Hall of Skulls by Jamie Eubanks

SPSFC 2023

A strategic abduction kicks off this award-winning, high-stakes science fiction novel. When Kai becomes the youngest provisional leader of Churi, Mokuteki law decrees he must prevail against a brutal challenge. Once the ritualized testing phase begins—one designed to break both body and spirit—Kai discovers more than his title is at stake. As part of that challenge, while blindfolded and chained, Kai learns his betrothed, Asher, has been abducted. In his search for Asher and truth, trading deeds for information, Kai must not only face the alien invaders who attempted to conquer his world but must fight against time and space. Believing his future and that of Asher are inexorably entwined, Kai discovers his only hope is to unlock the ancient technology and secrets that lie within the Hall Of Skulls.