Description
Professor Tikaya Komitopis isn’t a great beauty, a fearless warrior, or
even someone who can walk and chew chicle at the same time, but her
cryptography skills earn her wartime notoriety. When enemy marines show
up at her family’s plantation, she expects the worst. But they’re not
there to kill her. They need her to decode mysterious runes, and they
ask for help in the manner typical of a conquering empire: they kidnap
her, threaten her family, and throw her in the brig of their fastest
steamship.
Her only ally is a fellow prisoner who charms her with
a passion for academics as great as her own. Together, they must
decipher mind-altering alchemical artifacts, deadly poison rockets, and
malevolent technological constructs, all while dodging assassination
attempts from a rival power determined the expedition should fail. As if
Tikaya didn’t have troubles enough, her new ally turns out to be exiled
fleet admiral, Federias Starcrest, the man who recommended taking over
her nation. To trust him could be a mistake; to fall in love with him
would be a betrayal to her people, her family, and the fiancé she lost
in the war. Those runes cloak more than mysteries, however, and he may
be the only one who can help her unravel them before their secrets
destroy the world.
Praise and Reviews
Encrypted (A+) is a fun romp, an adventure in the Lois Bujold Barrayar
spirit, with a clear ending though ample scope for more and which I
highly recommend if you like your sff fast, page turning with action,
mysteries and a dash of romance. -- The Fantasy Book Critic