Customer Reviews

The Telefax Box

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a universe regulated by 'the machine,' murder is unlikely. Getting away with murder is so improbable the odds are impossibly small--almost as small as the chance that the Borck scientist died of natural causes. When local authorities botch the investigation, Senior Investigator Eola is called in. Eola has plenty of experience with difficult cases--but one fact has been hammered into everyone's head--that the machine is infallible. If that fact is a lie, the fabric of society may shatter. And if that happens, somebody will be the scapegoat--possibly a hard-working Senior Investigator.

While Eola investigates, Druscan lives on a gambling asteroid. He feels confused all the time, has difficulty remembering where he's from or what he's doing, yet his brain is capable of near-miraculous jumps of logic and memory. Put him in front of a game board and he can see all of the options, envision end games beyond anyone else's imagination. Is he simply an idiot-savant, or is there some deeper meaning to his existance?

Author Toni Seger creates an interesting view of a future world where the entire galaxy is civilized, where the different races live in harmony under the guidance of the machine, yet where status, legislated as 'privilege' remains crucial and where only a few races are considered among the capable or elite. Seger's creation of intriguing races makes for enjoyable reading.

I found THE TELEFAX BOX to be simultaneously intriguing and confusing. The novel lacked the kind of strong protagonist common to genre fiction (Eola came closest), and the plot was often hard to follow. The resolution, when it came, didn't quite jolt me the way I think Seger intended. Still, this is a promising first novel. Seger is an author to watch.

"The Telefax Box" is the first book which I have read which I was sent directly by the author. It is the first book of "The Telefax Trilogy", and it is set in a society which spans galaxies with numerous alien species. While the setting and number of species can be daunting at times, Toni Seger manages to keep the story moving and entertaining without engaging in an endless amount of exposition. The reader is pulled into a mystery which then becomes several mysteries which continue to expand, and all the while satirizing our own society on issues such as race, culture, and religion. Also key to the story is the line between being and machine.

After the prologue which helps set the stage, the reader is introduced to the first mystery, which is in the person of Druscan, a Tertian from Central Command, who seems to be a bit out of place on a gambling asteroid, and when an unexpected death to someone he gambols against happens, the mystery grows, as it does as he displays rather unusual abilities. The second mystery is then introduced, and it involves a murder, something which is almost unheard of, especially at Central Command where it takes place. Not surprisingly, the mysteries are not unrelated, but the journey bringing them together, and the characters and races involved all add to the story.

There is a lot to take in with this first book of the series. What I liked best was the differentiation of types of races, as the author does an excellent job of describing the problems which the non-privileged races, such as aquatics, semi-aquatics, and the non-smoothed skin races face when trying to be successful in a society which is dominated by smooth-skinned bipedal creatures. These disadvantages are well-integrated into the characters personalities and their motivations. As an example, the aquatics are forced to swim around in troughs, the Quamat are looked down upon if they fail to walk on their weak legs instead of rolling around. Another important factor in this book is the role of machines and in particular The Machine which runs Central Command which has taken on the role of God in this society. Several times questions about whether the Machine has made a mistake or been tricked are referred to as blasphemy, and if a race doesn't value machines, such as the Sameracs, they are kept at a distance by most.

The characters in the story are very well done, and represent many different races and types of races. Llona is a Samerac a race I briefly described above and becomes involved with Druscan whom she meets when gambling. Mishta works on the gamboling asteroid and also becomes involved with Druscan, and Acacia is bureaucrat who is very high-up in Central Command. The two are both Zanton's, the most privileged race, but have little similarity outside of that. Dexter is an aquatic working at Central Command and is investigating what he believes is a murder. Toja is a Scroge, and Eola is a Tostian, both of which have scaly skin which flakes off, a significant social disadvantage, and there are minor characters which bring even more races into the story and which subsequently brings more depth and fullness to the story.

This is not a perfect book, but I found it to be an interesting and fun book to read as well as a good satire and I am interested in reading the next book in the series to see how it progresses. Ultimately, how good the series is plays a role in how one views the individual books in the series, but one can at least say that this is a good start which draws the reader into the series, and has an ending which completes this part of the story, but also sets the stage for the next book in the series. This one easily earns four stars.

