Andre Nortan-No Night Without Stars

It starts out with young man denied the post of his inheritance. Opposed to serving his kin as an apprentice to his uncle who denied him he takes out rights and goes in search of knowledge lost. This is book about the value of self. Chalk full of grit. The lessons learned by the characters are those learned by travelling. The scenary is of a post-apocalyptic world of fantasies unique to the cannon of Andre Nortan.
The thing I find most inspiring is the protaganist's struggle to remain an individual against the crude devices of a machine.