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A review by yak_attak
The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
5.0
Five stars, but this is not the unreserved, unabashed heartfelt koan of five stars for Traitor. I've long since come to accept that Dickinson is no longer writing that exact book, and as much as I don't think the rest of this series will ever live up to its height, Tyrant is the (an? there still is another book to go) apex of *this* side of things.
The Masquerade 2 and 3 are defined by a much more complex, expansive, philosophical world. Characters have multiple layers of motivation which are often opaque, we don't always get the information necessary before the event happens leaving us wondering why, and there are pages upon pages of philosophical, economic, and moral theory - some of which we've read before - as the characters try to sway things to their way of thinking.
This style bogged down Monster a bit, the switch over leaving you a bit wanting for the beautiful razor simplicity of Traitor. Here, Tyrant has refined things a bit - or at least the acceptance has kicked in. Things are still huge, messy, complex, but there's a leading arc, a wave, a back and forth of the plot that's much cleaner and leads to incredible depths and heights as we sway back and forth between victory and ultimate defeat along with Baru.
The same moral messiness, the same no-win scenarios, the same scathing critique of the exploitation of colonialism applies as before - along with the same depths of absolute depravity. There's still, as you'd expect, some of the worst shit you've ever read in this book, but it also remembers to let a few sparks of hope shine through the ugly morass. Dickinson's writing is cleaner, even if he's using it for long digressions. The plot is a maze, but in its twists it leads to truly spectacular events.
If you've made it to this book, you probably already know whether you're on board or not. I'm not going to sway you. Just know the brilliance continues - and we await the conclusion with bated breath.
The Masquerade 2 and 3 are defined by a much more complex, expansive, philosophical world. Characters have multiple layers of motivation which are often opaque, we don't always get the information necessary before the event happens leaving us wondering why, and there are pages upon pages of philosophical, economic, and moral theory - some of which we've read before - as the characters try to sway things to their way of thinking.
This style bogged down Monster a bit, the switch over leaving you a bit wanting for the beautiful razor simplicity of Traitor. Here, Tyrant has refined things a bit - or at least the acceptance has kicked in. Things are still huge, messy, complex, but there's a leading arc, a wave, a back and forth of the plot that's much cleaner and leads to incredible depths and heights as we sway back and forth between victory and ultimate defeat along with Baru.
The same moral messiness, the same no-win scenarios, the same scathing critique of the exploitation of colonialism applies as before - along with the same depths of absolute depravity. There's still, as you'd expect, some of the worst shit you've ever read in this book, but it also remembers to let a few sparks of hope shine through the ugly morass. Dickinson's writing is cleaner, even if he's using it for long digressions. The plot is a maze, but in its twists it leads to truly spectacular events.
If you've made it to this book, you probably already know whether you're on board or not. I'm not going to sway you. Just know the brilliance continues - and we await the conclusion with bated breath.