Pages: 381
Released On: 07/02/2026
The High Priest rules the city of Twin Rivers in the name of the Lord of Mercy, his AI god. In this land, where robotic Brothers complete all labour and humans are left to enjoy the fruits of this Eden, something rotten grows. Yonatan, a newly ascended Priest in the sclerotic Priesthood, is meant to shore up the faith of those left behind.
Yet as Yonatan’s preaching takes him deep into the city’s bowels, he must confront heresy far deeper rooted than he ever imagined. When he sees one of the city’s paramilitary Keepers leave a young woman to die because of her unsanctioned implants, Yonatan must decide whether his faith in the Lord of Mercy outweighs his own belief in human exceptionalism.
*****
Thanks to Jeremy for sending me a copy of his book in return for an honest review.
This has got a bit of everything – politics, religion, AI arguments, fantasy, deep characters, and fast-paced thrills.
It’s a very timely book, with the increase in AI use, and arguments for and against. As a creative, I’m not a fan of AI, but I admit it does have its uses, and this book makes you think about those uses and what it means when humanity hands the power over to machines.
It has 53 chapters so that is approximately 7 pages a chapter which is okay. I prefer quick short chapters to help with the pacing, especially in thrillers. But then when it comes to fantasy novels, I don’t mind longer chapters because it makes more room for world building. This book is a mixture of genres so I think the chapter length works overall.
You can tell Jeremy has some background in AI and tech; not everything can be written by research alone.
It’s not an overly comfortable or happy world this book is set in. It may seem that way to begin with, this potential blissful experience of humanity whilst AI does all the work. But there is this subtle undercurrent of fear and danger which grows and grows until it boils over.
The characters – human and otherwise – are not all likeable. For me, there’s no 100% goodies and no 100% baddies – okay, granted some are very close to 100% baddies – but I found there was very much a morally grey aspect to them all. But either way, I found myself intrigued and wanted to follow them on their journey.
I felt the dialogue could have been smartened up slightly. It’s not bad, I don’t want you to think this is a negative because it’s not really. Just some of it didn’t feel very natural. Having said that, it is a fantasy story and so it doesn’t necessarily need to be real, so I’m sitting on the fence a bit here.
Is it a little long? Potentially. I felt at times it got a little stuck in the details. Having said that, I can’t say with certainty which bits could be cut to make it more concise, because everything has its place in the story.
I am not 100% sure but I believe this is Jeremy’s debut novel. It’s not perfect but it was still a very enjoyable and exciting read, with interesting characters, a fascinating world, and a number of thought-provoking questions that aren’t all that comfortable to sit with.
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