The Monster Baru Cormorant

It's exhausting to read this book. It does not live up to the promise of the end of the first book in the series. Baru becomes less and less interesting as well as less and less competent as the story continues. I just couldn't bring myself to finish before my library loan was due, and can't be bothered to wait in line to check this out again.

CAWPILE SCORE
C-9
A-7
W-7
P-6
I-8
L-6
E-5
TOTAL-6.86/10

I absolutely loved the first book in this series. unfortunately for me this book seems to have middle book syndrome. I'm really hoping that the third book is much better. There was so much that i felt could have happened and didn't. which i'll talk about in the Spoilers section. This book does branch off the 1st person only view from Baru and we start to see other characters POV. I was not a huge fan of the Flashback chapters as they didn't help me feel invested in the characters it was about. As with the first book, the occasional use of real world things like uranium threw me out of it. but still good


CAWPILECharacters.Lets start with BARU. I felt like she lost a lot of what made me love her so much. After resolving to let Tain Hu die, so she can't be controlled she doesn't do a lot. I was really expecting her blindness but actually split "personality" where she can see, she just can't process it conciously, to have more of an effect or purpose in this story. I can see lots of foreshadowing of it, but nothing came of it yet. The parts were Baru was showing her smarts instead of me being told she is so smart was the best parts. Xate Yawa. whines the whole time that Baru doesn't have a hostage and as per the rules is always trying to get rid of Baru. i kinda feel like her chapters were only included to show things Baru wouldn't know. which felt extra to me and unnecessaryAminata: Loved the wrestling that Aminata does between Duty and Desire/Friendship. She wants to help Baru, but also wants to do her duty and prevent the breakout of another war especially with the Oriati Mbo. her chapters were my second favoriteApparitor/Svir: super whiny. never shown his competency on screen, always happens away from view. which made me think it was just plot deviceAtmosphereThe Atmosphere is everpresent and when i was reading i could tell that the world was completly fleshed out and had real effects that were going on.WritingSeth Dickinson's writing is striking and great. However I still get pushed out of the story everytime he uses a regular word in his story. ex Uranium. everything else is unique words to this world PlotThe Pacing of this book is a bit different. the Plot being that Xata Yawa, Svir/Apparitor and Baru must find the Cancrioth, a subset of the Oriati that the Empire can use to cause the Oriati Mbo to collapse and takeover. while at the same time avoiding Tain Shir, Ferrier's old apprentice, who has decided that Baru must die for letting Tain Hu die. the first half i feel like barely anything happens. they are on the island. they get told what to do, they are attacked and must flee, the go somewhere Tain Shir shows up, repeat. IntrigueSo is MAGIC real or NOT. fine either way just want to know. The Creepy Cancrioth and the cancer that is transplantable is very creepy and intriguing. i really want to know whats going to happen next with Baru. for 2 books there has been no magic, so I'm a little hesitant about how its going to be introduced. i'm really hoping it'll just be a science so advanced its like magicLogicI must say the choices that the characters make for the most part seems to be logical according to everything we know so far. and it seems to be following the same style as the first book.



I will be talking about it on Libromancy 05/16/2021 https://libromancy.podbean.com/

Pros: political intrigue, interesting characters, fantastic worldbuilding

Cons:

Baru Cormorant's actions on Aurdwynn have numerous consequences. She is now Agonist, a cryptarch, one of the secret lords of the Imperial Throne of the Imperial Republic of Falcrest. She has also made a lot of enemies, one of whom is a navy admiral, who decides to mutiny in order to bring Baru to a form of justice.

Baru believes she's one step further towards destroying Falcrest and freeing her homeland, but cryptarch rivals Hesychest and Itinerant have a job for her and two of their other proteges.

This book picks up immediately where the previous one ended, and if you don't remember all of the characters and subplots of the first book, I'd highly recommend giving it a quick reread. I was very happy that an issue I had with that book's ending was dealt with pretty heavily in this one.

There are plots within plots, and two main points of view, that of Baru (told in third person) and Xate Yawa (told in first person). The switch was a bit jarring at times, but insured you didn't mistake who's thoughts you were observing. There are also flashbacks to a previous war from the viewpoint of Tau-indi, a prince of the Oriati Mbo, which gives cultural and historical information for the continent and for the war of ideas between the cryptarchs.

The worldbuilding is incredibly intricate. Everything is connected and the language recognizes differences from our own world - like ‘matronizingly' instead of 'patronizingly', because some cultures have a matriarchy as a system of rule. I loved the attention to detail.

While Baru is often - though not always - able to avoid personal consequences for her actions, once again it's clear how she causes serious fallout in her wake, particularly with regards to trade and the economics of some of the islands she visits. Very serious consequences, for what seems like limited gains on her part. This makes her an increasingly hard character to like or sympathize with. Which I believe is the point.

A lot of the action is set-up for the next book, so the plot here feels scattered at times. Having said that, the level of intrigue is high and I never felt bored.

Be prepared to remember a lot of names and get lost in intrigue. If you like morally dubious characters, this book is for you.