Reviews

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

joelanichols's review

4.0

This book has me in all sorts of powerful ways. I couldn't not be fascinated with Baru and wanting to see what she does next/what happens to her. The book builds an interesting feudal/colonial world, especially in the beginning when you think it's going to be an economic thriller about the Imperial Accountant. I must say, though, I was totally confused with what's what and who is who as of the last third, and while I got the overall gist of the [slight spoiler alert] rebellion, I feel like I didn't get so many of the twists and turns and might have lost some of the overall impact, especially of the Xate siblings, in that confusion. [BIG SPOILER ALERT] Am very conflicted with Baru as doomed queer/tragic lesb, and I want to talk about it with other queer readers. The emotional/story arc payoff doubling into each other is powerful and amazing, but I'd love to dig into 1) why Dickinson elided their explicit lesbian sex night together in the tricky narrative for us, the reader, and 2) what exactly this story gains by having *NECESSARY FOR PAYOFF* unreliable narration that is third person, and until that big payoff didn't, for me, convince me as much that I should find it even a little suspect. Anyone, love to talk to other readers about it and also CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE SEQUEL.

jessarratt's review

5.0

I'm really glad I stuck through this to the end, because the ending was definitely the best part. Wow.
I took a long break in the middle but the last ~25% was worth the slightly tedious parts along the way. I'm not sure if I'll continue this series in audiobook format or not, the names I think will be easier to keep track of in print.

jillsandwich's review

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

user01051589's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

lostbadger's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

cheelogreen's review

challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

iapark's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

dsty292's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

ismelllikebooks's review

3.0

"And he looked at her with open eyes, the bone of his heavy brow a bastion above, the flesh of his face wealthy below, and in those eyes she glimpsed an imperium, a mechanism of rule building itself from the work of so many million hands. Remorseless not out of cruelty or hate but because it was too vast and too set on its destiny to care for the small tragedies of its growth..."

What I appreciated: The calculation and the long game. Baru is clever and has (nearly) impeccable self-control. I appreciate her strong will and her devotion to her goal. The last several chapters were great.

What I took issue with: The entire middle of the book was a slog. Lots of alliance building and questioning and breaking, battle planning, and bureaucracy. It’s well done but not my personal taste.

The elevator pitch for my clone: It will go in a direction you don't expect (or altogether like… mainly because the direction you want it to go in would be so much more interesting...) but you will still enjoy it. The middle of the book will take you a bit to get through, definitely swampy for a bit, but the end will merit all that wading.

"A promise. This is the truth. You will know because it hurts."

micareads123's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This wasn’t as hard hitting for me as I expected it to be, but I think I have to chalk it up to right book, wrong time. 

I loved the themes of colonialism/colonization, oppression, gender roles, sexuality. I loved the moral grey area. And I annoyingly loved the weird, economics-obsessed traitor herself, Baru. 

But the execution left me feeling unmotivated and at times zoned out. Maybe there were too many battle scenes? Too much accounting? 

I have to hand it to Dickinson for really going for it: taking a topic as outwardly dull as accounting and basing an entire plot/character personality around it. Well done. I hate that I loved that.

I did enjoy this and plan to continue with the series, just not immediately.