The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #1)

by Seth Dickinson

Overview

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is the critically-acclaimed debut novel from Seth Dickinson, one of the rising new stars in fantasy.

Tomorrow, on the beach, Baru Cormorant will look up and see red sails on the horizon.

The Empire of Masks is coming, armed with coin and ink, doctrine and compass, soap and lies. They will conquer Baru’s island, rewrite her culture, criminalize her customs, and dispose of one of her fathers. But Baru is patient. She'll swallow her hate, join the Masquerade, and claw her way high enough up the rungs of power to set her people free.

To test her loyalty, the Masquerade will send Baru to bring order to distant Aurdwynn, a snakepit of rebels, informants, and seditious dukes. But Baru is a savant in games of power, as ruthless in her tactics as she is fixated on her goals. In the calculus of her schemes, all ledgers must be balanced, and the price of liberation paid in full.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765380739
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/29/2016
Series:	Masquerade (Baru Cormorant) Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	36,175
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

SETH DICKINSON is the author of the Baru Cormorant novels and many short stories, as well as much of the lore and backstory of Bungie Studios’ Destiny. Seth lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

A fascinating tale of political intrigue and national unrest.” – The Washington Post

“Literally breathtaking….Baru Cormorant as a character is magnificent. I found it impossible not to root for her even amid horrors of her making, to grieve with her and for her at various points, to clench my fists in her defense and in desperate need for her to stay whole. There is so much to admire and so much to mourn throughout the building tragedy of this novel.” – NPR.org

“A breathtaking contender with George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones. Perfect for those who thrive on fantasy with Machiavellian overtones, this labyrinthine story starts off a wee bit slow but soon enough sets you on the path toward a high-stakes clash you're almost afraid to reach.” – Omnivoracious

“Dickinson's dense, chewy, deftly orchestrated narrative cleverly exploits fiat money and debt as tools of statecraft…. A highly impressive debut that engages intellectually.” – Kirkus Reviews

“This is an accomplished debut, with a heroine whose motives are murky, seemingly even to herself. The twists and turns our unreliable narrator takes as she pushes the Aurdwynn nobles to rebel reveal her goals yet also expose her loneliness. We’ve only seen a fraction of the world of the Masquerade and a glimpse of Baru’s plans, setting the stage for a compelling series." —Library Journal, starred review

“Dickinson’s debut, the start of a trilogy set in an impressively well-crafted fantasy world, is assured and impressive….Readers will share every one of Baru’s strong, suppressed emotions. Dickinson’s worldbuilding is ambitious and his language deviously subtle; both are seductive in their complexity.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 07/20/2015
Dickinson’s debut, the start of a trilogy set in an impressively well-crafted fantasy world, is assured and impressive. After the island nation of Taranoke is conquered by the far-flung Empire of Masks, its culture and traditions are suppressed in favor of the empire’s rigid structure. Baru Cormorant, a young native woman, vows to do whatever it takes to rise to power within the so-called Masquerade so that she might someday free her people. At school, Baru is dubbed a savant; when she’s 18, she’s appointed to serve as Imperial Accountant for one of the Empire’s most troublesome regions, the country of Aurdwynn. There, Baru engages in a dangerous economic game against the empire and the quarrelsome dukes of Aurdwynn, always keeping to her own agenda while repressing her innermost longings, including her desires for other women. When her manipulations force the dukes into all-out revolution, she must pick a side and risk everything. Readers will share every one of Baru’s strong, suppressed emotions. Dickinson’s worldbuilding is ambitious and his language deviously subtle; both are seductive in their complexity. He combines social engineering, economic trickery, and coldhearted pseudoscientific theories to weave a compelling, utterly surprising narrative that keeps readers guessing until the end. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Visceral and unflinching, The Traitor Baru Cormorant employs a rich palate of cultures to explore brutal moral complexities. Lightning strikes when those elements collide, setting off the bitter internal conflict of a narrator with vast, irreconcilable ambitions. With this debut, Seth Dickinson declares himself as a novelist with power and acuity.

