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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a cool and deeply flawed main character and commentary on the imperial world. Great action and plot. I love lesbians and Baru Cormorant
I genuinely don't know how this book/series/author can exist.
I legitimately have no idea how Seth Dickinson wrote this.
There are so many different threads he has to maintain and weave together--not just plot threads, but character, culture, commerce, geography, history, weather, disease, etc. And somehow he does it. He knows instinctively the lesson Baru is brutally taught, that other people exist, that they aren't just vectors of plot but individual agents with their own motives and interiorities, and so every character in this enormous book feels incredibly, viscerally alive.
I didn’t realize how much I’d come to love Tau, how effectively Tau’s character is shown through the ways in which they’re perceived by the other characters. I didn’t expect the pathos and fury of Aminata’s arc in this book, so painfully relevant. I did not anticipate how much I would enjoy Yawa’s acid humor and non-Baru savantry. But it all works so beautifully, so exquisitely plotted, without ever feeling like Seth is unfairly manipulating events to follow his desired plot--the events of the novel happen because of people being people, in all their weaknesses and foibles and history and strength.
The Tyrant Baru Cormorant feels dense enough to encompass several books. This is a joy; multiple times it felt like based on the events I should be reaching a climax (e.g. an incredible scene not even a third of the way through where Baru, familiarly, starts to count the birds), and yet there was still so much more to go. The climaxes never disappoint, and yet even when internal arcs reach their resolution there is still so much tension, still so much at stake, still so many threads to unravel, that I never wanted to stop reading. I was continuously grateful for the abundance of this book.
And it’s dense not just in content but in style. Again, I have no idea how someone like Seth Dickinson can exist, because he is a master at everything. If you want epic battles at sea with cannonfire and mines and torpedos and defensive kites and nautical maneuvering? Check. If you want devious machinations of finance and politics? Check. If you want body horror and secret cults? Check (The pigs! Iraji vs the Brain!). If you want gorgeous, breathtakingly poetic prose? Check. If you want tense action sequences of hand-to-hand combat? Check. If you want fictional cultures and nations so detailed and lived in that it seems Seth himself must not be a novelist but a historian and/or anthropologist from the Ashen Sea? Check. If you want redemption arcs with enemies becoming friends and friends becoming enemies? Check. If you want some of the wildest, trippiest, most poetically written dream/drug-induced hallucination sequences? Check. If you want seduction, devastation, heartbreak, catharsis, conspiracy? Check.
It’s all just so expansive, so epic and intimate at once. Seth is absurdly skilled at maintaining tension; you always feel the stakes, the weight of Tain Hu’s sacrifice, the burden of all Baru’s crimes, the menace of Falcrest’s nested secrets and atrocities of empire. But he’s also exquisite at relieving the tension, even if the relief is brief. Quiet moments, like between Baru and an unexpected not-quite ally meditating together on the night shores of Kyprananoke. Or an unexpected reunion between Baru and another foul-mouthed character important to her, perfectly placed in the narrative because of how it reframes Baru the traitor/monster/tyrant/cryptarch, and because it’s legitimately funny. I’m in awe of how funny this book can be, despite all the grimness.
This is nothing to say even of the ethos of the series, the central question of empire, which is so incredibly, so thoroughly, so unflinchingly developed, imbued in every sentence and every character and every turning of the plot. Two quotes explain this ethos. First:
“Empire required a will, a brain to move the beast, to reach out with appetite, to see other people as the answer to that appetite, to justify the devouring of other peoples as right and necessary and good, to frame slavery and conquest as acts of grace and charity.”
And second: “The world is made of people.” This is not a refutation of empire’s appetites, but an explanation of culpability, and an opportunity to choose other than atrocity.
These two quotes outline the shape of Baru’s arc, and it’s truly glorious to watch this arc play out. Baru’s last scene in Tyrant, before the epilogue, is so well-earned, unexpected, funny, beautiful. It’s a capstone to the series thus far, and while it may be a while before we get the final installment in the series, I will follow Seth anywhere no matter how long. The Masquerade series is already a masterpiece. The only books I can think to compare it to, not in terms of content but sheer quality, are Daniel Abraham’s Coin and Dagger Series and Long Price Quartet, and N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy.
I’ll end this review with one more quote, which is almost just a throwaway paragraph in that it’s not really relevant to any of the major characters or plot, but nothing is really irrelevant when people are people, and this quote demonstrates a lot about Seth’s acuity.
