Seth Dickinson

"The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" meets "Guns, Germs, and Steel" A young woman from a conquered people tries to transform an empire in this richly imagined geopolitical fantasy

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

I went into this book with lots of expectations that I can’t even begin to recall now, because nothing was how I imagined it would be. The writing was so captivating, I was really on the edge of my seat, constantly wondering what the hell was going to happen next. I could never fully predict the turns the story would take or the decisions the main character would make. That last 10 percent had me y’all… like I finished the book like this :0, and just stared at the wall for a bit.

Speaking of Baru herself, what an excellent main character. I described her as funky to a friend and I honestly can’t elaborate on why but like…. it makes sense. I really loved her as a character, she was so interesting. Watching her make bad decisions, and make bets, and bargain, lose and win, it was so fun! I do have one problem with her, and it’s that I don’t really think we’re shown why she cares about her home island. It’s her main motivation we know that because we’re told, but we aren’t really shown her reacting in any big way to the changes made there, and how much the Masquerade sterilizes it. I guess she was meant to be portrayed as steely and focused, and it makes total sense that she would want to liberate her home, but it came across to me as indifference on that front. For a while I really thought she had some other grander, more selfish scheme in mind, other than the liberation of her people.

The plot itself was really intriguing. We have this imperialist empire that just seeks to purge and control everyone around them. Not just economically or politically, but their very way of life. Controlling the smallest details of their personhood and ridding them of anything “unhygienic”. The main themes are very chilling, and very reminiscent of things we are seeing and have seen in real life. The actual in-depth politics kind of went over my head. Part of the reason was that most of the characters don’t say what they mean, almost everything is clouded in mystery, metaphor, and pretty language. Which I don’t really mind, I got the gist of it and the writing really is good. I think it’s one of those books that are all the better the second time you read it. The stuff I did understand though, super interesting and well written. I also really liked the cast of characters and their web of political intrigue, rivalry and betrayal. Sort of like what I imagine Game of Thrones is like (I’ve never read or watched game of thrones).

I love a good romance sub-plot that’s like hardly a romance subplot at all, because it’s hardly overt. I don’t care if I had crumbs, those crumbs were very dear to me. Tain Hu and Baru Cormorant, I’m going to be consumed by you two for a long, long time, and that is no lie.

bel 

I went into this book with lots of expectations that I can’t even begin to recall now, because nothing was how I imagined it would be. The writing was so captivating, I was really on the edge of my seat, constantly wondering what the hell was going to happen next. I could never fully predict the turns the story would take or the decisions the main character would make. That last 10 percent had me y’all… like I finished the book like this :0, and just stared at the wall for a bit.

Speaking of Baru herself, what an excellent main character. I described her as funky to a friend and I honestly can’t elaborate on why but like…. it makes sense. I really loved her as a character, she was so interesting. Watching her make bad decisions, and make bets, and bargain, lose and win, it was so fun! I do have one problem with her, and it’s that I don’t really think we’re shown why she cares about her home island. It’s her main motivation we know that because we’re told, but we aren’t really shown her reacting in any big way to the changes made there, and how much the Masquerade sterilizes it. I guess she was meant to be portrayed as steely and focused, and it makes total sense that she would want to liberate her home, but it came across to me as indifference on that front. For a while I really thought she had some other grander, more selfish scheme in mind, other than the liberation of her people.

The plot itself was really intriguing. We have this imperialist empire that just seeks to purge and control everyone around them. Not just economically or politically, but their very way of life. Controlling the smallest details of their personhood and ridding them of anything “unhygienic”. The main themes are very chilling, and very reminiscent of things we are seeing and have seen in real life. The actual in-depth politics kind of went over my head. Part of the reason was that most of the characters don’t say what they mean, almost everything is clouded in mystery, metaphor, and pretty language. Which I don’t really mind, I got the gist of it and the writing really is good. I think it’s one of those books that are all the better the second time you read it. The stuff I did understand though, super interesting and well written. I also really liked the cast of characters and their web of political intrigue, rivalry and betrayal. Sort of like what I imagine Game of Thrones is like (I’ve never read or watched game of thrones).

