Masquerade
3 primary works 4 total works planned
Book 1
In Seth Dickinson's highly-anticipated debut The Traitor Baru Cormorant, a young woman from a conquered people tries to transform an empire in this richly imagined geopolitical fantasy.
Baru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people-even her soul.
When the Empire of Masks conquers her island home, overwrites her culture, criminalizes her customs, and murders one of her fathers, Baru vows to swallow her hate, join the Empire's civil service, and claw her way high enough to set her people free.
Sent as an Imperial agent to distant Aurdwynn, another conquered country, Baru discovers it's on the brink of rebellion. Drawn by the intriguing duchess Tain Hu into a circle of seditious dukes, Baru may be able to use her position to help. As she pursues a precarious balance between the rebels and a shadowy cabal within the Empire, she orchestrates a do-or-die gambit with freedom as the prize.
But the cost of winning the long game of saving her people may be far greater than Baru imagines.
Book 2
A breathtaking geopolitical epic fantasy, The Monster Baru Cormorant is the sequel to Seth Dickinson's fascinating tale (The Washington Post), The Traitor Baru Cormorant.
Her world was shattered by the Empire of Masks.
For the power to shatter the Masquerade,
She betrayed everyone she loved.
The traitor Baru Cormorant is now the cryptarch Agonist--a secret lord of the empire she's vowed to destroy.
Hunted by a mutinous admiral, haunted by the wound which has split her mind in two, Baru leads her dearest foes on an expedition for the secret of immortality. It's her chance to trigger a war that will consume the Masquerade.
But Baru's heart is broken, and she fears she can no longer tell justice from revenge...or her own desires from the will of the man who remade her.
Book 3
'Makes Game of Thrones look like Jackanory' - Independent on The Traitor
The Tyrant is a sweeping fantasy of empire and intrigue - the third book in Seth Dickinson's powerful, critically acclaimed fantasy quartet Masquerade.
After years of service to the corrupt Imperial Republic of Falcrest, Baru Cormorant finally knows how to destroy it. She's discovered a deadly, weaponized blood plague. And if she releases it, the epidemic will kill millions . . . not just in Falcrest, but worldwide.
As her divided mind turns on itself, Baru's enemies close in. She must choose between genocidal retribution and a harder path. All she has to do is defeat a conspiracy of kings, spies and immortals, manipulate the outcome of two great wars, and steal the greatest riches in the world. If Baru triumphs, she can force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes. But does she want a slim chance at justice - or certain revenge?
The Tyrant follows The Traitor and The Monster in this extraordinary quartet, and is published as The Tyrant Baru Cormorant in the US.