Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Not Worth the Wait

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

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The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson got a lot of hype when it came out back in 2015. Apparently, I bought into the hype enough to pick up a copy, but not enough to actually read the damned thing until ten years later. Was it worth the wait? Ehh, not really. An expansionist empire greedily conquers its neighbours. Not by the traditional means of armies and swords, but economically and socially, by sending traders and educators. In some ways, they improve the lives of […]

My 2,000th Review!

The Monster Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade, #2) by Seth Dickinson

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I should say, it’s my 2,000th review written, not posted, since I started reviewing books in 2008. This one’s been holding me up. Baru Cormorant is one of those series where you really have to be in the right mood. And you have to make sure to take the time to let the story breathe. At least for me, this isn’t a book you can just read straight through in a matter of days, or even in a week. It’s too raw and stressful and […]

Didn’t pay for this fantasy about economic warfare and rebellion #No Money

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

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Having reviewed Going Postal and Making Money by Terry Pratchett for the #Money Bingo Square, I’m going to continue the theme by reading a book I paid no money for (thanks, Tor Ebook of the Month club!) that was also largely about money: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. Baru is young when her home, the island of Taranoke, is conquered by the Imperial Republic of Falcrest, known as the Masquerade because of the masks their government officials wear. She goes to the imperial school […]

“It’s not what the Masquerade does to you that you should you fear . . . It’s what the Masquerade convinces you to do to yourself.”

The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade, #1) by Seth Dickinson

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The Traitor Baru Cormorant is probably the strongest (fictional) condemnation of colonialism that I’ve ever read. (And there have been some contenders.) I’ve been putting off writing a review of this book (and rating it) for a month now, because I was having such a hard time trying to sum up its complexities, and what it did to me as I was reading it. Mainly, though, this is exactly the reason I love fantasy and science fiction, because it can take real-world concepts like anti-colonialism,  […]



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