The Telefax Box has enough Sci Fi trappings to satisfy the most demanding aficionado of the genre: highly inventive future technology, arcane vocabulary, quotes from various intergalactic sources, and a fascinating array of highly diverse alien races. But it is no space cowboy adventure story. Billed as a "satiric deconstruction of modern life," it does raise issues about our dependence on technology. But the story is almost entirely moved forward by the dialogue and the complex relationships between the various characters. This gives equal billing to chunky issues like racial privilege and where we draw the line between life and artificial intelligence. Seger has constructed a book here in which the whole is larger than the parts of which it is composed.

The Telefax Box by Toni Seger is one of those books I read because the author contacted me and asked if I'd be interested. The sci-fi premise of how machinery makes us dependent rather than liberated tweaked my interest, so I accepted. While I'm not sure I got *all* the social and political satire she was after, the story was well done with plenty of opportunities to see society in all its glory.

The general storyline revolves around a murder that's taken place at one of the most prestigious labs in the galaxy. The Machine, a computer that knows and tracks everything, doesn't show that anything happened during that time. This fact, if true, creates real issues, as everyone believes that The Machine is all-powerful and can not be manipulated. As the crime is investigated, all sorts of unusual characters and races from throughout the galaxy have to interact and overcome basic prejudices and attitudes that have been formed over millennia. And at least for me, that's where the story excelled. She has a real knack for describing and painting the creatures. There are Quamats, who have short, stubby limbs and normally move by rolling. But some have chosen to walk in a more normal fashion to fit into more "normal" society. The relief from the pain that causes is what drives part of the murder investigation. Taborites are aquatic creatures who have to communicate through tentacles attached to the surface of their tank. Zantons are creatures with elongated limbs, and commonly hold positions of great power in the galaxy. It's just one of those truths that everyone knows. And then there are Sameracs. Blue and beautiful, but completely anti-machine in their thinking. As such, they hold very low positions in society with little chance of advancement. All these creatures (and more) come into play, and it's fascinating to watch how Seger weaves their personalities into the story.

I'll admit I was a bit lost at the ending, and that's why I said I probably didn't get all the satire she was putting out there. But even with that, The Telefax Box was one of the more entertaining sci-fi stories I've read in awhile. This is supposed to be the first of a trilogy, and I wouldn't hesitate to give the future installments a read when they come out.

Review: The Telefax Trilogy - book 1

From the imagination of Toni Seger comes the first book in a Trilogy of futuristic satirical distinction. Once you know the characters, you won't be able to put this one down. I laughed at the irony performed through beings from other galaxies. Their strange characteristics and dress added to the already engrossing story. A murder mystery in disguise, this is a teaser for the next book.

It begins in a laboratory at Central Command. Everything is run by The Machine, and in her laboratory, Sudbury, a Borck, is celebrating her achievement, a humanistic robot she named Andora, with the Quamat Streiger, who is there to receive a pain treatment. The story continues on a gambling asteroid with Druscan, the Tertian also from Central Command. A murder ensues and Druscan befriends Zantons Mishta and Llona who are key in helping Druscan figure out his next move. Interrogated by a top investigator and watched by Bojans, a lower race, Druscan struggles to learn what is happening and discovers himself along the way.

The multitude of characters are believably detailed. The settings are described to entice incredible visualization. This is a fascinating story about love, hate, racism, bureaucracy, truth and lies. I cannot wait to read book 2.

As technology develops humanity's fears of being replaced by machines increases. Science fiction novels and films have explored this theme many times over. From Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" to the Cylons in "Battlestar Galactica" we have been entertained by all manner of artificial intelligence. The Telefax Box by Toni Seger takes things a step further. Book One of The Telefax Trilogy is a political and social satire that incorporates themes of man versus machine with a large cast of diverse aliens.

Atla II, the sixth planet in the Drexia System, known as Central Command Laboratory, is home to the Machine, a God like computer that controls and documents everything that goes on. Druscan, a Tertian from Central Command, is vacationing on a gambling asteroid. He meets Llona, a Samerac, who convinces him to be her gaming partner. They are playing against Mishta, a Zanton and Toja, a Scroge, who sports scaly, flakey skin. When Toja's dead body is discovered, Druscan is questioned. Meanwhile a second death occurs at a well-secured lab at Central Command. Sudbury, a Borck scientist, who is developing functional machinery, is murdered but the Machine has no record of it. Some believe the Machine made a mistake but that amounts to blasphemy. The mystery deepens and the various species must overcome their culturally biased attitudes to solve it.

