Off Armageddon Reef

Safehold Series, Book 1

By: David Weber

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 29 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

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 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 android, Merlin, emerges into Safeholdian society to begin the process of provoking technological progress, which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent. To conceal his formidable powers he finds a base of operations in Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare, where 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 Off Armageddon Reef is going to be the can't-miss Sci-Fi epic of the decade.

Listen to more in the Safehold series.

©2007 David Weber (P)2006 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

“Wyman rises nicely to the near Herculean challenge of performing this 30-hour epic. His clear, expressive reading never falters while he skillfully navigates his way through a labyrinth of plot twists and multiple characters. Whether describing high-tech space battles or the covert activities of courtiers and spies, Wyman brings Weber's intricate world of Safehold to life.” —Publishers Weekly

JEWEL OF CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE FICTION!!!!!

I'VE BEEN AVOIDING THIS BOOK SERIES.

I didn't even read the summary, I didn't like the name of the books or the book covers.
But last year I decided to give it a try and after 30 minutes I was in!!!
One week later I finished the fifth book, the last one released at that moment.

As always there were some negative and annoying moments but overall I consider this book to be a MASTERPIECE of CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE FICTION!!!!!

PS
The biggest negative part is constant changing of narrators!!!!
Please stop doing it!!!! It's annoying as hell.

I really liked it

I must be listnening to a different book than some of these reviewers. This is an excellent work, well written, well plotted and well drawn engaging characters. But, what really was fun for me as a professional historian was the enjoyment of picking out Weber's historical situations. Anything that mixes the Medici Papacy with the Battles of Trafalger and Lepanto in a 16th century setting is just great. Like many other reviewers I can't wait for the sequel. On the other hand I just might get it at Amazon so I don't have to wait.

Great book, narrator should brush up on naval term

As a sailor and naval buff I was gritting my teeth at mispronounciation of forecastle and other navy terms

It's "Nimuë", not "Nimoo."

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Only if the friend was a David Weber fan. There's a lot of Weber-esque expository that won't appeal to the generic fan of adventure style science fiction.

What does Oliver Wyman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I both hated and loved Mr. Wyman. He has such a wide range of voices to use. I wouldn't even recognize some of them as coming from the same person. He is a vary talented voice-over actor. On the other hand, I was annoyed by his mispronunciation of Nimue's name as

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Too much to absorb in one sitting. It's the kind of book that one needs to digest slowly. Too many characters, too many undercurrents to track in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

I was bothered by some of the technical details in the book. For instance, the planet Safehold is described as being

Good book but I was expecting space and Sci fi

I was thinking I was going to get into space battles and turns out its a rehash of the Spanish inquisition

Great book

Great book. Started off interesting but got sucked in so fast. Also like the guy reading it.

title is the most exciting thing about the book.

narrator is good. story is super slow and relies on exposition overmuch. main character is a bit of a Mary Sue/GaryStu. the rest of the series may redeem it.

Good read for a long shift

was a little slow to start but got better quickly. likeable protagonists and solid antagonists.

Amazing

It's an amazing story and series up there with Lord of the Rings & The Wheel of Time. It manages to stay strictly science fiction while introducing elements of fantasy in the way the main character performs its role as a "Segin". To be honest, I got audible for the sole purpose of getting this series and can't wait to read the rest.

Captivating naval battles and religious conflict

David Weber must do years of research before he writes his books because he so consistent and accurate and well-versed in history and technologies. He captures the emotions behind a religious war better than I could’ve ever imagined and his naval battles are so riveting you can’t stop until they end. #Sweepstakes #TagsGiving #NavalBattle #Jihad #ReligiousWar