Cryptomancer is one of those genre blends that on paper should not work and yet ends up producing something original, intriguing and de facto original. The high level pitch is basically hacking and high-octane espionnage in a fantasy world. The 'technology' angle is delivered by a particular type of magic crystal that allows the various shards of these crystals to resonate at a distance and enable communications. From there sprouts a societal revolution as isolated communities are blown open by an 'internet' equivalent. Encryption and hacking is done through logic and magic. Most interestingly the author (an IT expert) has designed the system so that hacking / infosec is not abstracted. It's all about public and private keys, who knows them or can extract them, etc. Highly recommended not only for its own sake but if you want to do modern type espionnage with an adreline fueled true-to-life system. Full review (in French) here.
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