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 … 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.
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Reading this was like watching a game of chess unfold: a breakneck back-and-forth of calculated risks and soulless victories. Almost frighteningly so.
The stage is set like a typical warring-kingdoms fantasy: young girl’s homeland is captured by imperialists. Young girl decides to overthrow evil empire. Young girl must do so from within the system.
But that’s just about where the similarities end. This story is unlike any I’ve ever read. Baru is more shrewd and stoic and ambitious than any heroine I’ve known. The other characters are just as clever. And the plot is dense with a myriad of new cultures, familiar and imagined political and economic theory, and reams of wartime philosophy — fire-hosed at you with an attitude of “keep-up-if-you-can.”
It felt a little like reading Red Rising or Ender’s Game from the perspective of The Stranger’s Meursault. Chilling, and SO GOOD.
Stunning! There are moments that take my breath away.
Dickinson has written a poet’s Dune, a brutal tale of empire, rebellion, fealty, and high finance that moves like a rocket and burns twice as hot. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is a mic drop for epic fantasy.
Smart. Brutal. Gut-wrenching. You’ll be captivated from the very first page. Dickinson is a sly, masterful writer who pulls no punches. Get ready to have your heart ripped out through your throat. Highly recommended.
Beautiful and brutal. This is unflinching fantasy.
Here is a tale of Baru and her will to change the world. Here is her rise to power, and how much she’ll sacrifice for a chance at her goal. Baru is a flawed and Machiavellian protagonist, but that makes it all the more engaging to watch her enact her schemes–and see if they’ll unravel her or her foes first. But this is not a happy tale; I found myself shouting in futility at the direction of the final pages, hoping for a kinder outcome, but too spellbound by the machinations of the plot to stop. If you want a tale equal turns smart and tragic, here is your next read.
Utterly brilliant and completely heart-breaking. So damned good it makes me want to smash my computer and quit writing.
Seth Dickinson created a fantasy world of politics and intrigue. An existing empire nicknamed the Masquerade conquers by absorbing countries. They make contact and introduce improvements that better the lives of the natives. The next step is “cleansing” the society of homosexuality (sins) and setting up a breeding system. The Children are educated, brainwashed and sorted with the most promising individuals becoming tools of the empire. Baru Cormorant is one of the children and her story follows her to her first assignment by the empire. She secretly holds on to the hope of some day freeing her country from the Masquerade but the many twists and turns in the story leaves the reader wondering just how she will do it, and at what cost. Excellent world building. I borrowed the ebook from the library and wrote this review after reading it.
Very unusual and provocative read.
Hard to follow.
Brutal, relentless and with the heartbreaking beauty of the best tragedies. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is a haunting book that asks hard questions about revolution, change, and what it means to keep faith.
A beautiful, perfectly formed crystal of a novel borne out of a tight plot mated with elegant language.
Fascinating characters, a world imagined with wonderful depth, and storytelling that succeeds on both an epic and a powerfully intimate scale. This is really something special.
Amazing and inventive.
Skillfully combines intrigue, action, and philosophical musings to create a suspenseful and deeply satisfying read. An intelligent and accomplished first novel reminiscent of Le Guin in its reflections on imperialism, colonialism, and the attractions and corruptions of power.
Visceral and unflinching, The Traitor Baru Cormorant employs a rich palate of cultures to explore brutal moral complexities. Lightning strikes when those elements collide, setting off the bitter internal conflict of a narrator with vast, irreconcilable ambitions. With this debut, Seth Dickinson declares himself as a novelist with power and acuity.
An extraordinary debut — powerful, complex, and passionate. I was blown away by it.
You are not prepared for this book. It’s brilliant, and I cannot wait for the next one.