'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. And David Weber's epic Off Armageddon Reef is can't-miss sci-fi. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Church.and, inevitably, lead to war. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new era of invention. 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.Īnd thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. 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. 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. This 'rebirth' was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion.

In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures: with 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.Ĩ00 years pass.

Humanity pushed its way to the stars - and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out.Įarth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild.

Off armageddon reef series