I love a good romance sub-plot that’s like hardly a romance subplot at all, because it’s hardly overt. I don’t care if I had crumbs, those crumbs were very dear to me. Tain Hu and Baru Cormorant, I’m going to be consumed by you two for a long, long time, and that is no lie.

Tomorrow, on the beach, Baru Cormorant will look up and see red sails on the horizon. The Empire of Masks is coming, armed with coin and ink, doctrine and compass, soap and lies. They will conquer Baru’s island, rewrite her culture, criminalize her customs, and dispose of one of her fathers. But Baru is patient. She'll swallow her hate, join the Masquerade, and claw her way high enough up the rungs of power to set her people free. To test her loyalty, the Masquerade will send Baru to bring order to distant Aurdwynn, a snakepit of rebels, informants, and seditious dukes. But Baru is a savant in games of power, as ruthless in her tactics as she is fixated on her goals. In the calculus of her schemes, all ledgers must be balanced, and the price of liberation paid in full. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is the critically-acclaimed debut novel from Seth Dickinson, one of the rising new stars in fantasy.

Edit: In the light of 3pm and a little coffee to counteract the haze of finishing this at 3 am, Ive got some thoughts. It's still good, but it's not perfect.

The world of the Masquerade is enticing, so close to our own, yet warped and occluded. There's intrigue and violence and gut-wrenching horrors of human cruelty, and I wish the story set in its world held all the promise of it's setting.

On paper, the premise is excellent. In practice, the ending is too predictable, our protagonist is too successful in all her endeavors, and the characters are all a bit too flat. They are often pieces of the plot puzzle, rather than people. 

I can just see it all a little too clearly. I see the point, I see the twist, I see the choices being made and the purpose of each to further the premise. I see the author working behind the scenes, and it spoils it all just a touch.

There are a few secondary twists at the end that do really bring it back around, but overall I'm a bit disappointed at being able to so easily peak behind the curtain.

Acadia

Edit: In the light of 3pm and a little coffee to counteract the haze of finishing this at 3 am, Ive got some thoughts. It's still good, but it's not perfect.

The world of the Masquerade is enticing, so close to our own, yet warped and occluded. There's intrigue and violence and gut-wrenching horrors of human cruelty, and I wish the story set in its world held all the promise of it's setting.

On paper, the premise is excellent. In practice, the ending is too predictable, our protagonist is too successful in all her endeavors, and the characters are all a bit too flat. They are often pieces of the plot puzzle, rather than people. 

I can just see it all a little too clearly. I see the point, I see the twist, I see the choices being made and the purpose of each to further the premise. I see the author working behind the scenes, and it spoils it all just a touch.

There are a few secondary twists at the end that do really bring it back around, but overall I'm a bit disappointed at being able to so easily peak behind the curtain.

you dip the lesbian betrayal into the destruction of the empire and it's just sooo good

🪢

you dip the lesbian betrayal into the destruction of the empire and it's just sooo good

[borrowed from bpl]

In Seth Dickinson's highly-anticipated debut The Traitor Baru Cormorant, a young woman from a conquered people tries to transform an empire in this richly imagined geopolitical fantasy. Baru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people-even her soul. When the Empire of Masks conquers her island home, overwrites her culture, criminalizes her customs, and murders one of her fathers, Baru vows to swallow her hate, join the Empire's civil service, and claw her way high enough to set her people free. Sent as an Imperial agent to distant Aurdwynn, another conquered country, Baru discovers it's on the brink of rebellion. Drawn by the intriguing duchess Tain Hu into a circle of seditious dukes, Baru may be able to use her position to help. As she pursues a precarious balance between the rebels and a shadowy cabal within the Empire, she orchestrates a do-or-die gambit with freedom as the prize. But the cost of winning the long game of saving her people may be far greater than Baru imagines. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

changed my brain chemistry and ruined me for life. i will never love again.

alice

George

altlovesbooks

I liked the writing style, but the story was extremely hard to follow in audiobook form. So many names only referenced once or twice, so many locations changing names and hands. I'm going to give this another shot at some point in the future and update my rating accordingly, but for now I'll leave it solidly at 3 stars. When I re-read, I'm going to read it in print rather than listen to the audiobook, and maybe I'll be able to track things better.

