From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade, #1)

Seth Dickinson

Start date: October 1, 2015

Finish date: October 31, 2015

Why we're reading this: This book won the Patreon poll!
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What Members Thought

Oct 18, 2015 Kdawg91 rated it really liked it

Wow...seriously, easily one of the most brutal books I have ever read, and totally beautiful, It takes EFFORT for me to not see something coming, you got me.

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May 28, 2020 Tom rated it did not like it

In the beginning, I was drawn in, when Baru is a young girl and shows razor sharp intellect/observation. But I really struggled through 90% of this book. For most of the book, we're expected to accept Baru's intelligence and cleverness, without really getting any proof of it? She's described as this exceptional prodigy, but I just didn't buy it. Straight out of high school (or the equivalent) and directly appointed to "Imperial Accountant" (what would that be, the equivalent of the US Treasury S In the beginning, I was drawn in, when Baru is a young girl and shows razor sharp intellect/observation. But I really struggled through 90% of this book. For most of the book, we're expected to accept Baru's intelligence and cleverness, without really getting any proof of it? She's described as this exceptional prodigy, but I just didn't buy it. Straight out of high school (or the equivalent) and directly appointed to "Imperial Accountant" (what would that be, the equivalent of the US Treasury Secretary)? Those must have been some friggin' *amazing* SAT scores! Seriously, I found myself skimming along, trying to find significant plot developments, which I found few/far between.

Baru suppresses a revolution via currency manipulation and inflationary practices (yawn!). In later, big battle scenes, characters dart to and fro with the action difficult to track, perhaps due to my complete lack of connection, or care for, the "Duke of That" or the "Duchess of This" These folks are sometimes also referenced by one of their other two or three names/titles, very confusing. There were only two or three characters in this book that I really paid attention to and none of them called to me.

(view spoiler) Anyway, resolution of that major theme (as much as we're given) is pushed off to the very end. The surprise in the final pages was a great concept, but not worth the time/attention investment it took to get there. ...more

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Jun 11, 2019 Matthew rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-book

This is going to be a tough one for me to review. I really liked this book quite a bit, but at the same time, certain elements of the narrative didn't seem to make sense to me. They seemed incongruous to the basic plot-lines or motivation of the character.

Perhaps I'll just bullet point out what I liked and what I didn't like about the book.

Liked
-The world building was really well done. The cultures and tribes really felt unique and poignant.
-Baru, our main character was generally well written. ...more

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Sep 24, 2018 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Finished it on a cold morning over a few of cups of coffee while standing and gaping at some of the twists. Granted I am certain had a taken a longer view of the tale and followed the threads I might not be terribly surprised however, credit to the author, I was pulled in and held to reading and feeling the pages as I held them rather than thinking chapters ahead.

The middle passage can be a little tougher to slog if economic intrigue and monetary policies are not your thing (I was a economics mi ...more

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