The Traitor Baru Cormorant

Tomorrow, on the beach, Baru Cormorant will look up and see red sails on the horizon.

The Empire of Masks is coming, armed with coin and ink, doctrine and compass, soap and lies. They will conquer Baru's island, rewrite her culture, criminalize her customs, and dispose of one of her fathers. But Baru is patient. She'll swallow her hate, join the Masquerade, and claw her way high enough up the rungs of power to set her people free.

To test her loyalty, the Masquerade will send Baru to bring order to distant Aurdwynn, a snakepit of rebels, informants, and seditious dukes. But Baru is a savant in games of power, as ruthless in her tactics as she is fixated on her goals. In the calculus of her schemes, all ledgers must be balanced, and the price of liberation paid in full.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is the critically-acclaimed debut novel from Seth Dickinson, one of the rising new stars in fantasy.

"Dickinson's debut, the start of a trilogy set in an impressively well-crafted fantasy world, is assured and impressive. Readers will share every one of Baru's strong, suppressed emotions. Dickinson's world building is ambitious and his language deviously subtle; both are seductive in their complexity. He combines social engineering, economic trickery, and coldhearted pseudoscientific theories to weave a compelling, utterly surprising narrative that keeps readers guessing until the end." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Dickinson's dense, chewy, deftly orchestrated narrative cleverly exploits fiat money and debt as tools of statecraft. A highly impressive debut that engages intellectually." Kirkus Reviews

"Literally breathtaking. Baru Cormorant as a character is magnificent. I found it impossible not to root for her even amid horrors of her making, to grieve with her and for her at various points, to clench my fists in her defense and in desperate need for her to stay whole. There is so much to admire and so much to mourn throughout the building tragedy of this novel. A crucial, necessary book a book that looks unflinchingly into the self-replicating virus of empire, asks the hardest questions, and dares to answer them." NPR.org

"A fascinating tale of political intrigue and national unrest." The Washington Post

"…a poet’s Dune, a brutal tale of empire, rebellion, fealty, and high finance that moves like a rocket and burns twice as hot. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is a mic drop for epic fantasy." Max Gladstone

"Smart. Brutal. Gut-wrenching. You’ll be captivated from the very first page. Dickinson is a sly, masterful writer who pulls no punches. Get ready to have your heart ripped out through your throat." Kameron Hurley

"A beautiful, perfectly formed crystal of a novel…" John Chu

Seth Dickinson's short fiction has appeared in Analog, Asimov's, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among others. He is an instructor at the Alpha Workshop for Young Writers, winner of the 2011 Dell Magazines Award, and a lapsed student of social neuroscience. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is his first novel.

Baru is a bright young girl on the island of Taranoke when the Empire of Masks arrives to colonize her home, outlaw her parents' marriage, and disappear one of her fathers. Being a very Machiavellian little girl, Baru decides there's only one thing to do — enter the Empire's schools, join their civil service, prove herself as their finest operative, and...

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