Humanity pushed its way to the stars – and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out. Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures: with mind … mind control and hidden high technology, they’ve built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever.
800 years pass. In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. This “rebirth” was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion. Via automated recordings, “Nimue” – or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban – is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking the technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent.
Nothing about this will be easy. To better deal with a medieval society, “Nimue” takes a new gender and a new name, “Merlin.” His formidable powers and access to caches of hidden high technology will need to be carefully concealed. And he’ll need to find a base of operations, a Safeholdian country that’s just a little more freewheeling, a little less orthodox, a little more open to the new.
And thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new era of invention. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Church…and, inevitably, lead to war.
It’s going to be a long, long process. And David Weber’s epic Off Armageddon Reef is can’t-miss sci-fi.
Safehold Series
1. Off Armageddon Reef
2. By Schism Rent Asunder
3. By Heresies Distressed
4. A Mighty Fortress
5. How Firm A Foundation
6. Midst Toil and Tribulation
7. Like A Mighty Army
8. Hell’s Foundations Quiver
9. At the Sign of Triumph
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This is the first book in the series and in my opinion the best. Weber sometimes gets carried away with battles and strategies, but in this book he develops his characters and establishes the world view. The basic plot is one he has used before, but his rich embellishment negates this problem. I’m waiting for the last book in the series.
Great Sci Fi King Arthur fantasy tale.
Couldn’t stop reading. Eagerly await each book in the series and then want to take off work just to read.
Very good world-building and good characters, though “Merlin” may have a bit too much power–but he’s up against an impossible situation.
Could not wait to read the rest of the series.
I originally bounced off this one because the first few chapters were a lot more diffuse than Weber’s Honor series; I tend to want a viewpoint character I can glom onto, so broad third-person omniscient epics lose me unless there’s a clearly defined protagonist. This second time, though, I stuck long enough with it to figure out the protagonist of …
Don’t read this book … until you’re ready to binge on the next dozen or so in the series. Another fine piece of literature from David Drake.