This book has it all - sci fi and mystery, action and adventure. I look forward to more from this author, and to re-reading this when it is published!

Thank you to @delreybooks @rhworlds for the #gifted ARC ♡
.
This book locked me in from the first chapters to the end. Even if you aren’t a regular scifi reader, I still recommend giving this one a try.
.
For fans of Blake Crouch.
.
The planet is on the brink of global disaster. Millions have already died due to natural (unnatural?) disasters. An opulent floating colony at sea is one of the last remaining safe havens for those with means.
.
In order to preserve the future of the human race, a Global Protectorate is established. The person elected to make the hard decisions to keep our species from dying out.
.
But is the “best man” for the job an entity?
Solomon has emotions but is not governed by them. He’s is an AI and he’s been the leader of the floating colonies since his creation.
.
Opposing him is the former corrupt leader of the free world (United States), John Lockwood. What could go wrong? 🤗😆
.
I loved how this bends genres — it’s fundamentally a murder mystery, but with futuristic concepts and tech, virtual realities, annd questions of morality and humanity that come with science fiction. With the pacing of a thriller.
.
Waiting for my buddy readers to finish so we can process that ending. A great debut to add to your TBR!

This book had so many interesting twists! It almost felt like I was reading multiple different books as each new twist occurred, and I loved it!

The concept and plot were very thought provoking. Everything felt like it could plausibly happen in our world in the future if we keep going down the path we’re on, which gave the story an extra kind of importance and urgency.

The world building was great and all of the characters felt very real and relatable, even the AI character, which I found very interesting.

I also was surprised and excited to get to the end of the book and realize this is going to be a series! (Or at least I hope it is and we’re not just left on that cliff hanger!)

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Blake Crouch books and/or a good mystery!

I received a a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

This was a great book and I can only hope I get to read more as a series. Twists and turns, lots to figure out, red herrings, and so much commentary! I like the way the world is introduced and set up. The near future and what might be possible!

Thank you NetGalley for introducing me to and letting me read Artificial Wisdom.

This was a fascinating near-future/what-were-in-store-for book - regarding climate change and AI.

That said, some of the characters (I’m looking at you Tully and October) were predictable. Same could be said for Solomon, as he was a little too good to be true, right?

Add in murder mystery on top of it all, and there was just so much - TOO much - going on.

And yes, this is Sci-Fi, so we need to go in with a leap of faith, but much of the plot just didn’t work for me.

I can see why many people will LOVE this book. I liked it. I’d recommend it. And I’d love to see what’s next (yes, there will be a sequel and I think i’ll read it.)

I received an ARC through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This is a story that portrays what might happen if we do not take Climate Change seriously.

This is a story about Tully, a journalist, whose wife was killed in a climate event that happened 10 years earlier. A potential source has told him that he would receive information about what really happened during his wife's death. Tully was hooked, but before he would receive the information, he would need to publish a specific story. Once he had published his story it created a fight between those that believed it was true and those that believed it was false.

After Tully published his story, his source Whistler, gave him portions of the information and Tully along with his team began their pursuit of verifying it.

Read along and see what obstacles were needed to be overcome, where the story led him, what he eventually learned that had him questioning himself as a teller of Truth as well as an election between "Man versus AI", then you need to read this book. The ending will have you still guessing.

Many many thanks to Del Rey, Netgalley, and the author for early access!

BRO THIS BOOK?! My god. I thought I had it all figured out and then that TWIST?! Mr. Weaver, sir, you are a genius. This was amazing. A reading slump buster. This is climate crisis technothriller done RIGHT, my god. It had me on the edge of my seat from literally the first chapter. I am eager to read more from this author! Insane storytelling. I was telling my wife about my suspicions through the whole thing and I'm sure I looked like that meme of Charlie Day with the strings and theories and stuff. Goodness.

Excellent read!

