14

The human race is on the run from alien attack and have established a colony world with only medieval level technology so the aliens can't find them by radio frequency transmissions, etc. There is one man in suspended animation in a satellite as a store of knowledge for the future. The medieval humans are at war so the satellite guy wakes up and intervenes in an Iron Man-style suit. The book was the first in a trilogy I think and published maybe late '90s.

That's all I can remember but any help greatly appreciated

Improve this question
4
  • Where did you read it (country), what language was it in, might it have been translated? Can you remember anything about the books cover, any characters name, anything?
    – Binary Worrier
    Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 12:11
  • I read it in Australia its written in English. Thx Jeff that looks right to me I'll have a go
    – jamie b
    Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 12:27
  • @JeffZeitlin I'm hoping it doesn't stop at 9, but theres been no indication thus far of any more :( Plus Weber seems to be in "wrap-up" phase for his other works due to ill health...
    – Moo
    Commented Sep 15, 2017 at 4:55
  • If he goes to a tenth - probably not for at least two years, if his health holds out - it will be essentially a second series, rather than a true continuation of this one - the war of CoGA vs CoC is over; CoC was more or less victorious, and CoGA under Duchairn has committed to moderating some of the more noisome policies in directions defined by CoC. Nimue hasn't accomplished her goal this time, but she has much more time than a "normal human lifetime"; she'll be around to push her goal forward.
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented Sep 15, 2017 at 11:16

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
20

David Weber's Safehold series has most of the elements you describe. The differences are that the one person in suspended animation isn't in a satellite, but in a deep/concealed mountain cavern, she isn't actually in suspended animation, but has had a recording of her personality saved, and doesn't go out in an "Iron Man suit", but her personality recording is loaded into an android body, which she modifies to be male because of the society.

War against the fallen

Because signs of technology led the Gbaba to past emergency colonies, the mission on Safehold restricts all industrialization. Excepting Shan-Wei's team and her trusted staff, Administrator Eric Langhorne erases the memory of every colonist. Yet Langhorne follows his own plan: the colonists awaken programmed to believe they are the first humans, newly created by divine will. They worship Langhorne as the leader of God's "Archangels", charged with guiding a permanent pretechnical society.

Shan-Wei tries to defy this plan, but is labeled a traitor and killed, along with most of her followers, at their Alexandria settlement by a hidden orbital weapon. Shan-Wei's side retaliates, killing Langhorne and most of his allies, sparking the "War Against the Fallen" among the survivors. Langhorne's "Church of God Awaiting" eventually prevails and sets up a militantly technophobic global theocracy, which deifies and worships Langhorne and demonizes Shan-Wei.

Centuries pass before Shan-Wei's backup plan comes into being. During the terraforming process, Shan-Wei hid an android, with the personality and memories of Nimue Alban, a Terran Federation Navy tactical officer, deep within a secret mountain base. "Nimue's Cave” is stocked with an AI military computer and a room full of technology. When Nimue awakens, she accepts a mission to destroy the Church and uplift humanity.

Improve this answer
5
  • 2
    For what it's worth, I've heard it asserted that 'Gbaba', the name for the aliens, actually stands for 'Galactic Bad-Ass Biker Aliens'. :)
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 14:24
  • 1
    There's actually a satellite involved (Rakurai kinetic energy weapon) which serves a pretty important plot purpose (restricting the protagonist's capabilities significantly). And there's some vague hints that could be interpreted that another "from the past" intelligence may control Rakirai.
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 15:46
  • @JeffZeitlin , I had heard that gbaba meant something like run in, meet accidentally in some African language (even if true, I would not know whether this was known by DW at the time).
    – LSerni
    Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 16:13
  • @DVK-on-Ahch-To - Indeed, the bombardment satellite(s) are an important diablus-ex-machina, but don't actually have a high level of relevance to the original question.
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 17:28
  • 1
    @JeffZeitlin I'd disagree that its a diablus-ex-machina, as its introduced in the very first book, but I agree that it has nothing to do with the question.
    – Moo
    Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 23:33

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.