Scan barcode
A review by abandonedmegastructure
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
The Traitor Baru Cormorant is, without a doubt, the greatest work of SFF I've read this year. It's so many things: a high-level zoomed-out view of war and rebellion and shifting political alliances, a close psychological examination of its fascinating title character, and a philosophical exploration of themes of imperialism, gender, sexuality, modernity, power, and loyalty.
The narrative always sticks close to Baru, who makes for an unique and enjoyable viewpoint: rational but not emotionless, clever but not all-knowing, compassionate yet ruthless. Having a single perspective can be tough, but the novel always manages to share all relevant information with the reader and keep the pacing up. The side characters are distinct and interesting in their own ways, with schemes we only barely glimpse before they come to fruition in a way that perfectly rhymes with Baru's own uneasy paranoia.
The worldbuilding, too, is stellar: a single-page map gives us just enough information to contextualize everything that's slowly introduced . The differing societies are memorable, believable, and simultaneously both grounded in real historical cultures and utterly original (not a contradiction: a sad consequence of most fantasy writers forgetting that lands south of Cairo or east of Moscow exist). Quick throwaway lines have me thinking about all these imagined places that aren't even the focus of the story: an impressive feat!
As for the things that are the focus of the story... Aurdwynn is a bit bland, but this is more than made up for by the imperialist Masquerade, its ideology of colonialism and social darwinism horrifyingly realistic, its mastery of chemistry, psychology, and eugenics creating a very different sort of tyranny than the armor-clad jack-booted oppression of most of fantasy's evil empires.
And the plot! An impressive 400 page account detailing the journey of Baru herself, ruthlessly seeking power for the greater good, being forced to consider just how much she's willing to sacrifice for that. It maintains coherency without getting repetitive - and delivers a very interesting answer, subtly more complicated than 'literally everything'. Plus, y'know, rebellions and armies and large-scale political maneuvering that doesn't fall into ASoIaF's trap of forgetting logistics are a thing (the opposite, in fact).
I was hooked from the first chapter, read the closing pages with barely-concealed awe, and will most definitely be reading the rest of the series. This book is everything I want out of the fantasy genre and more: a compelling narrative chock-full of high-stakes gambits, psychological turmoil, and interesting ideas. Five stars: I can't think of a single thing I'd change.
The narrative always sticks close to Baru, who makes for an unique and enjoyable viewpoint: rational but not emotionless, clever but not all-knowing, compassionate yet ruthless. Having a single perspective can be tough, but the novel always manages to share all relevant information with the reader and keep the pacing up. The side characters are distinct and interesting in their own ways, with schemes we only barely glimpse before they come to fruition in a way that perfectly rhymes with Baru's own uneasy paranoia.
The worldbuilding, too, is stellar: a single-page map gives us just enough information to contextualize everything that's slowly introduced . The differing societies are memorable, believable, and simultaneously both grounded in real historical cultures and utterly original (not a contradiction: a sad consequence of most fantasy writers forgetting that lands south of Cairo or east of Moscow exist). Quick throwaway lines have me thinking about all these imagined places that aren't even the focus of the story: an impressive feat!
As for the things that are the focus of the story... Aurdwynn is a bit bland, but this is more than made up for by the imperialist Masquerade, its ideology of colonialism and social darwinism horrifyingly realistic, its mastery of chemistry, psychology, and eugenics creating a very different sort of tyranny than the armor-clad jack-booted oppression of most of fantasy's evil empires.
And the plot! An impressive 400 page account detailing the journey of Baru herself, ruthlessly seeking power for the greater good, being forced to consider just how much she's willing to sacrifice for that. It maintains coherency without getting repetitive - and delivers a very interesting answer, subtly more complicated than 'literally everything'. Plus, y'know, rebellions and armies and large-scale political maneuvering that doesn't fall into ASoIaF's trap of forgetting logistics are a thing (the opposite, in fact).
I was hooked from the first chapter, read the closing pages with barely-concealed awe, and will most definitely be reading the rest of the series. This book is everything I want out of the fantasy genre and more: a compelling narrative chock-full of high-stakes gambits, psychological turmoil, and interesting ideas. Five stars: I can't think of a single thing I'd change.