Thank you to @RandomHouse and #NetGalley for the DRC of #ArtificialWisdom. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

This book feels timely, prescient and terrifying all at once - and I couldn't put it down. Set in 2050, the earth has been devastated by the climate crisis. The nations of the world have decided that a global leader is needed to save humanity from extinction. When an artificial intelligence (artilect) governor and a former US president are the final 2 candidates, journalist Marcus Tully finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery fueled by conspiracy theories, covert politics and retribution.

This books takes a lot of twists and turns. Nothing it what it seems and it keeps you guessing until the very end. The tech that Weaver describes is amazing - easy to grasp with enough detail to see the possibility as well as the impact. Will be looking for more books by this author.

I think that this is a book I will reread to give it a real chance, but for whatever reason I never really was engaged with the story although objectively it should have everything I enjoy. So my review my change later.

Thank you netgalley for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow...this was a great book and I know I am going to be thinking about this for a while and processing it all many times over. Just when you think you have pieced it together another twist is thrown your way. AI is a hot topic right now and this book explores the what-ifs of AI on a grand scale. The MMC's, Tully, struggles were very relatable. This was my first sci-fi and it was a great intro to the genre. I didn't feel overwhelmed by scientific data and the futuristic world was believable and very descriptive. The writing was easy and fast-paced. This book kept you engaged throughout. I didn't want to put it down. Highly recommend this to both fans of sci-fi and those looking to explore the genre.

Thank you Del Rey for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

🤖 What if our only hope of surviving the climate crisis… was handing over power to an AI? Artificial Wisdom by Thomas Weaver absolutely blew my mind. I felt alarmed, intrigued, and genuinely unsettled.
.
This speculative sci-fi debut isn’t just a slow-burn cyber-thriller- it’s a disturbingly plausible look at what the world might look like in 2050 if we let disinformation, surveillance, and climate collapse spiral out of control.
.
The premise is wild: a global dictatorship race between the U.S. president and an AI, while a grieving journalist investigates a government cover-up tied to the deaths of millions.
.
What unfolds is a murder-mystery wrapped in political tension, tech paranoia, and moral complexity. The themes? Grief, corruption, propaganda, artificial intelligence, and the terrifying cost of truth.
.
Short chapters, grounded tech (floating cities! neural realities!), and painfully human characters kept me turning pages on long flight… and left me desperate for a sequel and a TV adaptation.
.
This is not your typical sci-fi. It’s speculative fiction with emotional weight and razor-sharp social commentary. If you love Blake Crouch, Andy Weir, or anything that makes you pause and think, this is your next read, a must-read debut.

Honeyyy let me tell you: Artificial Wisdom surprised me! We’ve got 2050 London, climate’s a mess, democracy is hanging by a thread, and now AI is running for office. I mean… tell me that doesn’t hit a little too close to home right now??

Our main man, Marcus Tully, is a grieving journalist with just enough rum and rage to get himself in deep. When a powerful tech exec dies under suspicious circumstances, he’s thrown into a mystery that’s part murder case, part Black Mirror, part “oh no, this is probably our future.”

The worldbuilding is on point, climate collapse isn’t just window dressing, and the way AI politics are handled feels real, not gimmicky. Solomon, the AI candidate? Creepy and compelling. Like if Siri went to Oxford, ran for prime minister, and maybe had a body count.

Now, it does get a little procedural in the middle. I had a moment like, “Okay, Marcus, I get it—she’s dead, you’re sad, let’s move. on" (respectfully) But every time it lagged, Weaver hit me with a plot twist or a moral dilemma that had me fully back in.

And let’s not overlook the themes: power, grief, tech ethics, and climate justice, all woven in without getting preachy. I respect that. I finished the book feeling both entertained and unsettled, which is my favorite flavor of dystopia.

Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver is a fast-paced, high-concept sci-fi thriller that grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go.

I’d seen this book raved about on Instagram and went in completely blind. Honestly, if I’d known what the premise was, I would have read it much sooner. It’s precisely the kind of twisty, intelligent near-future thriller I love.

Set in a world where artificial intelligence, surveillance, and politics intersect, this book explores power, autonomy, and truth in a way that feels both thrilling and disturbingly real. The pace is sharp, the writing is accessible, and the plot is layered with tension and moral ambiguity.

