Review: The Traitor Baru Cormorant (Tor, 2015) by Seth Dickinson [also known as The Traitor]

Short Review:

Bold, challenging, brutal, and demonstrates the author’s total commitment to telling an amazing story. It might have an accountant as a protagonist, but this is first rate fantasy.  Few debut novels are as hard hitting and brilliant.  One of the best novels of 2015.

Longer Review:

Before I get started on this review I just wanted to say that you should read this book.  Seriously.  Just read it.  Stick with it from beginning to end.  Then, once you are done, take those few moments of quiet and think about what you just read.  This is a stunning novel, brutal and beautiful in equal measure.  Smart, intelligent and powerful.  Thought provoking and entertaining.  This will become known as one of the classics of fantasy literature, a feat made even more impressive because it is a début.  So, read it all the way through to the end.  Although, fair warning, you will probably love it and hate it in equal measure, but hate it in the way that means you were enthralled by it and it has gotten under your skin.  Love it because it is unexpected, unconventional, and has an emotional resonance that goes to your very core.  This isn’t a cosy fireside fantasy. This isn’t an easy ride of heroic quests.  This is the type of fantasy that challenges you, changes you, and leaves you wrecked, shivering, and wanting more.

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