Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

88 reviews

third_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? Yes

5.0

This book makes me unwell. It's so, so well done and also so upsetting. Really excellent in many ways. This was my second time reading it, and like all my favorite books it truly hits differently the second time through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, War, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Torture

outlawbri's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Misogyny, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence and Torture

lktx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

5.0

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is an adult fantasy novel that follows Baru Cormorant, Imperial accountant for the Masquerade (excuse me, Imperial Republic of Falcrest), during her time in Aurdwynn. The book starts in her childhood, on her home island of Taranoke, through her time in a Masquerade school, and then focuses on the years in Aurdwynn. It starts more on the bureaucracy and economy of colonization and rebellion, but in the end, can't avoid the need for outright war.

First: THAT ENDING. As soon I realized what was happening, all the pieces Dickinson laid clicked into place. It wrecked me in the best way and was the right ending for Baru's character. The best description I've read for Baru is that it puts the Red Wedding to shame, but Dickinson managed in a way that has me desperate to know what is going to happen next.

Second: The world is hard and uncomfortable. The Masquerade is unflinchingly hateful against gay men and lesbians and will expend every tool in its arsenal to push it's "hygenic standards." They are also proponents of biologically determined theories of race and eugenics.

I also really enjoyed Baru as a character. She's complex, intelligent, and singularly focused. She's also young and many of her choices seem appropriate for someone young and inexperienced.

I listened to the audiobook version and narrator, Christine Marshall, did a fantastic job not only portraying Baru, but built tension in the right places and helped draw attention to pieces that readers needed to know, but might not realize.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant was wonderfully executed, kept my interested, and gave me an ending I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about. It's easily one of my top reads of the year. I couldn't get my hands on the next book fast enough.

Pros:
- Strong voice for Baru and her narration style wonderfully fits her character.
- Complex plot that the author provides clues for the ending, but I still didn't see it coming.
- Deep world, deep characters, deep story. I was so invested in everything.

Cons:
- There were a few threads that Baru offered that I didn't feel were resolved (WHAT IS IN THE WELL?), but I assume that will come later in the series.
- It was a dark book, which wasn't a problem for me, but rather something to be aware of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Colonisation, and Violence

Moderate: Death

Minor: Torture

indeedithappens's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Body horror, Sexual content, Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Bullying, Child abuse, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

• 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

I loved the political intrigue. I loved the parts of this book that leaned more into being a character study of Baru. I liked Tain Hu and thought that she was handled very well. I just sometimes felt like there was too much emotional and narrative distance between us and Baru, and I’m also not sure how much I care about reading the sequels anytime soon.

That being said, anti-imperialist speculative fiction is my shit, especially when it’s queer, so I absolutely gobbled most of this up. 

Extremely strange encountering the word “sodomite” in a high fantasy novel, though. I will be pondering that choice for a while I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, War, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racism and Murder

Additional content warnings for murder and drowning. Also, the homophobia is VERY intense here.

ave's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Homophobia, War, and Violence

bookycnidaria's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Gaslighting, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Genocide, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Torture

Moderate: Outing and Pandemic/Epidemic

fauxpunk's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I will never be ok again 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, War, Colonisation, Violence, Genocide, Xenophobia, and Lesbophobia

bitofadisgrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Homophobia

bellbookcandle's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.0

The twist at the end, where Baru betrays the rebellion, was kind of predictable and really sucked. I was super sad about Tain Hu‘s execution. Do not want to read the second.

Language, imagery and world lovingly realized and vibrant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Homophobia, and War