"One of the most meaningful reads I've ever had..."- Goodreads ARC Reader
"Stalder skillfully keeps the twists and turns coming, always keeping one step ahead of the reader. Artificial Messiah probes urgent questions about the present and future. Stalder excels both at capturing a world that's come unglued and at imagining where it all could be heading, and the characters will win readers' hearts..." - BookLife by Publisher's Weekly
5 stars Gold Book Award - "Artificial Messiah ultimately works as both a suspenseful story and a sincere examination of spiritual injury. It's interested in the reasons people believe, the pain that makes certainty attractive, and the difference between goodness and obedience. The novel doesn't treat technology as the only source of danger. Human vanity, grief, ambition, fear, and the desire to be chosen all help Potentia become what she is." - LiteraryTitan
Manny's dad is dying. Sunny's dad is... complicated. Elsie just wants to find true love, but what will it cost? Three worlds collide in Taos, New Mexico. Backpackers, hippies, and cowboys converge in the shadows of the Tiwa Nation's ancient pueblo. Their story unfolds beneath the data-driven eyes of an AI led church and the lingering question: what is worth worshipping?
"Artificial Messiah" is a spiritual-psycho-philosophical punk rock novel, wrapping honey-soaked bandages around our technology-inundated culture in the backseat of a rusty four-by-four. It is a spirit quest journeying through a southwestern consciousness - a dilapidated Americana prayer at the crossroads of our technology, our future, our planet, and our humanity.
Remember to breathe.
