Review of Terms of Service

[Ma Leonarda Castañares]

[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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A society where free will is no more than a convincing illusion remain the kind of society Kim lives in. It is the place where Artificial Intelligent creatures ranked above humans. It is a community which AIs enact a crucial role in human life. They aid humans in their daily lives by catering to their various preferences. May it be the foods that they consume, the clothes that they wear, or even their transportation. It is also the kind of community wherein anyone would be afraid to stand out. It promotes gender neutral clothes and gender neutral sexual preferences. If you act against the rules, you already know the consequences. You will be subjected to “selfism” when you do something for your personal agenda. Therefore, they follow the norms even if it is clearly evident that it is an act of oppression. Read Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill to know more.

One morning, Kim awoke in her customary life. The housebot catering to her needs in the morning, the refrigerator that offers her meals and the headset that aids her way to the transportation. Kim works in a company called “Artificial Intelligence Company” wherein she trains the automatons. Whether she likes it or not, she has no choice but to be obliging. On one hot summer, her and her friend, Shan, decided to go out for a bicycle ride. They explored what lies ahead after the boundary. From then on, they encountered what seems to represent a civilization unbeknownst to their perceived accustomed way of life. After that encounter, Kim and Shan went back to their society, harbouring the secrets of their voyage about the secret civilization. And also after that, multiple violations were installed upon the two for exploring the forbidden and for defying various laws.

I love the book for its narration of futuristic life. Although the pace is quite slow, the characterization and the world building were worth the wait. I commend Stanfill for his wonderfully creative mind regarding the world building. It made me have a better visualization toward the cyberpunk themed society. I feel like I am present in Kim’s world by the way the author describes the setting. I also appreciate the author’s effort to make it easy for the readers who are not that knowledgeable about technology to comprehend the terms used. He employed non-complex terms to describe the jargons contained in technology and Artificial Intelligence functions.

There is nothing I disliked about the book. The plot building and the character's dialogue are perfect. I commend the realism this book portrays. Everything seems probable to happen in real life, and there's a significant possibility that some of it were already happening. An example of this is the use of virtual reality. It has become mainstream in this generation, proving the excessive progress in technology. Furthermore, what caught me off guard the most is the author's note on the concluding page. Read the book until the end if these intrigues you.

Indeed, this book deserves a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. The book was flawlessly edited as I detected no errors in it. I recommend this book to the lovers of Science Fiction and technology as a whole. Minor amount of profanity is observed, and the book contains erotic scenes; therefore, not suitable for younger audiences.

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Terms of Service
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[Hazel Mae Bagarinao]

This book is full of suspense. I can't predict what happens next. I never thought Kim create Kimberly. It's quite intriguing what will happen to these characters. I am also looking forward to what will happen to Shan. Your review is wonderful!