Off Armageddon Reef
 |
|
| Author | David Weber |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Ellisa Mitchell (maps) |
| Cover artist | Stephen Youll |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
|
Publication date
|
January 9, 2007 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 608 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 70867041 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3573.E217 O35 2007 |
| Followed by | By Schism Rent Asunder |
Off Armageddon Reef is a science fiction novel by American author David Weber, published by Tor Books. It is the first book in the open-ended Safehold series. It follows a group of survivors who have settled a planet they name Safehold, a place where they had sought to escape from a terrible war, but that becomes the scene of a new struggle to uphold the principles of human civilization.
After a desperate and ultimately lost struggle against a genocidal alien foe in the 24th Century, the 8 million survivors of Earth flee to Safehold to carefully rebuild civilization. They plan to temporarily block industrialization to avoid detection, but civil war erupts over the corrupt colony administrator's scheme to trap mankind on their refuge world at a Middle Ages level of technology. Eric Langhorne plots to rule as the deified founder of the Church of God Awaiting, a religion that proscribes innovation as heresy punishable by torture and death.
When Pei Shan-Wei defies him, he wipes out her faction with a terrible secret weapon. A survivor avenges her, killing Langhorne and most of his clique. This nearly eliminates every colonist with memory of Earth. Though Shan-Wei had not predicted how far Langhorne would go, she had prepared a backup plan: She secreted away the android that contained the personality and memories of a heroic human military officer, Nimue Alban, with all the technology and weapons needed to uplift Safehold. Nimue awakens 800 years later and is informed of what has come to pass.
Nimue accepts the mission to destroy Langhorne's legacy and uses mobile spy technology to examine the world. However, it becomes clear that as an apparent woman, her influence would be less than it should be. She therefore changes into an apparent male and takes the name of Merlin Athrawes before travelling to the Kingdom of Charis — a relatively advanced region of Safehold with a somewhat free-thinking approach to religion. Merlin gains the trust of King Haarahld Ahrmahk of Charis by interfering in an assassination attempt on Haarahld's son, Crown Prince Cayleb of Charis.
Merlin's plan goes awry when he is forced to take emergency action against a treasonous yet beloved member of the Ahrmahk dynasty, but he once again proves to be the key factor in protecting the kingdom. As a reward, Merlin is made Cayleb's personal guardian and a de facto adviser to the king. He introduces technology that, while not technically proscribed by the Safeholdian Holy Writ, offers critical tactical and economic advantages. While most of Safehold is at a 16th-century level of technology, Merlin sparks the creation of better sailing vessels, improved gunpowder, and greatly improved seaborne cannons, very equivalent to the 18th-19th century Age of Sail.
...
Wikipedia