History

The novel uses its specific premise and structure to explore the potential dangers of repeating history. Specifically, when the novel begins, the reader is under the impression that the story is set in the late medieval era. However it soon becomes evident that the novel is actually set 800 years in the future, and that an unspecified apocalyptic event caused human society to reverse by several centuries. A major aspect of this society is that the Church has “made it a crime to investigate the past” (111). This stricture thereby dramatically limits humanity’s ability to rediscover ‘pre-apocalyptic’ technologies and rebuild society to how it was. As a result, humanity is repeating history by entering second medieval era that is very similar to the first one. Overall, these dynamics serve as a new way to illustrate the adage that people who do not learn history are doomed to...