Seth Dickinson's epic fantasy series which began with the “literally breathtaking” (NPR) The Traitor Baru Cormorant, returns with the third book, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant. The hunt is over. After fifteen years of lies and sacrifice, Baru Cormorant has the power to destroy the Imperial Republic of Falcrest that she pretends to serve. The secret society called the Cancrioth is real, and Baru is among them. But the Cancrioth's weapon cannot distinguish the guilty from the innocent. If it escapes quarantine, the ancient hemorrhagic plague called the Kettling will kill hundreds of millions...not just in Falcrest, but all across the world. History will end in a black bloodstain. Is that justice? Is this really what Tain Hu hoped for when she sacrificed herself? Baru's enemies close in from all sides. Baru's own mind teeters on the edge of madness or shattering revelation. Now she must choose between genocidal revenge and a far more difficult path—a conspiracy of judges, kings, spies and immortals, puppeteering the world's riches and two great wars in a gambit for the ultimate prize. If Baru had absolute power over the Imperial Republic, she could force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes.

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant

tina

** spoiler alert **
           ”in a thousand years they’ll remember you as a footnote to my rise. a little prologue, oft elided. farrier, who thought he ruled baru cormorant.” this gives me a kind of buzz

I WILL WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE RUIN OF THEM. I WILL PAINT YOU ACROSS HISTORY IN THE COLOR OF THEIR BLOOD.

this novel was brutal. the portrayal of an empire who closes its fists around those in and near it was jarring to the point of sickness. coming directly off of my read of “a memory called empire,” i was expecting a cruel study of colonialism, but this was ruthless. 

obviously, the title gives away that baru will be the villain of this novel. however, the way the story unfolds makes it so difficult not to sympathize with and root for her. my heart breaks for her, and i can't help but root for her to destroy the world. the endless political intricacies and webs woven deep with betrayal are so well done. it did take me a while to get through simply due to the amount of information and complexity of the plot. but that did not deter my enjoyment of the novel at all. the prose is rich and luscious with detail, and i loved every minute of it. 

this novel is cruel, cold, and heartless. but its so necessary. it caught me in its grip and did not let up. i absolutely loved it and i cannot wait to begin the second book.

Paige mandia 

this novel was brutal. the portrayal of an empire who closes its fists around those in and near it was jarring to the point of sickness. coming directly off of my read of “a memory called empire,” i was expecting a cruel study of colonialism, but this was ruthless. 

obviously, the title gives away that baru will be the villain of this novel. however, the way the story unfolds makes it so difficult not to sympathize with and root for her. my heart breaks for her, and i can't help but root for her to destroy the world. the endless political intricacies and webs woven deep with betrayal are so well done. it did take me a while to get through simply due to the amount of information and complexity of the plot. but that did not deter my enjoyment of the novel at all. the prose is rich and luscious with detail, and i loved every minute of it. 

this novel is cruel, cold, and heartless. but its so necessary. it caught me in its grip and did not let up. i absolutely loved it and i cannot wait to begin the second book.

This has me down bad. Literally do not talk to me about this. 

Jacque

I DID IT. I FINALLY FINISHED!!!! 

rtc i can’t put thoughts into words rn.

"i used to wonder if you were a monster. now i know the answer. if you want power in this world, power enough to change it, it seems you have to be."  

this novel was brutal. the portrayal of an empire who closes its fists around those in and near it was jarring to the point of sickness. coming directly off of my read of  a memory called empire , i was expecting a cruel study of colonialism, but this was ruthless. 

obviously, the title gives away that baru will be the villain of this novel. however, the way the story unfolds makes it so difficult not to sympathize with and root for her. my heart breaks for her, and i can't help but root for her to destroy the world. the endless political intricacies and webs woven deep with betrayal are so well done. it did take me a while to get through simply due to the amount of information and complexity of the plot. but that did not deter my enjoyment of the novel at all. the prose is rich and luscious with detail, and i loved every minute of it. 

this novel is cruel, cold, and heartless. but its so necessary. it caught me in its grip and did not let up. i absolutely loved it and i cannot wait to begin the second book.