“A race mob had attacked the Tahari Spill, where certain more affluent Oriati federati lived; the city constabulary had already taken the family there into protective custody, and they would be resettled in the Brine City slums, where they could help improve the lot of their racemates. A dog had died in the fire and that had caused much public sorrow. The mob, all the rhetorics agreed, should have expressed its anger more civilly.” – Seth notes in his acknowledgments that he draws a lot on history for his depictions of empire. American history is no exception.
Last thing--please buy every book in this series optimally from a non-monopolistic vendor! Support indie book stores and not empire!
I legitimately have no idea how Seth Dickinson wrote this.
There are so many different threads he has to maintain and weave together--not just plot threads, but character, culture, commerce, geography, history, weather, disease, etc. And somehow he does it. He knows instinctively the lesson Baru is brutally taught, that other people exist, that they aren't just vectors of plot but individual agents with their own motives and interiorities, and so every character in this enormous book feels incredibly, viscerally alive.
I didn’t realize how much I’d come to love Tau, how effectively Tau’s character is shown through the ways in which they’re perceived by the other characters. I didn’t expect the pathos and fury of Aminata’s arc in this book, so painfully relevant. I did not anticipate how much I would enjoy Yawa’s acid humor and non-Baru savantry. But it all works so beautifully, so exquisitely plotted, without ever feeling like Seth is unfairly manipulating events to follow his desired plot--the events of the novel happen because of people being people, in all their weaknesses and foibles and history and strength.
The Tyrant Baru Cormorant feels dense enough to encompass several books. This is a joy; multiple times it felt like based on the events I should be reaching a climax (e.g. an incredible scene not even a third of the way through where Baru, familiarly, starts to count the birds), and yet there was still so much more to go. The climaxes never disappoint, and yet even when internal arcs reach their resolution there is still so much tension, still so much at stake, still so many threads to unravel, that I never wanted to stop reading. I was continuously grateful for the abundance of this book.
And it’s dense not just in content but in style. Again, I have no idea how someone like Seth Dickinson can exist, because he is a master at everything. If you want epic battles at sea with cannonfire and mines and torpedos and defensive kites and nautical maneuvering? Check. If you want devious machinations of finance and politics? Check. If you want body horror and secret cults? Check (The pigs! Iraji vs the Brain!). If you want gorgeous, breathtakingly poetic prose? Check. If you want tense action sequences of hand-to-hand combat? Check. If you want fictional cultures and nations so detailed and lived in that it seems Seth himself must not be a novelist but a historian and/or anthropologist from the Ashen Sea? Check. If you want redemption arcs with enemies becoming friends and friends becoming enemies? Check. If you want some of the wildest, trippiest, most poetically written dream/drug-induced hallucination sequences? Check. If you want seduction, devastation, heartbreak, catharsis, conspiracy? Check.
It’s all just so expansive, so epic and intimate at once. Seth is absurdly skilled at maintaining tension; you always feel the stakes, the weight of Tain Hu’s sacrifice, the burden of all Baru’s crimes, the menace of Falcrest’s nested secrets and atrocities of empire. But he’s also exquisite at relieving the tension, even if the relief is brief. Quiet moments, like between Baru and an unexpected not-quite ally meditating together on the night shores of Kyprananoke. Or an unexpected reunion between Baru and another foul-mouthed character important to her, perfectly placed in the narrative because of how it reframes Baru the traitor/monster/tyrant/cryptarch, and because it’s legitimately funny. I’m in awe of how funny this book can be, despite all the grimness.
This is nothing to say even of the ethos of the series, the central question of empire, which is so incredibly, so thoroughly, so unflinchingly developed, imbued in every sentence and every character and every turning of the plot. Two quotes explain this ethos. First:
“Empire required a will, a brain to move the beast, to reach out with appetite, to see other people as the answer to that appetite, to justify the devouring of other peoples as right and necessary and good, to frame slavery and conquest as acts of grace and charity.”
And second: “The world is made of people.” This is not a refutation of empire’s appetites, but an explanation of culpability, and an opportunity to choose other than atrocity.
These two quotes outline the shape of Baru’s arc, and it’s truly glorious to watch this arc play out. Baru’s last scene in Tyrant, before the epilogue, is so well-earned, unexpected, funny, beautiful. It’s a capstone to the series thus far, and while it may be a while before we get the final installment in the series, I will follow Seth anywhere no matter how long. The Masquerade series is already a masterpiece. The only books I can think to compare it to, not in terms of content but sheer quality, are Daniel Abraham’s Coin and Dagger Series and Long Price Quartet, and N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy.
