SFF180 ⚔️ ‘The Traitor Baru Cormorant’ by Seth Dickinson ★★★★★

In this devastating epic, an ambitious young woman schemes to bring down an empire from within by rising to a position of high authority. But how far is she willing to go - and what kind of person will she become in the process?
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[@impossiblepackage]

"You loved it so much, and it broke your heart" Could be either a description, a summary, the theme, or so much more, and they're all true about this book.

[@keytaw6951]

This book broke me.

[@nightwatchman7630]

Great review. You have persuaded me to give it a try. Thanks

[@JackPortuga]

This one I cannot ignore. Really liked your review, I will be thinking about this book until I read it and hopefully afterward :-)

[@RunyaAikanaro]

5 out of 5 stars - just that made me interested in reading it. :) and I'm curious about the ending, so just added it to my to-read list.

[@kubr1ck36]

Picked this one up on your recommendation (on the website), Thomas. Very happy i did. Just finished it. Very higly recommended by me as well.

[@booksandpieces]

Well this just shot up my to read list. I've heard some reports of problematic bits but I'm intrigued to read it for myself and see the magnificent and terrible in their turn! Loved the explanation of the ending. Cunning. :D

[@LetsReadSFF]

This story looks big. It's only 400 pages? Phew. I was almost expecting it to be a thousand pages. Very excited that it's almost here.

[@tombeaudoin9189]

I need this book ASAP.

[@MaijaReads]

Finally came and listened to your review. Well done! My favourite book I've read this year. Even though I picked up on the hints while reading it and thus knew where the story was going, it didn't diminish the impact.

[@tija1012]

I wasn't prepared 😢

[@kittymachine3798]

Hi Thomas, when do you plan on reading the sequel? Would love to know your thoughts on the rest of the series. ^_^

[@PaulWeymouth]

Sounds amazing. Love the cover too.

[@user-bm7fw6on9c]

i'm 15 so would i find baru cormorant easy to follow? i don't read an awful lot of adult SFF but have read Sanderson's books and other adult literary SFF.

[@SFF180]

I don’t know if your age would be a factor so much as your level of interest in plots that don’t employ traditional action and where the external conflict is largely political, and where there’s a lot of internal character conflict as well.

[@user-bm7fw6on9c]

thanks for replying!

[@NicoleBookAdventures]

Alright, you've convinced me *TBR'ed it*

[@reignofbooks]

great review. in economic warfare those audits will get you every time! your characterization of the main protagonist / antagonist was interesting. I'll have to give this one a closer look. - Josh

[@thecorbohole3637]

I did like this one a lot, though I maybe am not as high on it as you are. I felt like the ending came so fast and so borderline haphazard that it nearly took me right out of the story. I wouldn't say it truly ruined the experience, but it was a bit of a sour note after a lot of the best fantasy I'd read in years.

[@biblioobscura]

I completely agree with you about it being unlike anything I've ever read before, for myriad reasons. I loved it. Are there any other books that you'd recommend that are vaguely similar to The Traitor Baru Cormorant? I'd love to read them.

[@SFF180]

While I don't know of many books (apart from some parts of George R.R. Martin) that go for the throat as intensely as this book did, good examples of low fantasy with expertly constructed mythical civilizations can be found in the books of Guy Gavriel Kay.

[@damascus21]

5 out of 5? We almost never see that score from old Thomas. Looks like I shouldn't have kept passing this one up at the local B&N. Next time I see it I'm buying it.

[@SFF180]

damascus21 It isn't actually out for another month, so it sounds like your local B&N is working some incredible sorcery!

[@damascus21]

Whaaa...? I could have sworn I saw this there! Maybe I'm thinking of an advertisement I saw or something.

[@JoelCornah]

Well I'm putting this on top of my reading list. Pre-ordered and everything. I hope you're getting a cut of the sales. :p

[@SFF180]

Joel Cornah I do get a bob or two from the Amazon links, yes.

[@JoelCornah]

Poor Bob! Let him go this instant you monster!

[@SFF180]

Joel Cornah Just as soon as I'm done finishing Tim.

[@josephfernandez8015]

While this sounds really good, what makes it fantasy other then the fact that it takes place in an imaginary world? I don't mind low magic but having nothing supernatural makes it more an alternate historical then anything else.

[@SFF180]

Joseph Fernandez That's probably fair to say. Being secondary-world, like a lot of Guy Gavriel Kay's work, is really all that's fantastical about it.

[@GeneralBattuta]

+Joseph Fernandez Hey Joseph! Author here. I think about this a lot - I'm pretty passionate about the idea that one of the core missions of fantasy is to examine human society by altering it. I think alternate history looks at changes in our own historical path, but fantasy can do something more fundamental and drastic: it can alter the basic rules of geography, climate, epidemiology, and society that shaped our history. In any case the book's full of characters manipulating the vast forces of the world to topple civilizations and enact their will. Those forces aren't magical, but they're still dangerous and titanic. The book's written as a thriller, not some kind of dry academic treatise. I hope that makes some kind of sense!

[@Abstractreference260]

Prince of nothing series by scott bakker

[@garretburrow]

"Justice for the gays!" . . .boring