Review: A Great Sequel to Encrypted
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 1, 2013
I'm an admitted fan to the EE universe, but there's something about Tikaya and Rias's story that's uniquely appealing. If you haven't read the first book, Encrypted, it centers around Tikaya Komitopis, a languages professor who cracked the enemy's codes during the war and saved her people. She's kidnapped by those same enemies to solve the riddle of some ancient, and very dangerous, ruins with the help of exiled Admiral Shaska Federias Starcrest -- the man most reviled by her people because of his success against them during the war. I won't post spoilers, but Rias's story isn't what it seems either, and the two discover they make a very good team...in more ways than one.So why read Encrypted/Decrypted?  For me, it's awesome to see two "academics" getting into adventures and dangerous scrapes, using their intellect to solve problems and escape traps. Now, that's not to say they aren't good in a fight (they are), but it's refreshing for an adventure tale to be more "McGuyver meets Indiana Jones" than "The Expendables."  There's also an amazing love story, overlaid with issues of racism/prejudice, family secrets, lies and governmental malfeasance. There are a lot of layers to this story, and each one builds on the other to create an engaging whole. Plus there's a great mystery to be solved.But what I think what makes the story for me is Buroker's creativity in worldbuilding. The customs of the Kyatt Islands feel very authentic and, at times, amusing. The way of life in Kyatt contrasts sharply with Turgonia--the empire at the heart of the EE novels. So while the books are related (Decrypted is set 18/19 years earlier than Emperor's Edge), there's a very different cultural environment, and it makes for some fun "fish out of water" situations for Rias.If you are a fan of Buroker's EE series, you should definitely pick up Decrypted.