A breathtaking geopolitical epic fantasy, The Monster Baru Cormorant is the sequel to Seth Dickinson's "fascinating tale" (The Washington Post), The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Her world was shattered by the Empire of Masks. For the power to shatter the Masquerade, She betrayed everyone she loved. The traitor Baru Cormorant is now the cryptarch Agonist—a secret lord of the empire she's vowed to destroy. Hunted by a mutinous admiral, haunted by the wound which has split her mind in two, Baru leads her dearest foes on an expedition for the secret of immortality. It's her chance to trigger a war that will consume the Masquerade. But Baru's heart is broken, and she fears she can no longer tell justice from revenge...or her own desires from the will of the man who remade her. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Monster Baru Cormorant

i finally got through this! who cheered???

my main takeaway, and what struck me the most while reading, is how very different monster is from traitor in pretty much every way. 

first, we are given multiple (i think seven in total?? ) points of view that constantly switch back and forth. some of the povs i felt were more necessary than others, (like did we really need that singular lindon pov??), but i felt the payoff from most of them. 

second, not as much actually Happens. it is definitely one of the infamous middle books (though not actually a middle book) that consist of the Journey. the pacing was slower at times and i do think that is why it took me so long to finish. that being said, i understand why dickinson took this book to set us up for the rest of the series. the pieces are certainly all in place now and i am very excited to see where we go. 

thirdly, this one definitely had more actual fantasy elements than the first one. i really enjoyed getting more mythology and actual magic going on. the mix of magic with gritty politics and imperial cruelty worked very well for me. 

i really liked getting to see more of apparitor and i absolutely adore iraji (im scared for him🫣). sooo excited for more aminata in the next book because i really like how her character is positioned at the moment. 

one critique i have is none of the villains in this one felt like they had actual weight. like tain shir would pop up for thirty seconds and then leave. the stakes didn’t feel as high in this one, but i understand that is because this one took more time to examine baru’s inner morality and trauma, so overall it had less action. the ending perfectly sets up tain shir’s motives for the next books, though. so im excited to see how baru and the rest of the main characters handle these new stakes ‼️‼️

Lia Yuliana

Fraser Simons

Well realized and definitely like the prose quality, it was just very hard to connect with any character and even the world because of the framing. Even when you’re let into a character’s inner thoughts and feelings I still felt like a spectator watching these cold machines playing at being some variant of humanity. 

The themes work well and the world building seems solid. I will still read the sequel, I just am more interested from a meta perspective than in the people in it. It was pretty hyped up to me though, so might have just been mismatched expectations on my part. Either way, I still like what I like about it.

A breathtaking geopolitical epic fantasy, The Monster Baru Cormorant is the sequel to Seth Dickinson's "fascinating tale" (The Washington Post), The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Her world was shattered by the Empire of Masks. For the power to shatter the Masquerade, She betrayed everyone she loved. The traitor Baru Cormorant is now the cryptarch Agonist—a secret lord of the empire she's vowed to destroy. Hunted by a mutinous admiral, haunted by the wound which has split her mind in two, Baru leads her dearest foes on an expedition for the secret of immortality. It's her chance to trigger a war that will consume the Masquerade. But Baru's heart is broken, and she fears she can no longer tell justice from revenge...or her own desires from the will of the man who remade her.

forget game of thrones this should’ve been the series they adapted into an HBO show. it is the best!!

Easily one of the best books of this year so far. Brilliant. 

Edit to update: This held up to the rest of 2016 and it was my absolute favorite that I read this year. Please read this book. I've made all my friends do so and they don't hate me too much for it.

Sheila

The 2nd book of this trilogy is all about consequences - we begin with a horrendous decision, and the rest of the story is fallout. Baru, now shaken out of her previously iron confidence in herself and her will to save Taranoke, struggles with the idea that her actions have consequences and that those consequences not only affect the Great Game but individuals she had forgotten or will never meet. 

Baru's mind is effectively split in two but she's not entirely cognizant of that fact. She's reeling with grief and drowning in doubt, and that's what makes this book so interesting to me. Dickinson is finally showing us the entire map as well as the myriad connections and associations that shape Falcrest's will - not dissimilar to the Mbo's 'trim'. It's the little nuggets of backstories and the niggly political manipulations that I personally love so much but which do make this book dense. 

