Review: Spelunking!  Submarines!  Spies!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2013
Summary:  Guess Who's Coming to Dinner meets Captain Nemo, plus explosions.I will preface this by saying, Yes, I am a big fan of Lindsay's, but I do not rate a book by its author or its series.  My affections lie strongly with the EE crew, and while it is the same world, it is 20 years prior and those characters are not actually in the book.  The Tikaya and Rias books (if you haven't readEncrypted* you really should start there) truly are a separate series.  *Short summary:  They bonded while being held captive and forced to solve the mysteries of a brutal weapon, figuring out a way to escape without letting it fall into even more brutal hands.We rejoin our unlikely pair as they reach Tikaya's home and are almost immediately faced with aggressive opposition.  Rias is considered a war criminal, wanted in chains by the government and the islands at large, but never mind that - they still have to introduce him to her parents!  Someone has made it home ahead of them and started giving a somewhat different version of the events in Encrypted, leading most of her friends and family to believe Tikaya has been brainwashed by the enemy.I really, really enjoyed a lot of the secondary characters in this book.  I had fears going in that his amazing charisma would have Rias winning people over a bit too quickly, or potentially being so taken with him that Tikaya would become resentful at a lack of recognition for the role she played.  Rather than a crapload of such dramatic tripe, however, we meet concerned friends and family who are wary and suspicious (okay, most of them) but also some who are willing to give Tikaya's massive intelligence the benefit of the doubt rather than write her words off.***** MINOR SPOILER *****If I had one problem with the book, it was the fact that SO MANY of her colleagues and friends, even her family, were willing to ignore Tikaya's reputation as an extremely intelligent woman in a society where women typically seem to be accepted as equals with the men (le GASP!).  I was irritated by how many people to whom she told her story of kidnapping and captivity, of horror and brutality and escape, listened and then said, "Yes, but obviously you're too stupid to realize that it was a trick and he doesn't really love you."  Way to be supportive, guys.***** END SPOILER *****If there is one thing that Lindsay Buroker knows how to write, it is an entertaining thrill ride.  There is action around every corner, including corners I didn't even know were in the room.  You think you're in a sweet, about-to-be-kissed alcove and BOOM!  Corner.  Action.  There are explosions (and Maldynado isn't even IN this book!), lies, mysteries, and a dangerous secret that has been kept for generations. I would love to say more about this, but since it just came out, I'm afraid of giving away too many spoilers.It was also really interesting to learn about the history of the major nations in this world, and to see some of the groundwork laid out for the political and technological relations to come in the EE books.  I'm already wondering when we're going to get a book from the Nurian perspective.I would advise that, if you're coming across Lindsay's work for the first time, you would enjoy several "inside" jokes by reading Encrypted first, followed by the first 5 EE books (starting withThe Emperor's Edge) and then Decrypted.  It is certainly not required, but I think you'll get the most entertainment out of them that way.  :)