Off Armageddon Reef: A Safehold Novel 1 (Safehold, NO. 1 OF 1)

by David Weber

With humankind reduced to a single colony on the world of Safehold, the human rulers of the planet, in an effort to preserve the remnants of their industrial civilization, build a religion designed to hide the colony by keeping its society medieval.

• ISBN10: 0765353970
• ISBN13: 9780765353979
• Publish Date: 31 July 2012 (first published 9 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 2 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 800
• Language: English

Reviews

It was soooo good at the beginning. And then the last 1/3 became a giant naval battle in which Weber constantly describes things like top gallants and reefed sails. I get it. He likes sailing. And naval fiction. And historically accurate battles. And gruesome depictions of cannonballs. The characters were interesting (if a bit engaging) and the world building was neat (if a bit heavy on the, as my friend called it, "spiritual but not religious" soapbox. Over and over and over again...) but the last third or so really wore me out. Don't get me wrong, Weber writes very well and I enjoyed reading the book. I'd also be interested to see where the story goes but not if I have to read endless chapters about lee shores and mizzen masts. An interesting concept that sort of disappeared as a thin excuse for writing sci-fi naval fiction.