Nebula Award-winning author of “The Lady Who Rachel Swirsky

Brutal, relentless and with the heartbreaking beauty of the best tragedies. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is a haunting book that asks hard questions about revolution, change, and what it means to keep faith.

Nebula Award-winning author of “The Waiting Aliette de Bodard

Stunning! There are moments that take my breath away.

World Fantasy Award-winning author of Thomas the R Ellen Kushner

Amazing and inventive.

New York Times bestselling author of the Xenowealt Tobias Buckell

An extraordinary debut--powerful, complex, and passionate. I was blown away by it.

Hugo Award-winning author of "The Man Who Bridged Kij Johnson

Skillfully combines intrigue, action, and philosophical musings to create a suspenseful and deeply satisfying read. An intelligent and accomplished first novel reminiscent of Le Guin in its reflections on imperialism, colonialism, and the attractions and corruptions of power.

New York Times bestselling author of The Crimson S Una McCormack

A beautiful, perfectly formed crystal of a novel borne out of a tight plot mated with elegant language.

Hugo Award-winning author of ‘The Water That John Chu

★ 08/01/2015
After her island nation is conquered by forces from the Empire of Masks and one of her two fathers is killed, Baru Cormorant bottles up her grief and hate and joins the Masquerade civil service. Even as she succeeds in her schooling and service exams, she watches her native culture get demolished by the invaders. Despite her high test scores, Baru is not sent to the capital but is instead posted as the new Imperial Accountant to distant Aurdwynn, a land in perpetual rebellion. She navigates the dangerous political waters of her new northern home, while always plotting her next move against the Masquerade. VERDICT This is an accomplished debut, with a heroine whose motives are murky, seemingly even to herself. The twists and turns our unreliable narrator takes as she pushes the Aurdwynn nobles to rebel reveal her goals yet also expose her loneliness. We've only seen a fraction of the world of the Masquerade and a glimpse of Baru's plans, setting the stage for a compelling series.—MM

Library Journal

2015-06-25
Fantasy intrigue, power politics, and revenge: Brooklyn resident Dickinson's first novel. The arrival of the Empire of Masks at Taranoke, 7-year-old Baru Cormorant's home, signals a swift collapse of local autonomy, with the peaceful island's economy subverted by financial deceit and little means of military resistance. The new imperial overlords offer significant advantages, including superior if doctrinaire education and medicine, but insist upon rigid sexual convention. Taranoke's easygoing culture, with its acceptance of homosexuality and multiple parentage, crumbles—a brutal fact Baru grasps only when one of her two fathers is murdered by imperial troops. A highly intelligent child, Baru conceals her deep hatred. She meets Cairdine Farrier, who represents himself as a merchant and encourages her higher education in imperial schools. Baru formulates a secret plan to rise through the ranks of the imperial civil service and eventually reach the seat of power in the distant capital, Falcrest, since only there, she reasons, will she find a way to free her people. Farrier, she learns, is one of a handful of shadowy figures who form the real power behind the emperor. Having distinguished herself at school, she receives the powerful appointment of Imperial Accountant to the cold northern land of Aurdwynn. According to local judgment, Aurdwynn's quarrelsome, competitive, rebellious duchies cannot be ruled, even by the empire. Baru discovers that her two predecessors both died in mysterious circumstances and trusts neither of her fellow imperial appointees, Governor Cattlson or Jurispotence Xate Yawa. Somehow, amid treachery, insurrection, and mistrust, Baru must concoct a scheme to further her greater ambitions. Against this persuasive backdrop, Dickinson's dense, chewy, deftly orchestrated narrative cleverly exploits fiat money and debt as tools of statecraft, while offering little in the way of real plot surprises and, ultimately, failing to expose the personalities behind the characters' literal and figurative masks. A highly impressive debut that engages intellectually while rarely offering emotional involvement.

Kirkus Reviews