The Traitor Baru Cormorant (Masquerade, #1)

by Seth Dickinson

[smartflutist661]

The lowest of low fantasy, with nary a creature out of myth or mysterious magical artifact to be seen, this book is set in a world not our own, but it may as well be, with the main forces at work commerce, cultural indoctrination, and betrayal. The driving characters are well fleshed out, at least motivationally speaking, with complex webs of loyalty and friendship underlying most decisions, though I would certainly not suggest this is anything but a plot-driven novel. And what a plot. Scheme layered upon scheme layered upon scheme, all (for Baru) pointing toward the same goal.

If you want Machiavellian political machination with a realistic historical backdrop, this is the book for you.

Obviously the Masquerade never intended to let the rebellion succeed. I am left to wonder, though: Baru was brilliant, despite her tendency to overlook the agency of those around her. Could she have made the rebellion succeed anyway? Yes, the Masquerade would just come back, but had the rebellion succeeded in throwing them out for even a decade, the Aurdwynni had seen enough to learn many of their most valuable techniques (sanitation and healthcare, technological advances, etc.). Especially if they were aligned under a powerful queen, with an alliance with the renascent Stakhieczi mansions (who are implied to have relatively high technology of their own), they could have rejected future overtures of the Masquerade and had enough clout to make it stick. Which then gives Baru a powerful base from which to maneuver in order to bring down the Masquerade and free Taranoke.