Review of Our Lady of the Artilects

[Shelby Ayres]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Our Lady of the Artilects" by Andrew Gillsmith.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Thierry is an artilect. Artilects are advanced robots that are extremely expensive and even more expensive to maintain. Thierry’s owner was one of the wealthiest men in the Empire. One night, Thierry deactivated his geolocation transponder and was found the next morning in the Basilica of Our Lady of Nigeria. Father Serafian is soon called out to the house to try and figure out what is plaguing Thierry. Serafian is an exorcist and feels a presence openly declaring itself from Thierry. Kapulong receives a call from the owner of Thierry, who was worried about the safety of the synth. Much of the population has noetic implants in their bodies. A compromised implant could easily be confused with visions or possession. Serafian soon enlists the help of Namono, an Imperial Praetor. Can the three figure out what is happening? Are the artilects actually possessed by demons, or is there something more nefarious going on?

I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s diction and word choices throughout the book. With the number of details that went into this book, I was easily able to follow along and visualize. I also enjoyed the time the author spent building the characters’ personalities. The characters were perfectly developed. The scenes were also perfectly described and developed. The pace throughout the book was also something I enjoyed.

Unfortunately, there were a couple of formatting issues that distracted me from reading. Sometimes the text was a different color. Most of the time, the text was white, but sometimes it was blue or dark grey. The ever-changing text color sometimes made it difficult to read. I also felt that the book was rushed in some instances.

I am rating Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith 3 out of 4 stars. Due to the formatting issues mentioned above, I was unable to give the full amount. Though if those issues were fixed, I would have no problem giving this book the full amount. This book was action-packed from start to finish. The storyline and plot were unique, which always kept me guessing and wanting to read. I had a hard time putting this book down. The book was exceptionally well-edited.

I would recommend this novel to individuals who enjoy sci-fi and technothrillers. This book is a perfect blend of science and religion. Roman Catholicism mixed with science fiction. The book, while it has many aspects of religion in it, I believe can be enjoyed by anyone.

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Our Lady of the Artilects
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[Amy Luman]

Even in stories robots or AI are not expected to have feelings resembling those of humans. I can see how Thierry’s owner would be worried about his robot being possessed as well as the amount of money to be lost.

[Raju Tikale]

The concept of possessed robot opens up new expectation of story ,plot and character which are never experienced before.

[abstactlemon]

The premise of this has to be the most intriguing part as it usually is with sci-fi. It's always exciting seeing a story being told around AI and robots.

[Yasmine M]

It is the first time I come across this interesting perspective; the idea of Artificial Intelligent beings(robots) becoming more independent and surpassing humans has been brought up many times in books and movies. However bringing together artificial intelligence with supernatural - in this case possession - and then adding spirituality and belief... yes it is pure fantasy. It would be interesting to find out how things will unfold for Thierry the artilect Thanks for the great review.

[Shelby Ayres]

The premise of this has to be the most intriguing part as it usually is with sci-fi. It's always exciting seeing a story being told around AI and robots.

I thought it was an intriguing and unique approach to the over-used "robots take over" trope.

[Marie Chalupová]

I already had my eyes on this, and your review made me even more interested. Especially the potential combination of science and magic is definitely vibing with me.