I’ll end this review with one more quote, which is almost just a throwaway paragraph in that it’s not really relevant to any of the major characters or plot, but nothing is really irrelevant when people are people, and this quote demonstrates a lot about Seth’s acuity.
“A race mob had attacked the Tahari Spill, where certain more affluent Oriati federati lived; the city constabulary had already taken the family there into protective custody, and they would be resettled in the Brine City slums, where they could help improve the lot of their racemates. A dog had died in the fire and that had caused much public sorrow. The mob, all the rhetorics agreed, should have expressed its anger more civilly.” – Seth notes in his acknowledgments that he draws a lot on history for his depictions of empire. American history is no exception.
Last thing--please buy every book in this series optimally from a non-monopolistic vendor! Support indie book stores and not empire!
"My love, my queen, kuye lam"—Hu was unbearably radiant now, a cold clean light like a star—"I am a part of you forever, but I was born to rule high wilderness, to guard my people and to defy my foe."
also: pussy hands
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Oh man, I binge read this in two sittings. Would've done it in one if it wouldn't have had me up until 9am.
TYRANT sees Baru hit rock bottom, reckon with the Farrier process, and decide who exactly she wants to be. It wasn't as gallows-humorous as MONSTER, but TYRANT (despite the title) has a lot of joy in it. The ending is extremely hopeful, and even ends on a happy moment (!).
Spoilery stuff ahead:
Pinion and Solit! BAHAHAHA most of my laughs came from Baru's parents. I love how they endlessly rib her, and insist she demonstrate she can show a girl a good time for at least an afternoon, and how did she manage to wed a hot wealthy lady and still manage to bumble it? I am on pins and needles about Salm...
Tau-Indi's flashbacks about Kindalana and Abdumasi finally come into focus too, and it was gratifying to see them come together once more. Of course, more questions come into focus: who is Kindalana's daughter, what role are the three to play in the future, because I doubt we're done yet.
And Tain Shir's reveal that there are more cryptarchs than Baru knows! That Baru's merely part of a foreign affairs cell! Between that and Baru finally in the heart of Falcrest, the stakes are ratcheted up. I would assume it's gonna take more than 1 book to resolve that can of worms, but I trust Dickinson.
Also, the science-y magic! So cool! I can't wait to learn more about the lightning people and the real world science behind that.
I can't wait for the next book, but I know it'll be worth it. In the meanwhile, I am so relieved and happy to leave Baru on a hopeful note and with people in her life she cares for.
TYRANT sees Baru hit rock bottom, reckon with the Farrier process, and decide who exactly she wants to be. It wasn't as gallows-humorous as MONSTER, but TYRANT (despite the title) has a lot of joy in it. The ending is extremely hopeful, and even ends on a happy moment (!).
Spoilery stuff ahead:
Spoiler
TAIN HU! I am shocked at her longevity given she's been dead TRAITOR. I knew something was going on with Baru's blind eye and the right-aligned text, but I did not see Tain Hu coming. Also, the scene at the end, where she shows Baru how she envisions a better world for Vultjag? And then says her farewell to Baru? I just about cried. But I am glad she said her goodbye, because one of the things that I worried was how ever is Baru going to move on if she's forever wedded to the near-ghost of her lover? So this leaves room for Baru to find love in new places, and get herself two wives as Tain Hu suggested. XDPinion and Solit! BAHAHAHA most of my laughs came from Baru's parents. I love how they endlessly rib her, and insist she demonstrate she can show a girl a good time for at least an afternoon, and how did she manage to wed a hot wealthy lady and still manage to bumble it? I am on pins and needles about Salm...
Tau-Indi's flashbacks about Kindalana and Abdumasi finally come into focus too, and it was gratifying to see them come together once more. Of course, more questions come into focus: who is Kindalana's daughter, what role are the three to play in the future, because I doubt we're done yet.
And Tain Shir's reveal that there are more cryptarchs than Baru knows! That Baru's merely part of a foreign affairs cell! Between that and Baru finally in the heart of Falcrest, the stakes are ratcheted up. I would assume it's gonna take more than 1 book to resolve that can of worms, but I trust Dickinson.
Also, the science-y magic! So cool! I can't wait to learn more about the lightning people and the real world science behind that.
I can't wait for the next book, but I know it'll be worth it. In the meanwhile, I am so relieved and happy to leave Baru on a hopeful note and with people in her life she cares for.