Daína Chaviano (Author)

The story unfolds through two plot lines: in the near future, some twenty or thirty years from now; and five centuries ago, during the early days of the conquest of America.  

An unknown symbol seems to connect a murder that occurred in Miami and the discovery of an indigenous tomb in Isla de Pinos, south of Havana, seem to be connected by a mysterious symbol. Amid the social chaos that the country is experiencing before the imminent first democratic elections in almost a century, Alicia, a young cryptographer, travels from Miami to Havana to collaborate with a team of archaeologists investigating an unusual object found in that tomb. Meanwhile, a hitman moves in the shadows to recover a legacy that should not be brought to light under any circumstances. 

In a parallel plot, dating back to the sixteenth century, in Seville, the bookbinder Jacobo and his daughter Juana flee the Inquisition to Cuba, where tainos and Spanish conquistadors coexist in an increasingly tense and dangerous environment. Little by little, and as she discovers the secrets of a mysterious brotherhood to which her father belongs, the girl becomes increasingly attracted to the culture of those indigenous people - a fascination that will change her life.

The reconstruction of the Taino universe, and the interaction between Cuban indigenous people and conquerors, constitute a historical tour de force never before tackled in fiction.