Eventually, Baru becomes friendly with Tain Hu and other Aurdwynni nobles she agrees to join them in revolt against the Masquerade. This causes rapid inflation and widespread poverty, but crushes an incipient rebellion by Duchess Tain Hu. Baru uses her financial expertise to manipulate the Masquerade's fiat currency system. Farrier elevates her to the position of Imperial Accountant of Aurdwynn, a province of thirteen duchies that often rebels against Masquerade rule. She is noticed by Cairdine Farrier, a high-ranking Masquerade official. Baru is educated at a Masquerade school, but vows to work her way upward within the Empire and eventually free her island.Īt her school, Baru demonstrates extreme mathematical prowess. They kill one of Baru's fathers and institute their own rigid belief system focused on hygiene and puritanical sexual ethics.

A third novel, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, was released on August 11, 2020.Īs a child, Baru Cormorant's island of Taranoke is annexed by the Imperial Republic of Falcrest, called the Masquerade because of the masks worn by its officials. A sequel, The Monster Baru Cormorant, was released on 30 October 2018.

The novel follows Baru, a brilliant young woman who, educated in the schools of the imperial power that subjugated her homeland, sets out to gain power to subvert the empire from within.

It is based on a short story Dickinson wrote in 2011 for Beneath Ceaseless Skies called 'The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds'. It was published as The Traitor in the United Kingdom. The Traitor Baru Cormorant ( / ˈ b ɑː r u/ BAH-roo) is a 2015 hard fantasy novel by Seth Dickinson, and his debut novel.

The baru cormorant