There were so many good quotes in this book, but I feel like most people will not appreciate this book for what it is simply because the action was more psychological than physical. With how this book ended, though, I'm desperate for the finale!!

THAT ENDING. WHY GOD WHY???!?!?!?!?!??!??? I wanted to rip off my arm & give it to the Masquerade if it meant Baru could be happy forever BUT NO INSTEAD EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE FOR BARU AS SHE BECOMES THE SHADOW OF HER FORMER SELF TELLING HERSELF IT'S FOR TARANOKE 

  

By the end I realized that Baru had even played ME!!!! I would've felt betrayed had her ending not been THE WORST REALIZATION EVER. 

I mean, this book is fantastic & a real achievement in Fantasy literature, but holy shit do I need to lie down & cry right now.

Elizabeth Jones

Accounting has never been so fun to read. 

Nicholas Hanemann

It had to end this way.

In my recent attempts to listen to more fantasy, trying to return to the genre I adored as a kid, I've realized something. Fantasy authors have horrible politics. It's understandable, given that the genre has a penchant for exceptional protagonists whose merit propels them out of their mismatched beginnings, for rulers who exist either as setpieces (unquestioned authority mostly external to the story) or as an ultimate representation of virtue or corruption, and for creative imaginations of creatures that nonetheless hew to some understanding of biological categorization. Attempts to challenge, to modernize, to play with these tropes typically fall flat on their face. How many recent books have had a monarchy replaced with the ("clearly") ultimate system of governance, representative democracy? How many have attempted to eschew any sense of inherent supernatural ability in their protagonist, while still giving them enough aptitude to produce success in their respective fantastic meritocracies? How many have attempted to redeem classical monsters such as orcs, goblins, dark elves, and so on in the exact terms of model minority racial politics? 

A lot. And it's exhausting. And it's disappointing, because the failed attempts at hacking the classic structure pile up and spawn their own reactions, which inevitably end back up where the entire venture started, with permutations of the template that don't actually go anywhere new.

But, what if the answer lies not in a bold subversion of tropes, but in the acceptance and deepening of them? An adept child is spotted as having potential, not due to some wayward benefactor, but by an agent of an ideological project that's invested in mythmaking around the idea of inborn racial characteristics. Would such a child dive headfirst into the project for the abstract goal of advancement, towards some amorphous sense power? Or, would their singling out draw their attention to the disparity between how they see themselves, how their family sees them, and how this outsider sees them? Wouldn't that nag at a person? 

The concept of empire and of colonialism, the subtler power of racial imagination and of normative behavior, looms heavy in The Traitor Baru Cormorant. These are forces as violent and deadly as swords, and their true danger comes from how ingrained they are into the way we see the world. We see their results in our day-to-day lives, but are rarely given to see the sheer force with which they were set into motion, and how much of that force remains through the entropy of centuries. If empire is behind us, why are its ideals so familiar, almost as echoes to modern concepts of rule, of order, of advancement? Is the project itself incompatible with our present lives, or is it simply its unsavory byproducts which disturb us?

Sunyi Dean

I adored The Traitor Baru Cormorant (Masquerade #1) and loved the *start* of book #2 in this series, but despite some excellent writing and characterisation at the start, the novel disintegrated for me at around the 30% mark. 

Structural problems were my biggest issue. Instead of one clear focus on Baru, MONSTER cut between different characters. That in itself isn't problematic, except that some of the other POVs seemed random in their choice and presentation at times (in one memorable chapter, the narrative switches mid-paragraph from first person following Xate Yawa, back to third distant centered again on Baru.) I'm not really sure why those decisions were made. 

The narrative is disjointed (continuation of structural issues) and I struggled to see a clear thread pulling it tightly together, unlike the first book which was sewn up tightly. It gets better when Baru finally leaves the Masquerade people to go do what she does best, but the overall execution still feels sloppy to me. 

Smaller point, I was mildly disappointed by the Masquerade crowd. They felt small and powerless, and their rule over the empire very fractured. I found it hard to believe that these people were successfully governing anything when they can barely organise a dinner party. But maybe other readers will react differently.

As ever, my thoughts are my own and opinions are subjective.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

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