Bücher von David Weber

"For centuries, the world of Safehold, last redoubt of the human race, lay under the unchallenged rule of the Church of God Awaiting. The Church permitted nothing new--no new inventions, no new understandings of the world. What no one knew was that the Church was an elaborate fraud--a high-tech system established by a rebel faction of Safehold's founders, meant to keep humanity hidden from the powerful alien race that had destroyed old Earth. Then awoke Merlyn Athrawes, cybvernetic avatar of a warrior a thousand years dead, felled in the war in which Earth was lost. Monk, warrior, counselor to princes and kings, Merlyn has one purpose: to restart the history of the too-long-hidden human race. And now the fight is thoroughly underway. The island empire of Charis has declared its independence from the Church, and with Merlyn's help has vaulted forward into a new age of steam-powered efficiency. Fending off the wounded Church, Charis has drawn more and more of the countries of Safehold to the cause of independence and self-determination. But at a heavy cost in bloodshed and loss--a cost felt by nobody more keenly that Merlyn Athrawes. The wounded Church is regrouping. Its armies and resources are vast. The fight for humanity's future isn't over, and won't be over soon"--

A "New York Times" bestseller. Following the near-extinction of humans, the rulers of the planet Safehold built a religion designed to keep society medieval forever. In a hidden chamber, an android from the past awakens, her fate set in motion centuries before--a rebirth that will kick off a new era of invention.

In the hotly anticpaited sixth volume in the "New York Times"-bestselling Safehold series, the wars and intrigues that have cascaded from Charis' declaration of independence has caused the populous Republic of Siddermark to slide into chaos. Bursting with vivid invention and the sweep of lived history, this story will build its series' audience to a new level.

Earth is conquered. The Shongairi have arrived in force, and humanity's cities lie in radioactive ruins. In mere minutes, over half the human race has died. Now Master Sergeant Stephen Buchevsky, who thought he was being rotated home from his latest tour in Afghanistan, finds himself instead prowling the back country of the Balkans, dodging alien patrols and trying to organize the scattered survivors without getting killed. His chances look bleak. The aliens have definitely underestimated human tenacity - but no amount of heroism can endlessly hold off overwhelming force. Then, emerging from the mountains and forests of Eastern Europe, new allies present themselves to the ragtag human resistance. Predators, creatures of the night, human in form but inhumanly strong. Long Enemies of humanity . . . until now. Because now is the time to defend Earth.

Here is the saga of humanity reduced, by an implacable alien enemy, to inhabiting a single colony on the distant world of Safehold. To avoid drawing the attention of the enemy through the busy signals of an industrial civilization, the human rulers of Safehold have taken an extraordinary measure. With mind control and hidden high technology, they have built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, one designed to keep Safehold society medieval and unnoticed forever. After disagreement about the wisdom and justice of this course, the dissenters were ruthlessly eliminated. Centuries have passed and now, in a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android initiates a rebirth set in motion centuries before. A rebirth that will provide the only remaining humans with their last chance to learn the truth and to rejoin the universe. It is destined to be a tremendous undertaking, unfolding a story of deception and ignorance, freedom and tyranny, and the liberating power of the truth. 'Nobody does space opera better than Weber' Publishers Weekly

The battle for the soul of Safehold has begun.Charis and Chisholm have joined together, pledged to stand against the tyranny of a corrupt Church. The youthful Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm has wed King Cayleb of Charis, forging a single empire dedicated to the defence of human freedom.Crowned Empress of that empire, Sharleyan has found with Cayleb the love she never dared hope for in a 'marriage of state'. And in Cayleb's cause - his defiance of the ruthless Group of Four who govern the Church - she has found the task to which she can commit her mind, her courage, and her life.Yet there are things Sharleyan does not know, secrets Cayleb has not been permitted to share, even with his beloved wife. Secrets like the true history of humanity on Safehold. Like the intricate web of lies, deception, and fabricated 'religion' which have chained humanity for almost a thousand years.And so Empress Sharleyan faces the great challenge of her life unaware of all that task truly entails . . . and of how the secrets Cayleb cannot share may threaten all they have achieved. And may threaten her life itself.

In the nine centuries since the creation of the world, the Church of God Awaiting has grown all-powerful as the keeper of men's souls. It rules the planet of Safehold with the imprimatur of God Himself . . . and with an iron fist.Lately, the island kingdom of Charis has rejected the Church's authority. Charis has repelled the Church's first attack and is preparing to strike back. Yet not all those who support the Church are corrupt, and the Church stands ready to use the faith and belief of those blameless souls for its own cynical ends. The gauntlet has been cast down, and full-scale religious war - the ugliest war of all - looms over Safehold.To prevail, King Cayleb of Charis has one ally with resources not even he can imagine: the mysterious warrior monk called Merlin, who holds the secret knowledge Charis may need to survive. Merlin is Cayleb's adviser, protector, and friend . . . and, secretly, also the cybernetic avatar of a young woman named Nimue Alban, who died before the day of creation itself. Who was born on a murdered world called 'Earth'.

This is the first comprehensive linguistic study of Bora, a typologically unusual language spoken in Colombia and Peru, the result of four decades of work among the Bora people. The language has an exceptionally high number of classifiers (over 300). These classifiers are used in various ways to carry out reference. By means of these classifiers, apposition is the primary mechanism for creating referring expressions, rather than the more cross-linguistically common mechanism of constituency. They also provide tight intersentential cohesion in discourse. The animate/inanimate distinction is pervasive, manifesting itself in the morphology, syntax, and lexicon. This volume also includes a thorough analysis of Bora grammatical and lexical tone, which has a complex system of sandhi with default tone being high, in contrast to the majority of tonal languages. The ethnographic sketch includes discussion of the unique Bora signal drums. This study will be of interest to all concerned with typological issues, South American languages and peoples, or tone studies.Wesley Thiesen received his B.A. in Anthropology from Wheaton College in 1948. He and his wife Eva worked for SIL among the Bora-speaking people from 1952 to retirement in 1998, living much of that time in a Bora village.David Weber received his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1983. He and his wife Diana have worked with SIL since 1969. From 1972 to 2002 their efforts focused on the Huallaga Quechua language. He currently serves as an SIL linguistic consultant.The book''s cover depicts a basket handcrafted by the Bora people.