What really stood out to me is how the story raises significant questions about AI and control without getting bogged down in overly technical explanations. It’s clever without being complicated, and the mystery at its core kept me hooked throughout.

If you're into stories that feel like Black Mirror meets Upgrade with the punch of a political thriller, you’ll fly through this. It's innovative, addictive, and surprisingly thought-provoking.

This book has a lot of great elements like a thrilling storyline, climate crises themes, but overall the quality of writing was difficult to read through. The brisk nature of the story, especially in the beginning was hard for me to read. I think this has some great aspects to it and for a debut novel is a great starting place, and I think there will be a market for readers out here. For readers who like more subtly written books with a little bit more drawn out story will struggle.

This was a really good tech-y futuristic thriller. It's set in our not-too-distant future, featuring many scenarios and ideas that you can easily see coming true at some point. It's also one of those novels that offers a grim look at the future if we stay on the same path.

The novel revolves around Tully, a journalist who gets drawn into a conspiracy involving a climate disaster that may have been engineered, an artificial intelligence running for the position of protectorate to the world, and murders of people involved. His wife had died 10 years earlier in what is known as the tabkhir, a climate disaster where people were basically boiled from the inside out under a huge humidity dome over parts of the Middle East. While first believing it was a regular disaster involving climate change, he soon gets a message saying it may have been engineered. This leads him on a hunt to find the truth, which ends up involving Solomon, an artificial intelligence - or artilect as he's called - and his creator, Martha, who also happens to be the sister of one of his teammates. The story gets a lot more involved - murders happens, lots of finger pointing, more secrets get dug up. But it is easy to imagine this happening in the future. We've all heard how climate change is affecting the world, and how people deny it. We've also seen a huge rise in the use of AI. Just a few years ago it didn't seem to be something many people used or even knew about, and now it's accessible to pretty much anyone. It also seems to be evolving in leaps and bounds, able to create all sorts of things in seconds. Most of us have also seen movies where this takes a turn for the worse, such as Terminator. The technology, its uses and implications are discussed quite a bit in this, and raise a lot of questions for people now.

The ending of the book leaves things pretty open. I'm hoping this is because there will be a sequel at some point. There's just too many questions left unanswered for there not to be. Anyone who has an interest in tech heavy thrillers, Terminator-esque stories, or climate change will probably enjoy this immensely.

📖 Truth, Power, and Neuro-Reality: A Glimpse into a Complicated Future

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

Set in a richly imagined future world plagued by climate catastrophe and political upheaval, Artificial Wisdom follows journalist Marcus Tully as he unravels a complex murder conspiracy while navigating a society on the brink of electing a global dictator. When a mysterious whistleblower hints at a massive cover-up involving the death of Tully’s wife during the Gulf tabkhir disaster, he dives headfirst into a dangerous investigation that spans floating cities, neuro-reality, AI governance, and global power plays.

While the teasers on social media for the hardcover release teases an epic showdown between two candidates—one human, one AI—for ultimate control over Earth’s future, the actual narrative leans more toward a slow-burning investigative procedural. The promised tension and drama between the two contenders are present but not deeply explored, and I was hoping for more political conflict and psychological warfare between them.

What really stood out to me was the impressive research and technical knowledge embedded throughout. The author clearly understands his world—from advanced neuro-assistant technology to geopolitical dynamics—and it lends credibility to the setting. The floating cities, particularly New Carthage, are vividly portrayed and among my favorite aspects of the book. This is a city I would like to explore.

Character-wise, I found it hard to connect with most of them, although October and Livia were exceptions. October, in particular, was my favorite—refreshing and complex, and Livia had great character development. The pacing fluctuated, at times dragging with long chapters and then picking up pace again. The murder mystery was intricate and engaging, full of unexpected twists that kept me guessing right until the end.

However, the ending felt abrupt and too open, clearly paving the way for a potential sequel. Some readers might enjoy that, but I personally prefer a more satisfying resolution. And one of the most disturbing moments—the idea of being trapped inside the NR—genuinely unsettled me and made me pause. That scene really gave me anxiety.

