Code and Codex: The epic new space opera from the author of Ninefox Gambit

Aurelia, ruler of a corrupt galactic empire, commands the obedience of all who hear and understand her - and all languages other than her own are forbidden. Valentina, purchased as a child as Aurelia's bodyguard and servant, is responsible for extracting useful knowledge from foreign texts before erasing their languages wholesale.

Sent to seize a book from an obscure world at the outskirts of the empire, Valentina returns with the key to controlling the most dangerous man in existence. The traitor Jenner burned out his knowledge of the empire's language before he was imprisoned, but the slender volume describes his long-extinct native tongue.

But at the moment of Aurelia's triumph, Jenner escapes his ancient prison, and Valentina is sent to hunt him down...