Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

10 reviews

sheiksleopardthong's review

adventurous 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

5.0

I loved all of these books, but I BURNED THROUGH The Tyrant. I couldn't put it down- every spare moment I needed to know what would happen next to these characters, in this world that's being peeled back slowly and delicately. I love the scheming and travelling. The balance between characters all with their own needs, but similar wants. Or their own wants, but similar needs.

When I first started reading this series I asked my husband (who'd just finished it) "Is there magic?" And his response was "Uh, depends on your definition of magic." I wasn't very satisfied with that answer.

Well, now I have to suck up my pride and admit I'm satisfied with that answer. 

I don't even have words to describe my love for this series, these characters, this world. This book makes me want to write. It makes me believe in trim. 

I cannot wait for the final book. But Seth did something so few authors do, which is let the story rest. Give us a breather. I'm so so content with the end of The Tyrant. I'm excited for the next book. But I'm not acutely dying for it. Maybe Baru &co won't get a break (we'll find out!) But we get one, and Seth gets one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cancer, Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Body horror, Classism, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Colonisation, Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Drug use

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Alcohol, Cursing, and Cannibalism

Minor: Forced institutionalization

beebalm's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Here I am getting obsessed with another 4 book series that was supposed to be a trilogy with no release timeline for the finale....

I don't know how he did it, but Seth has clearly done his research, used beta readers, etc to capture all kinds of queerness and how that interacts with the Empire. 

So glad to see

Baru finally realizing that its okay to be a gay woman and seemingly coming to a way to actually finish her goal.

I also really liked seeing

her parents return as characters and also seeing the Mbo sideplot finally connect back to the present day plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Colonisation, Body horror, Lesbophobia, Violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

ferlefur's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Simply wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Medical content, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Genocide, Cancer, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Blood, Colonisation, Drug use, Slavery, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Incest, Death of parent, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pedophilia

bearpolar's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Torture, and Homophobia

Minor: Medical content

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Transphobia, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Colonisation, Drug use, Racism, Torture, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Trafficking, and War

pineapplesurvivor's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Cancer, Homophobia, Colonisation, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Sexism, Classism, Violence, Genocide, Torture, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Grief, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Genocide, and Cultural appropriation

mazomazli's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Sooo much better than the second book! I’m not sure if I can continue with another book full of despair and lobotomies though. If you haven’t guessed by the first two books, it’s only going to get more graphic and disturbing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Gore, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Cancer, Colonisation, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Death, and Medical trauma

gilroi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Abortion, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Cancer, Torture, Grief, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Gore, Gaslighting, Drug use, Death, Cursing, Classism, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Genocide, and Emotional abuse

cynthreads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Body horror, Sexism, Violence, Death, and Gore

Minor: Torture and Slavery

flying_monkey's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I've been torn about this fantasy series, of which this book is the third. On the one hand, it is superbly written, the world-building is strong, and the characters are memorable and well-drawn. On the other hand, it is relentlessly, gleefully and sadistically violent and unnecessarily long and drawn-out. And am I the only person who feels a bit uncomfortable with a white male author making so much of black lesbians? I suspect not. This third book, which one would normally expect to be the end in conventional fantasy sequences, is actually less overtly violent, but it feels even more stretched. A lot of what happens seems to happen for the sake of it, and the routine deception and backstabbing, torture and brutality of all of the characters, including or especially Baru herself, is often really tedious by this point, and by the time we finally get the centre of all this intrigue, treachery and violence, it's actually a bit flat and disappointing. The best bit about the book is the more gentle backstory of the characters from the Africa-equivalent continent. But it's really just an extension of the second book, and together they constitute that mid-trilogy meander, that will hopefully all be resolved in the promised fourth and final book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Slavery