Review of Terms of Service

[Sarah Deming]

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

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4 out of 5 stars

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Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice is a dystopian sci-fi novel with slightly odd formatting and no paragraph indentations. It is the first book of Craig W. Stanfill’s AI Dystopia and follows the story of Kim, an employee of the Artificial Intelligence Company.
After an indiscretion, Kim is called to her boss’s office expecting to be fired, but is instead presented with a unique opportunity if she is willing to be at the mercy of The Company. She must keep her work and subsequent status increase a secret from her friends and make no mention of it on Chit-Chat or otherwise, knowing that she is always being monitored.
Kim goes from being a Trainer of low-level AIs to a Creator, working with and helping to create the highest-level artificial intelligences. Her creation, Kimberly, becomes an integral part of her life and helps Kim ask the right questions to lead her to the possibility of freedom.
The story begins slowly with a good amount of necessary, interesting world-building. I enjoyed the everyday details of Kim’s life and especially liked her relationship with her refrigerator. The presentation of the fictional and not-so-fictional technology that is an integral part of the society within which Kim lives is seamless and effortless in a way that reminds me of the writing of Arthur C. Clarke.
The use of virtual reality as a meeting-place for Kim’s friends and for events was interesting and lent to the future-feeling of the novel. In addition to the daily tech and VR, I particularly liked the descriptions of the transportation. But beyond the technology, the social commentary both within the system and without was well-founded and was the real impetus behind the dystopia.
I found no typos or errors in this book. I found it to be intelligent and well-written. While it started slowly, I appreciated the in-depth but not overdone world-building. I did not love the formatting but got used to it enough that it did not turn me off of the book altogether. Finally, I felt that the secondary characters other than Kimberly could have been more well-developed, and because they fell a bit flat, I had trouble remembering who was who. Therefore, I gave it four out of five stars and would recommend it to anyone who likes near-future sci-fi or dystopian novels.

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Terms of Service
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