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Book Log 3/2011 - Diana Pharaoh Francis: The Cipher
3) 10/2/11
Diana Pharaoh Francis: The Cipher
Crosspointe # 1
Lucy Trenton is a member of Crosspointe's Royal Family, but that doesn't mean she gets a free ride. They all have to work for a living. Lucy is a customs officer and a damn good one, but she has a secret; she can feel the presence of magic. Which is a bit unfortunate because Crosspointe runs on small magics made from the raw magic of the dangerous sylveth which infests the sea, contaminating and changing anything it touches into living monsters, infectious and dangerous. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Lucy is the officer on watch when a magical knucklebone reef rises, wrecking ships outside the magic-protected harbour bar. At great psychological cost Lucy heads the crew responsible for dragging the salvage on shore, making it safe and dutifully killing the human horrors changed by the sylveth. In this she's helped by two captains, her childhood friend, Jordan, and the rakish Marten Thorpe, a good captain, but a notorious gambler when not at sea, whom she doesn't trust but is attracted to. Amongst the salvage is a true cypher – an illegal magical artifact – which fastens on to Lucy. Convinced that it will kill her very soon she allows herself some comfort in Marten, and from then on her troubles multiply.
Accused of stealing a hugely valuable cargo (which she didn't) she's blackmailed by someone who knows about the true ciphers that she's collected over the years (enough to get her executed and to destroy her family and friends) and at the same time her attached cipher starts to play up in unpredictably dangerous ways. She ends up on the run and hiding in the bad part of town.
The Jutras – Crosspointe's enemy – are set to invade and Lucy becomes embroiled in political intrigue which involves an old enemy from her childhood who turns out to be a Jutras spy in league with Marten's older brother. The brother, powerful but evil, bankrupts Marten (deliberately) and then buys him back from the debtor's block, effectively enslaving him.
But Lucy's cipher isn't the death sentence she presumes it to be and when sent outside the safety of the harbour bar at the mercy of the sylveth it comes into its own. Marten and Lucy discover hidden magical talents and a way to save the city. This offers a satisfying ending while leaving some loose ends for future books.
Diana Pharaoh Francis: The Cipher
Crosspointe # 1
Lucy Trenton is a member of Crosspointe's Royal Family, but that doesn't mean she gets a free ride. They all have to work for a living. Lucy is a customs officer and a damn good one, but she has a secret; she can feel the presence of magic. Which is a bit unfortunate because Crosspointe runs on small magics made from the raw magic of the dangerous sylveth which infests the sea, contaminating and changing anything it touches into living monsters, infectious and dangerous. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Lucy is the officer on watch when a magical knucklebone reef rises, wrecking ships outside the magic-protected harbour bar. At great psychological cost Lucy heads the crew responsible for dragging the salvage on shore, making it safe and dutifully killing the human horrors changed by the sylveth. In this she's helped by two captains, her childhood friend, Jordan, and the rakish Marten Thorpe, a good captain, but a notorious gambler when not at sea, whom she doesn't trust but is attracted to. Amongst the salvage is a true cypher – an illegal magical artifact – which fastens on to Lucy. Convinced that it will kill her very soon she allows herself some comfort in Marten, and from then on her troubles multiply.
Accused of stealing a hugely valuable cargo (which she didn't) she's blackmailed by someone who knows about the true ciphers that she's collected over the years (enough to get her executed and to destroy her family and friends) and at the same time her attached cipher starts to play up in unpredictably dangerous ways. She ends up on the run and hiding in the bad part of town.
The Jutras – Crosspointe's enemy – are set to invade and Lucy becomes embroiled in political intrigue which involves an old enemy from her childhood who turns out to be a Jutras spy in league with Marten's older brother. The brother, powerful but evil, bankrupts Marten (deliberately) and then buys him back from the debtor's block, effectively enslaving him.
But Lucy's cipher isn't the death sentence she presumes it to be and when sent outside the safety of the harbour bar at the mercy of the sylveth it comes into its own. Marten and Lucy discover hidden magical talents and a way to save the city. This offers a satisfying ending while leaving some loose ends for future books.