Those looking for action scenes will be disappointed. This story is all about the mystery and intrigue. The plot is propelled Seger's well-written dialogue. Her strengths lie in world building and character creation. Her galaxy is populated with many different races that adhere to a strict social hierarchy that is rife with prejudice. Their deeply ingrained and established attitudes influence their behavior. There are Zantons, creatures with elongated limbs who hold powerful positions, aquatic Taborites who live in tanks and Sameracs, blue and beautiful, but at the bottom of society because they are anti-machine. Not to mention the Quamats, Tostians, Gulms, Storts and Borcks. With so many bizarre species to track, it's tough to find a protagonist to empathize with, although chief investigator, Eola, is probably the most sympathetic. The Telefax Trilogy is an ambitious undertaking, a provocative story that sometimes plods along, but is ultimately an entertaining and worthwhile read. There's a satisfying conclusion that sets things up nicely for future books. It's a promising beginning and I look forward to reading more.

This elaborately-wrought, futuristic fantasy will appeal to science fiction aficionados who like imaginative, thought-provoking tales. This is more 'Blade Runner' than 'Battlefield Earth'.

Seger's style is very readable. Rather surprisingly - given her involvement in the visual arts - there is little descriptive writing here. Dialogue drives the story, and only bare descriptions are given, leaving the reader to imagine the details of the bizarre creatures and settings.

The novel is not particularly long and, if that is also true of the other two parts of the trilogy, it might have been better to publish them together, in one epic tome.

The book would have benefited from tighter proofreading and editing. A character steps 'up the wall' instead of up to the wall, quotation marks appear in front of text which isn't speech, and so on. This sort of thing doesn't happen often enough to be a really significant problem, and I know that most readers don't fuss about such things as much as I do.

There are plenty of intriguing ideas and situations in this story and, if you are a fan of the genre, you should give it a try.
[PeterReeve]

"The Telfax Box" takes place in a distant future when the galaxy has been united under a federation of planets. This peaceful society is essentially run by The Machine, which is the greatest conceivable computer. Considering the harmony that is maintained in such an orderly society, a murder at Central Command is shocking. Senior Investigator Eola, a flaky skinned Tostian, works to solve the crime. Meanwhile a Tertian by the name of Druscan arrives on a gambling asteroid with a mysterious past and an increasingly anomalous talent. In time, the destiny of these two characters intertwines. Walking in the footsteps of Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" and "Bicentennial Man," the primary theme of "The Telfax Box" is Man vs. Machine. While this subject has been well explored in Science-Fiction literature, Toni Seger successfully moves the issue forward. In a sense, she takes the notion of Man vs. Machine to the ultimate end. Indeed, "The Telfax Box" goes beyond the conventional philosophical issues that relate to sentience in computers, robots and cybernetic organisms. A sub-theme is the way that contemporary racism translates to speciesism. The federation is post-multicultural as countless species successfully interact on a daily basis, yet there is still a pecking order that is determined by species and pedigree. Toni Seger's writing talent lies in her dialogue. She is a master of exploring the art of the conversation. Beyond this, her universe is flushed out with rich detail. In addition to its qualities, "The Telfax Box" has drawbacks. The flipside to Seger's penchant for dialogue is that the book too heavily depends on this dynamic. Lacking almost any action, there is the sense that little happens outside of characters talking to each other. As if stuck in a literary paradigm, the narration sometimes feels claustrophobic. In the end, the brilliant dialogue sequences aren't enough to compensate for a lack of the other elements that are necessary to make a story great. An example of these other elements is a lack of character resonance. Aside from characters that don't get under your skin, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out who's the protagonist. As a final issue, the middle of the book moves slowly. There is the sense that a good deal of "The Telfax Box" could have been edited to forge a leaner and more economical story. All things considered, Toni Seger has crafted a universe that will appeal to many Science-Fiction readers.