A review by sashahc
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

"The Traitor Baru Cormorant" by Seth Dickinson is about the terrible choices that colonization forces on the colonized in the name of resistance.  The eponymous main character is taken from her family and raised by the colonizers in a school, where her brilliance is trained in the service of Empire.  That is where she decides that she is going to rise high enough and gain enough power to burn it all to the ground.  It's grim and twisty and very engrossing.  I will read the second one, but I'm going to take a moment to breath first.