The Telefax Box is a social and political satire depicting a clash over technology. No element of modern life, from spy ware to gene pools, is immune from examination, especially as technological development blurs the line between people and machines. Buy your copy! Amazon Amazon.co.uk Froogle Barnes & Noble.com Langton Info Services, England The Telefax Box Are machines taking over? When societies use machinery to eliminate work, does it free consumers to realize higher callings or merely make them dependent on machines and less able to care for themselves? If each new convenience means greater dependence, is the consumer a slave? "The tool is the slave of the being. The being is the slave of the machine." This is a Samerac saying. Sameracs are against machinery, a stance that makes them outcasts in a world where machinery dominates. Can a machine be 'fully functional' and indistinguishable from When a scientist, developing fully functional, reproducing machinery, is murdered at the most prestigious laboratory under the highest security, a shiver of fear runs through the galaxy. Satire combines with elements of science fiction and mystery to explore a modern Frankenstein.               Excerpt “God?” Eola’s eyes, which she had closed against the tirade, opened. This being continually insisted on using words she had no experience with. “What is that? What is a god?” “Wha— uh, an archaic word obviously not present in your vocabulary.” For Luvis, the words were tossed off rapidly, his method of indicating a desire to move on to something else. “It uh, means a Supreme Being, sometimes called a Creator of the Universe, but you can forget that part.” Eola pondered every word carefully before admitting defeat. “No, the phrase conveys nothing to me.” Luvis demonstrated his impatience with her difficulty by making a show of returning to his work. “You will forgive my ignorance, 2413.” The sentence was issued more as a command than an expression of humility. “As an investigator, when I reach an area that is outside my range of knowledge, I ask questions of those who know something more about it.” “What is it you do not understand?” The massive head remained focused on a bank of controls. “’Creator of the Universe’. I can dismiss this as an archaic misnomer. But ‘Supreme Being’, this is blasphemous by order of the Federation. … It was a thought, a concept. It brought comfort.” “It did not exist?” “Not as we conceive existence, no.” “But there is no other existence than what we perceive. We have penetrated the farthest corners of our own galaxy. We maintain communications with other galaxies. Doubtless there are unknown galaxies, but surely the ancients were not in contact with beings more remote than those we are already aware of. Our galaxial data is extensive, after all. You cannot tell me that the ancients knew more than we do on this matter!” Words poured after words until Eola could think of nothing else. “No. No. No. The being had an existence, but only in their minds. They imagined the being—” “They imagined it?” “Yes. And that brought them comfort.” Eola’s stare was long and hard. “How?”

Interesting story with fascinating characters by Thomas Duff
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.

by Laura Lehman, BellaOnline's SF/Fantasy Books Editor
The Telefax Box by Toni Seger
The world of The Telefax Box is watched over by The Machine, an all seeing computer that controls and documents almost every aspect of everyday life for those plugged into acceptable society. There is also a distinct social hierarchy marked by "Privilege" with the long limbed Zantons at the top and the anti-machinery Sameracs almost non-entities. So when a Tertian finds himself on a gaming asteroid with only a vague memory of his past, it raises a few questions.

A mysterious death on the asteroid brings his lack of a documented past to the attention of an detective named Eola. Unfortunately, she must rush back to Central to investigate the murder of a prominent scientist who seemed to be up to some unusual-- and surprisingly undocumented-- experiments. The Machine, which records everything that happens at Central, has no record of the scientist's obviously violent murder. This causes not only an investigative problem, but a religious one as well. The Machine is considered all knowing and impervious to manipulation. Saying someone controlled the Machine is the highest blasphemy.

I think the strength ofThe Telefax Box is its diverse collection of races, especially those who must conform to social norms to have any chance of advancing. There are the Quamats who normally move by rolling, but learn to walk upright through great pain just to be accepted. Also are the aquatic races who survive at Central by living in hastily constructed troughs and tanks much too small for their natural inclination to move and dive. The book copy calls The Telefax Box a social and political satire and along with the extremes of a technology controlled life, this is where the social commentary is prominent, showing the ridiculous strategies some people use to be "acceptable."

My Recommendation
The Telefax Box is an interesting beginning to what will be a trilogy. While I think the plot tends to meander before getting to the meat of the story, the strong characters (especially Eola) make for an entertaining read. If you're looking for something just a bit different, The Telefax Box is a good choice.

A Galactic Mystery by David Reusch
“The Telefax Box” 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.