As she grows up, she witnesses her people and her whole way of life slowly conquered, not by force of arms, but economics. We first meet her as a young girl living in the coastal idyll of her fishing village, Taranoke. Everything is steered in directions you never quite expect, and the result is distinctive enough to be unlike most other books of its kind you may have read. There are no creatures of myth, no magic use, nothing apparently paranormal at all in this world. Not wasting time with the often superficial cynicism towards humanity's innate corrupt nature that has come to define "grimdark" fantasy (especially as bloody nihilism has become grimdark's actual selling point, rather than a literary device designed honestly to inspire thought and self-reflection on the part of the reader), Dickinson takes us right into the heart of darkness and gives us a ringside seat to the making of a monster.Įxpanding upon a 2011 short story published at Beneath Ceaseless Skies (which you absolutely should not read prior to the novel, because massive spoilers), Dickinson employs some familiar tropes of fantasy - the imperialist conquerors, the rebel determined to win at all costs - while utterly ignoring others. Like its namesake, The Traitor Baru Cormorant lures you in, puts you at your ease, wins your confidence, and then destroys you. Over the course of 400 tight and tense pages, the book lives up to its promise. You will know because it hurts." And even then, you aren't prepared. Seth Dickinson knows this and gives you fair warning at the outset. Tweets by are probably going to hate this book. Book cover artwork is copyrighted by its respective artist and/or publisher. 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.īut the cost of winning the long game of saving her people may be far greater than Baru imagines.Īt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.All reviews and site design © by Thomas M. Drawn by the intriguing duchess Tain Hu into a circle of seditious dukes, Baru may be able to use her position to help. Sent as an Imperial agent to distant Aurdwynn, another conquered country, Baru discovers it's on the brink of rebellion. 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.
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.īaru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people-even her soul.
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