King David's spaceship

by Jerry Pournelle

Four levels of technology collide in this fascinating sci-fi thriller about a Renaissance general racing to extract the secrets of space flight from a forgotten library guarded by barbarians on horseback before the bureaucrats of a re-ascendant galactic empire can finish classifying the Renaissance general's world as a flightless backwater planet fit only for subjugation and exploitation. As is often the case in hard sci-fi, the characters' personalities are neglected in favor of in-depth discussion of military tactics, historical speculation, and political economy, but the writing is...

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