Rien is trapped in a medieval world, scrubbing floors and waiting on people in a palace, until the demon/angel arrives. Except she's not trapped in a medieval world.
I'm going to be reading the second book, Chill, as soon as the library can get it to me (and I get through my stack of 12 the rest of the way).
That should be indication enough. Very refreshing sci fi with a fantasy tone throughout, but stays true to the genre (more or less - less AI explanation makes it seem more like magic), and shows what happens to a seed ship gone wrong when a religious cult happens to be on board.
Great use of female and neuter characters in addition to the normal male ones, although the (highly unusual in s/f) negative gender stereotyping of men was very odd to me.