Después de la Edad de Oro y la catástrofe atómica, los científicos han creado una religión basada en la ciencia para dominar y esclavizar a la gente. Pero la rebelión acecha gracias a la Brujería que opone los poderes de Satanás a los del Gran Dios.

Í Gather, Darkness lýsir Leiber samfélagi í framtíðinni þar sem vísindamenn hafa dulið ummerki tækni í búningi trúarbragða og kraftaverka. Ein trúarbrögð og kirkja stýra öllu og stýra einu og öllu í samfélaginu en hafa búið til óvini sem þeir kalla nornir. Óánægður lágt settur "prestur" snýst gegn þessari hræsni en uppgötvar þá að andspyrnuöfl hafa undirbúið andóf en líkt og kirkjuyfirvöldin þá nýtir andspyrnan sér tæknina til að útbúa galdrahópa sem falla að miðaldaímyndinni um nornir og galdramenn.
Margar snjallar hugmyndir hjá Leiber þar sem hann veltir m.a. fyrir sér hvernig framtíðarstjórn samfélaga geti farið fram með því að nýta sér bæði hjátrú og trúarbrögð. ( )

ughhhhh... I've read a few Leiber books and a lot of his short stories, but I have to bail on this one at 27%. It's just too boring.

A mix of genres for Leiber's first work to appear in book form (1951). This science fiction/fantasy story was originally serialised in Astounding magazine starting in May 1943. Astounding magazine was subtitled science fiction and its stories have a reputation of leaning towards a "literature of ideas". Gather, Darkness would have been right at home there.

It is set on earth during the year 2305. The earth is ruled by a Theocracy and the priesthood is known as the Hierarchy. There are references back to a Golden Age of Civilization from which the Hierarchy have gathered technological knowhow and some weaponry, society is now made up of a clerical elite and non members of the priesthood who are known as commoners. Unsurprisingly the commoners do all the work and the clerics rule by fear from their headquarters in Megatheopolis. There is an underground movement amongst the commoners known as the Witches and when one of the lower order priests denounces his superiors in the central square he finds some unexpected help from the Witches movement that is shrouded in mystery. On the surface they appear to be women who have minor spell casting abilities, but are a cover for a more sinister organisation that has technology of its own. The book features witches familiars, a sisterhood of sorts and an attempt to seize power, but the main thrust of the story is the battle between the Hierarchy: (riven itself into "realists" and "fanatics") and the Witches revolutionary movement. What appears to be spell casting or divine intervention is driven all along by scientific hardware. There is even a duel with wrath rods which appear to be light lasers like something out of Star Wars.

This is plot driven sword and sorcery science fiction with enough mystery to keep the reader turning the pages. I enjoyed the mix of genres which is handled well and the writing is good enough to keep it all moving along, but which also can find time to fill in some gaps with some imaginative ideas. There are no super heroes, and characterisation is not a priority here. Not a classic by any means, but a good example of the stories that might appear in Astounding Magazine - 3 stars. ( )

Jarles the renegade priest leads an uprising using his Light-saber precursor. It's post-apocalyptic science indistinguishable from magic meme. ( )