The Heretic, Tony Daniel
The Heretic, Tony Daniel
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The Heretic

Author: Tony Daniel, David Drake

Narrator: Franklin Pierson

Unabridged: 11 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 02/23/2021


Synopsis

ABEL DASHIAN'S WORLD DOESN'T NEED A HERO

Duisberg is one of thousands of planets plunged into darkness and chaos by the collapse of the galactic republic, but where other worlds have begun to rebuild a star-travelling culture, Duisberg remains in an uneasy balance between mud-brick civilization and bloodthirsty barbarism.

The people of Duisberg have a god: Zentrum, a supercomputer from the ancient past. Zentrum has decided to avoid another collapse by preventing civilization from rising from where it is. And because even a supercomputer and the powerful religion which it founded cannot block all progress, Zentrum has another tool: every few centuries the barbarians sweep in from the desert, slaughtering the educated classes and cowing the peasants back into submission. These are the Blood Winds, and the Blood Winds are about to blow again.

This time, however, there's a difference: Abel Dashian, son of a military officer, has received into his mind the spirit of Raj Whitehall, the most successful general in the history of the planet Bellevue—and of Center, the supercomputer which enabled Raj to shatter his planet's barbarians and permit the return of civilization.

One hero can't stop the tide of barbarians unless he has his own culture supporting him.
To save Duisberg, Abel must break the power of Zentrum.
With the help of Raj and Center, Abel Dashian must become … THE HERETIC!

About Tony Daniel

Tony Daniel is a senior editor at Baen Books. He is also the author of ten science fiction novels, as well as an award-winning short story collection, The Robot's Twilight Companion. He's a Hugo finalist and a winner of the Asimov's Reader's Choice Award for short story.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kelly

Shortly after the death of his mother, six year-old Abel Dashian wanders into a locked storage shed. He has a fair idea what he’ll find in there: nishterlaub. Forbidden articles of old and broken technology packed away behind lock and key. Abel is a precocious young lad; he turns the key, ducks into......more

Goodreads review by Neil

I think I enjoyed this book more than the first time I read it. I found the sequel and decided to reread it before reading book 10. The character development was pretty decent, overall, and was fairly believable. It starts off kind of slow, but the pace does pick up as the book progresses. Some of t......more

Goodreads review by Neil

As stated on its cover, this book continues 'The General' series started by David Drake and S.M. Stirling. It is a worthy addition to the series - it has the added twist of Raj and Center facing off with a lower-generation computer controlling a planet. I think this twist will open up other alternat......more

Goodreads review by M.E.

Liked the book. I'm a big fan of Drake but this wasn't Drake. The story was short, the characters lacked depth and the plot was a straight line with few complications. The villain was just a bad guy, no personality. It did follow the series but I think it could have used more development. The final......more