Lastly, the writing style sits just above casual reading—accessible but occasionally elevated in language. It may appeal more to readers who enjoy speculative fiction with a cerebral edge rather than straight thrillers.

If marketed to the right audience, Artificial Wisdom could do very well, especially among fans of climate fiction, tech thrillers, and political sci-fi. Just note: the blurb might set expectations that the narrative doesn’t fully deliver on.

Thank you to Del Rey, Random House, Inklore and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Set in 2050, Artificial Wisdom is part dystopian fiction, part techno-thriller, climate fiction, and murder mystery. This genre mash-up works surprisingly well. The short chapters and gripping plot kept me hooked from start to finish.

We follow a journalist trying to solve a present-day murder while uncovering the truth behind a climate disaster that occurred a decade earlier. All of this unfolds as the world prepares for its first global election. The candidates? A human or an artificial intelligence.

This near-future novel felt all too plausible. Its commentary on AI, truth and lies, fake news, conspiracy theories, corrupt governments, media distrust, and climate change feels urgently relevant to today’s world.

I didn’t know much about this book going into it. I only knew it was more of a science fiction book but after reading it, it was so much more.

Artificial Wisdom is a smart and also frightening look at artificial intelligence, climate change and politics. A lot of the themes of this book are things that could potentially happen in the future.

I honestly thought this book was going to be strictly sci-fi which it mostly is but it explores a mysterious murder and then becomes a full on political thriller.

I really enjoyed a lot of these characters and the way this one ends makes me excited for a sequel.

Definitely a different book than I normally read but it completely had me hooked from the first few pages, looking forward to more from this world.

2.5

Artificial Wisdom was just okay. It is obvious the author has some good ideas, I just did not like the execution of those ideas. It felt like the author was trying to do too much with this book.

From the synopsis, I expected a more sci-fi leaning book, instead I got a political thriller turned murder mystery turned political thriller again. The last ten percent seemed to go on forever; Livie and Tully’s last trip was overly descriptive.

The characters were flat and read like characters, I never believed that any of them could be a real person.

I did like how readable the book was. Aside from the ending, there was never a slow moment.

An extremely climate-ravaged world with people displaced physically and mentally has them vying for the means and power to survive as a political showdown between AI and humans unfolds for humanity’s future in Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver.
Ten years after a deadly heatwave swept across the Persian Gulf, the historically tragic event is dredged up as a source, going by the alias Whistle, claims to have evidence that the disaster was caused by the US using unreliable technology to deflect humidity, and provides it to journalist Marcus Tully, for whom the event is quite personal as his pregnant wife died while visiting her parents and the loss continues to haunt him. As Tully investigates the information provided, he is drawn deeper into intrigue and conspiracy, which evolves into a murder investigation of the woman with ties to both of the final two candidates in the upcoming election for the world’s climate protector—the AI she created and the former US president she advised regarding technology. Pursuing the story’s leads in the interest of revealing the truth, or what appears to be the truth, will influence the election’s outcome and, as a result, humanity’s future but comes at a cost.
With a gradually developing premise that incorporates technological, propaganda tactics, and climate concerns to portray a bleak and frighteningly timely possibility for what could lie in wait in our future, the story presents a thought-provoking conspiracy, with a partial resolution reached, that’s layered by focusing on one character as the main narrative thread and then using a few other character perspectives to flesh it out further, raising questions about what the actual truth is and what the cost to benefit ratio analysis would be in making that truth known – if it’d even be believed. Political implications and components to the narrative compel the actions of the characters, who predictably are driven by money, power, and fear/suffering as the basest of human functioning, all of which are things that make humans vulnerable to corruption and making bad, or short-sighted, decisions, serving as a kind of proof for why the AI Solomon might be beneficial. The advanced technology of is seamlessly incorporated into the world and the AI component explored the way that technology is already variably viewed as both an aid and a hindrance, depending on who is using the tool and what the end goal is, especially as it’s already become rather difficult, for some more than others, to discern manipulated images/text/videos from authentic content.
Overall, I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.