which, while simple (Onesday for Monday for example) also adds a little more realism to the story which I found enjoyable, though sometimes can be a bit silly, such as describing a group as Tobacconists.

Tobacconists are a part of various groups considered cults by the companies and the secretive government of the UCE. Groups are considered cults in this world mostly due to the companies fearing competition. As society is functionally one big company a group could be as simple as wearing and lending clothes that the company didn’t make. Since everything is now company property, simple things such as lending a package on a subway could be seen as selling on company property. This was very disturbing to me, as I could think of some companies who’d love nothing more than to basically be capable of owning everything, ensuring people only stay loyal to their brands.

Another way to be seen as a cult is if the UCE thinks a group’s behavior borders on what they call distintivism. To the UCE it is crucial for the community to be unified and see too much individualism as a threat. I wish we learned a bit more about them and their goals, as the book focuses mostly on the companies, and this can make them feel a bit generic.

I liked Kim’s struggles as she dealt with not only a high surveillance world but a highly stimulated one. So much was a simulation that I wondered if the people were real at one point. While there are still some physical places, most are in virtual reality. This leaves Kim feeling alone and isolated, even on a great day where she spends the day at a virtual reality baseball game and feels she should be happy. This feeling of there being something missing struck me and I enjoyed watching her realize what it was.

I also enjoyed that there were some things in this world the company produced that did seem cool. It’s a scam in the end, but you can see how it works. It basically turns reality into one big video game, where you, for example, received social points based on certain behavior. It seems cool at first until you realize the implications. It’s easy to see how one might get sucked in at the start.

I rate this book a 4 out of 4. I thought the ending was a bit odd. We learn about the AIs origins and to me, it took some of the realism away but didn’t affect my enjoyment too much. The UCE sometimes came across as generic bad guys, though the books make clear they’re not the ones really in charge. It was a great read and tackled important issues. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes dystopian novels.

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Terms of Service
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