Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith

SPSFC 2023

World leaders are on edge when reports start coming in of next generation androids having strange, apocalyptic visions of a lady in white. But when an Artilect belonging to the wealthiest man in Africa shows up at Our Lady of Nigeria basilica claiming to be possessed, the stakes are raised. The Vatican sends Father Gabriel Serafian, an exorcist who left behind a brilliant career as a neuroscientist, to Benin City to investigate...and to figure out who is behind what must surely be a hack. The timing couldn't be worse. Rome is on the verge of reconciliation with the Chinese Economic Interest Zone after a 50 year cold war, and the Chinese are particularly sensitive about the so-called Apparition. Serafian quickly finds himself caught up in a conspiracy of global--and possibly supernatural--dimensions. To discover the truth and save not only humanity but the artilects themselves, Serafian enlists the aid of a tough-as-nails Imperial Praetor named Namono Mbambu. Serafian and Mbambu are helped by a guilt-wracked Filipino Emperor, a taciturn Caliph, and a Uyghur Sufi named Ilham Tiliwadi as they race against time to stop a centuries-old plot that could end humanity as we know it. Our Lady of the Artilects is a mind-bending supernatural science fiction novel where "The Exorcist" meets "Westworld,” with a light dusting of Snow Crash!