Finished "Heirs of Empire", by David Weber. This is the final third of the Baen "Empire from the Ashes" omnibus, and is set a number of years after the events in "The Armageddon Inheritance". Colin MacIntyre is now ruling the Fifth Imperium as Emperor, when his two teenage children become stranded, after a failed assassination attempt, on a planet of the Fourth Imperium which has reverted to water-powered technology and is ruled by a powerful theocracy intent on suppressing all technological advances in case "the demons from the stars" should return. The book alternates between events taking place on Earth and the Imperial capital world, and the story of the lost children. Truly excellent military SF and highly recommended. It's evident, BTW, that Weber recycled the idea of a planetary theocracy deliberately suppressing technology for his later "Safehold" series, which bears many similarities to the "lost children" portions of this book.
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