Published By: Bantam
Pages: 526
Released On: 12/11/2026
It is five years since a global vote elected an AI leader, Solomon, to give humanity one last chance of survival in the face of crippling climate change. The world might be in recovery, but humankind is suffering—and rebelling—under Solomon’s governance. The choice was far from unanimous, and resentment is running high.
As acts of sabotage and civil disobedience increase, a disgusted Solomon offers the people of the world a final choice: Upgrade or Unplug. Upgrade means irrevocably merging with artificial intelligence as a way of deleting the destructive nature of the species. Unplug will brick every chip, including Solomon himself, and humanity will begin again in a pre-digital age.
Humanity has eighteen days to decide before civilization tips over into complete anarchy. One vote. No appeal. A simple majority wins. How will humanity vote this time? And how much choice do they really have?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I loved book one – Artificial Wisdom – and even though I wasn’t expecting a sequel, I am so thrilled to see there is one.
It has been over a year since I read Artificial Wisdom, and my memory is not what it once was so I was a bit concerned I’d be confused. And it did take a wee while to figure myself out again but we did get there.
It’s a timely book, a timely series. As a creative, I’m not a big fan of AI, although I agree it can have its uses in some industries and situations. But politics? And AI Prime Minister, President, or Leader? AI having all that access and autonomy to strike? That’s a step too far. And the way Thomas has done it, he’s not made it too sci-fi, it all seems quite plausible and that’s what makes it scarier.
It’s about 200 pages longer than my ideal book length but I loved the first one so much that I was willing to give it a go.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, it’s so innovative and addictive. But I think it was too long. It’s longer than the first one, and whilst I know I’m biased because I dislike long books, but this was just too long. The beginning was great, really grabbed me back into this world. But by about 20% through, it was getting so bogged down with detail but without action that it felt really quite…slow, there’s no other word for it. I was struggling to push through it at that point.
It’s not an easy series to read. It touches upon some very difficult topics and asks you some uncomfortable questions. But it’s also enjoyable to read. If you’re like me, you’ll probably prefer the first one, but you’ll still like this one.
It’s full of twists and turns and whilst some feel a bit OTT, it works in this context because the whole idea of it all is a bit OTT in a way.
It’s highly technical. Now, I don’t think books have to dumb their content down for the reader. I’m happy to look up things I don’t know about. However, this is SO full of technical aspects that I found myself spending more time googling things than I was reading, and then that takes you out of it.
I definitely think the first one was better. It was paced better, more convincing characters, more heart to it, and it really kept my attention. This one, the plot is strong and the characters are still there, but there’s a distance between them and the reader, in my opinion. And I can’t help repeating it, but the page length dragged everything down.
An enjoyable and interesting sequel, thought provoking and uncomfortable, but a drawn out plot and lacklustre characters means it didn’t hit the same heights as its predecessor.
