Nathan Rook is a man who deals in information. When a contact offers to sell him an ancient coffin, complete with a living breathing woman inside he knows he may have stumbled across the greatest discovery ever or possibly the greatest hoax. Everything about the woman's appearance indicates she is the Messiah and when she awakes she demonstrates incredible magical abilities. However she has no memories and doesn't believe she is the Messiah. Rook vows to help her and also realizes that, Messiah or not, she can be used as incredibly dangerous tool in the wrong hands.
Tryss, daughter of the queen, finds herself in the unenviable position of being used as a political tool by her mother. Her mother wishes to create a lasting peace by marrying off her daughter to the son of a prominent politician. Tryss has no interest in politics but initially goes along with it, until her fiance attempts to rape her. She is intent on escaping by any means necessary even if it means accepting the help of a shady senator.
First things first I have never come across such a perfectly hidden and brilliantly effected twist ever and the author needs to be commended. The world Stalbaum introduces is an interesting mix blend of science fiction and fantasy elements. I have seen enough to be intrigued but the story is very focused throughout the book so we miss fully exploring it. This is by no means a bad thing and leads to good pacing but I hope to see a bit more of the world and cultures in future installments.
The characters themselves are fully realized and easy to sympathize with and 'screen' time is split well enough to see them all develop.
Overall I absolutely loved the concept and I have never seen a twist pulled off quite so well. 8.5/10.
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