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AI: Opening
Walt Walls wants nothing more than to graduate from Credence University, start a family, and live a simple life with the one he loves. He only has two semesters to go. He is unaware of the cabal that exists underground, controlling and influencing not only the island but also his small Christian college. Nor does he know that his great-grandfather was once a ranking member in that same cabal, and they want Walt’s abilities and his DNA safely back in the fold.
- GenresFiction
619 pages, Paperback
Published May 30, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 15, 2025
George St. Georges’ debut novel, Ai: Opening, was published last May.
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of a fair and honest review. My opinions are unbiased and entirely my own. I am not sure how to categorize this novel. From what I read, I would say PG. I invested just over 2 hours, completing about 12% of the novel before setting it aside in accordance with the Rule of 50 (time is short and there are thousands of books to read).
This novel did not meet my expectations. What I read of it was slow, aimless, and a bit odd. It just did not seem to be going anywhere, which is why I called the Rule of 50. Based upon what I read, I give this novel a rating of 2 out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of a fair and honest review. My opinions are unbiased and entirely my own. I am not sure how to categorize this novel. From what I read, I would say PG. I invested just over 2 hours, completing about 12% of the novel before setting it aside in accordance with the Rule of 50 (time is short and there are thousands of books to read).
This novel did not meet my expectations. What I read of it was slow, aimless, and a bit odd. It just did not seem to be going anywhere, which is why I called the Rule of 50. Based upon what I read, I give this novel a rating of 2 out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
December 16, 2025
Ai: Opening is the debut novel from George St. Georges. This novel is the Grand Prize in Fiction winner of the most recent Reader Views literary awards contest, an international writing contest for indie and small press authors. One note about something that tripped me up with this novel. It is not A.I. or AI, but rather Ai, when I cracked it I thought it was A.I., but the author quickly establishes it is not; you could forgive anyone for thinking this given the popularity of A.I. as a buzzword these last few years and George was smart to add that moment of clarification early otherwise many of reader may have made the same assumption I did.
The story is about a senior student named Walt Walls who is attending Credence University on the fictional island of Ai. While working on a project that involves dissecting ancient religious passages, he begins to experience strange dreams that juxtapose as a character study into the darker sides of what some of the people behind the passages may have been like and connect back to the island in some mysterious way. As Walt and his friends unravel the web beneath, the story gives way to a series of twists and turns that show an ugly underbelly to the island and the cult-like group of people who have been controlling it and much more for generations.
George St. Georges has crafted a gargantuan masterpiece, clocking in at over 200,000 words. He uses this word count to establish deep characters, and in particular, bring his settings to life: the island, the university, and the religious passages, all become like characters themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed this use of setting to drive the plot forward, and this discovery of which thing would become the next source of a twist was what kept me wanting to read another chapter. The twists weren't all driven from the same place, and that helped keep me guessing. The novel is at its most enthralling when it dives into the dark moments, and those twists and dark moments are what will keep you turning the pages. Even though religious texts feature heavily, this is not an atheist agenda nor is a pro-religion propaganda piece, but rather the novel uses those religious passages to ask us to stop and think about some of the people and practices that might have been behind the text and how those people, passages, and practices could be mirrored against our modern world.
At its core, this story is a slow-burning character-driven story that gives way to a psychological thriller with twists and horrors akin to something slowly rotting away right before your eyes. If you are into truth-seeking or conspiracy theories, there is a ton to like here. The biggest source of dread is that you will find yourself asking what is real and pondering how much of these “what-if scenarios” we are presented with are indeed plausible in the real world, or worse, rooted in truth beyond just the scope of this story.
As always, I like to compare to movies. This has shades of The Da Vinci Code for sure. The puzzle here is less on the nose and rather the entire novel is the puzzle, but Ai: Opening has the religious subtheme and also is a thriller. The other movie with a similar theme, this time we are looking at the human trafficking side, Sound of Freedom. A tough watch, but if you can get through that, you are ready for the dark side of Ai: Opening.
5 stars
Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJez...
Congratulations to George on a fantastically deep debut novel and the awards success! This is the first entry in a series, and if the level of depth here is any indication, it could be a very long series full of thought-provoking moments.
The story is about a senior student named Walt Walls who is attending Credence University on the fictional island of Ai. While working on a project that involves dissecting ancient religious passages, he begins to experience strange dreams that juxtapose as a character study into the darker sides of what some of the people behind the passages may have been like and connect back to the island in some mysterious way. As Walt and his friends unravel the web beneath, the story gives way to a series of twists and turns that show an ugly underbelly to the island and the cult-like group of people who have been controlling it and much more for generations.
George St. Georges has crafted a gargantuan masterpiece, clocking in at over 200,000 words. He uses this word count to establish deep characters, and in particular, bring his settings to life: the island, the university, and the religious passages, all become like characters themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed this use of setting to drive the plot forward, and this discovery of which thing would become the next source of a twist was what kept me wanting to read another chapter. The twists weren't all driven from the same place, and that helped keep me guessing. The novel is at its most enthralling when it dives into the dark moments, and those twists and dark moments are what will keep you turning the pages. Even though religious texts feature heavily, this is not an atheist agenda nor is a pro-religion propaganda piece, but rather the novel uses those religious passages to ask us to stop and think about some of the people and practices that might have been behind the text and how those people, passages, and practices could be mirrored against our modern world.
At its core, this story is a slow-burning character-driven story that gives way to a psychological thriller with twists and horrors akin to something slowly rotting away right before your eyes. If you are into truth-seeking or conspiracy theories, there is a ton to like here. The biggest source of dread is that you will find yourself asking what is real and pondering how much of these “what-if scenarios” we are presented with are indeed plausible in the real world, or worse, rooted in truth beyond just the scope of this story.
As always, I like to compare to movies. This has shades of The Da Vinci Code for sure. The puzzle here is less on the nose and rather the entire novel is the puzzle, but Ai: Opening has the religious subtheme and also is a thriller. The other movie with a similar theme, this time we are looking at the human trafficking side, Sound of Freedom. A tough watch, but if you can get through that, you are ready for the dark side of Ai: Opening.
5 stars
Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJez...
Congratulations to George on a fantastically deep debut novel and the awards success! This is the first entry in a series, and if the level of depth here is any indication, it could be a very long series full of thought-provoking moments.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews