Books like Heirs of Empire

If you're a fan of the first two books you may or may not like this one. For all intents and purposes the Dahak series ended with the previous novel. Don't get me wrong, all your favorite characters are all here in this installment and they do have their own little story, but the book isn't really about them anymore. It's about their teenage kids who by way of some diabolical plot end up being lost in space with no means to communicate or get home on their small ship. They do however land on an uncharted 4th empire world, which has descended into a pre-industrial theocratic society with little to no technology, except for an existing computer which can let them send a message home. Unfortunately this computer is guarded fiercely since it has great religious significance and it's defensive weapons may still be intact to protect it. The kids are discovered by a village who have been long time rivals of the church and see them as "Angels" after witnessing what they can do. The governing power of the Church receives word of what's happening and sends an army to put down their long time enemy since they believe they've sided with demons. The kids believing they have caused all this feel guilty and decide to teach the villagers how to defend themselves and improve on their primitive flintlock weapons to beat off "mother church." When the armies of god are defeated, they send even more armies against them, and they defeat more enemies and do this again and again until they finally reach the HQ of the church. There's a huge plot hole which I won't bother to give away, but needless to say this story takes up 3/4 of the book and doesn't even end properly, although it was adequate. If nothing else you won't be bored reading this book, but it is a huge departure from the first two books in the series. Weber went from hardcore space opera to I don't know what. I would have much preferred it that he had a proper sequel to end out the trilogy and then somehow used this story for a fourth book.