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kenzier94's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
4.0
nnendi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
aeturnum's review against another edition
4.0
A masterful political drama that gets a little lost in forgetting to anchor the events in personal stakes. The major themes are the exercise of power through the tools of empire and the unknoeabilty of the truth in war. Both themes are executed with a great deal of skill and verisimilitude. This is a phenomenological account of rebellion and betrayal and a gripping one.
I deduct one star because so much of the story is needlessly confusing. To write this better would take many more pages but the problem is that the book is relentlessly from the perspective of the traitor baru cormorant but rarely details her personally held beliefs or impressions. There are constant references to truths too dangerous for her to think, and therefore too dangerous for the reader to understand. It all holds together in the end and you can see the throughline but in a moment to moment kind of way it feels interminable. Impressions and beliefs are never confirmed, the reader kind of floats through the events of the book. Certainty shouldn't be on the table, but simply understanding what our protagonist thinks is happening would be nice. When Baru is brooding about one of her betrayals which one is she even thinking about? Why is it a betrayal? Is is really one or does it just appear to be one? To whome does it appear that way? Clarity is elusive.
This writing style really effectively captures the mind bending demands of rebellion and treachery, but the ultimate problem is it feels like you are reading the outputs of a numerical model. Baru is a savant but she's supposed to be a person to. Not that you can tell from the book.
A wonderful story about the motive power of economics and a pretty poor one about people.
I deduct one star because so much of the story is needlessly confusing. To write this better would take many more pages but the problem is that the book is relentlessly from the perspective of the traitor baru cormorant but rarely details her personally held beliefs or impressions. There are constant references to truths too dangerous for her to think, and therefore too dangerous for the reader to understand. It all holds together in the end and you can see the throughline but in a moment to moment kind of way it feels interminable. Impressions and beliefs are never confirmed, the reader kind of floats through the events of the book. Certainty shouldn't be on the table, but simply understanding what our protagonist thinks is happening would be nice. When Baru is brooding about one of her betrayals which one is she even thinking about? Why is it a betrayal? Is is really one or does it just appear to be one? To whome does it appear that way? Clarity is elusive.
This writing style really effectively captures the mind bending demands of rebellion and treachery, but the ultimate problem is it feels like you are reading the outputs of a numerical model. Baru is a savant but she's supposed to be a person to. Not that you can tell from the book.
A wonderful story about the motive power of economics and a pretty poor one about people.
daradara's review against another edition
dark
tense
- 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
2.5
emilyplun's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Genocide, Colonisation, Death, War, and Xenophobia
sugarbowl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
woodslesbian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
Baru Cormorant is EVERYTHING to me!!! This book gave me everything I wanted and more, and I've been thinking about it for weeks. If you're like me and love complex political fantasy books about morally gray lesbians with tons of worldbuilding detail, this is a must-read.
To start with, Baru herself is an absolutely fantastic character with tons of depth. I found myself rooting for her basically immediately, drawn in by her curiosity and struggle to understand the rapidly changing world around her, and I kept on rooting for her all the way through, even as her curiosity got her in more and more of a mess. I love that she's so goal-oriented and calculating, but at the same time she makes mistakes and flounders and mopes. Even when she was making incredibly difficult decisions and really struggling, I felt like I understood her character clearly enough that those decisions still felt deeply understandable, especially given the way the text does such an effective job of showing how much Baru has lost in the colonization of her home. And speaking of Taranoki, the worldbuilding in The Traitor Baru Cormorant is incredibly rich and effective! I felt like I had a clear understanding of these different nations, their battle for power, and their complex inner workings. I also found the exploration of the "sanitation" systems, condemnation of certain sexualities, and especially the conditioning methods used to try and fix these issues to be so chilling and very rooted in real life patterns of thought surrounding eugenics and the like. Overall, it just felt like every little detail of the world both fit in and felt like a piece of a larger, more complex puzzle, creating a sense of a real, nuanced world even outside of the scope of what Baru experiences.
To start with, Baru herself is an absolutely fantastic character with tons of depth. I found myself rooting for her basically immediately, drawn in by her curiosity and struggle to understand the rapidly changing world around her, and I kept on rooting for her all the way through, even as her curiosity got her in more and more of a mess. I love that she's so goal-oriented and calculating, but at the same time she makes mistakes and flounders and mopes. Even when she was making incredibly difficult decisions and really struggling, I felt like I understood her character clearly enough that those decisions still felt deeply understandable, especially given the way the text does such an effective job of showing how much Baru has lost in the colonization of her home. And speaking of Taranoki, the worldbuilding in The Traitor Baru Cormorant is incredibly rich and effective! I felt like I had a clear understanding of these different nations, their battle for power, and their complex inner workings. I also found the exploration of the "sanitation" systems, condemnation of certain sexualities, and especially the conditioning methods used to try and fix these issues to be so chilling and very rooted in real life patterns of thought surrounding eugenics and the like. Overall, it just felt like every little detail of the world both fit in and felt like a piece of a larger, more complex puzzle, creating a sense of a real, nuanced world even outside of the scope of what Baru experiences.
Another big positive for me was the relationships between the characters overall! Again, I absolutely loved the political mind games and seeing Baru struggle with who to trust, which makes the moments where she does trust (or not) all the more impactful. Also, I'm so obsessed with Tain Hu it's unreal, she's SO cool and crafty!!!! The characters in general just all felt so vivid and well-written, and I was always invested whether I liked them or not--which made the cutthroat politics of this book all the more intense. The core conflict of this world, of the Masquerade's colonization efforts, was extremely interesting and well-handled too, especially through the way that so much of this colonization is through technology, infrastructure, and knowledge. The discussion of the way these things can have "positive" effects like lessening disease and how that makes them an even more effective tool of imperialism is so interesting, and I loved the way Baru herself struggles with these ideas even while being a savant at learning them.
While I personally love this book's emphasis on complex political webs and tax season details, I can see this being an aspect that other people don't enjoy as much. I felt like knowing about all the practical and logistical parts of war did a great job of setting up Baru's cleverness and the story's tension, and I just really enjoy getting bits of worldbuilding detail, but readers looking for all-out action may be disappointed. For me, though, I had a great time with both the economic details and the duels!
Overall, I can't believe I didn't read this book sooner, but I'm glad I read it now! It feels like it really encapsulates so much of what I love about fantasy, with political intrigue, deeply complex characters, and nuanced worldbuilding. Without spoilers, I've been thinking about the ending for weeks, it was so visceral and moving for me, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next in the series. HUGE win for fans of morally gray, driven lesbians in fiction.
mixedsigneals's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
wattontheworld's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
vycee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
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
3.0