## The Traitor Baru Cormorant * Author: u/Soak96 * * URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3lmrm9/the_traitor_baru_cormorant/ * Score: 17 * Created: 2015-09-20T02:18:24 ### Post: Seth Dickinson expanded one of his earlier short stories into a novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23444482-the-traitor-baru-cormorant Edit: While looking into all his other stuff, I found this - the author himself selling the book better than I even could: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/guest-post-seth-dickinson-on-building-a-better-evil-overlord/ I just finished reading the book and think it would be perfect for the subreddit. Characterization is superb and the narrative flows logically - the main character is an accountant and often makes strategy decisions based on economics. For fans of GoT: Imagine a Westeros where the head of every House is Littlefinger, and the main character is Varys+Littlefinger Daenerys+Roose Bolton For those without the time or money to read a full novel, there is a short story preceding the publication of the novel. Warning - this short is almost word for word the ending chapter of the novel, and thus is potentially a huge spoiler. That said, if you like the story, the book is still worth the journey even when you know the destination: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-traitor-baru-cormorant-her-field-general-and-their-wounds-by-seth-dickinson/ ### Comments: > **u/None** [+3] (2 days later) > > I just read it... Damn. Damn damn damn. >> **u/tvcgrid** [+3] (3 days later) >> >> [Spoilers all](#s "Agreed, I'm still reeling from that gut punch. One thing that bothered me is that if the Steering Committee wants a hold on Baru and can't get it, what protection does Baru have at all from the other members getting that hold over her or just ordering a straight up assassination? Baru is valuable and perhaps there's a sense of mutual cooperation and game that no one wants to risk spoiling, so I get that. But I don't get how Baru is suddenly so secure in her position. I don't know, perhaps I'm not accurately modeling how a technocracy with a hidden steering committee would behave. They're not Byzantine generals and there's some amount of mutual benefit and shared utility functions among the major players, but why is Baru so seemingly secure and snug in her power at the end? If she had some network of spies and assassins she built up and maintained then perhaps, but what real power does she wield as a steering committee member? Not sure, maybe I'm missing details") >>> **u/None** [+2] (3 days later) >>> >>> [Spoilers all](#s "Probably because she isn't. Oh, poor Baru Cormorant, the savant with half her world cut away. Oh, poor Baru Fisher, traitor to every heart and every eye. She always was prone to forgetting: She is not the only player on the board.") >>>> **u/JackStargazer** [+1] *Primordial Apologist* (11 days later) >>>> >>>> > [Spoiler](#s "Baru Cormorant was ours from the beginning. They are always ours. They will always be ours.") >>>> >>>> Just... Damn. >> **u/JackStargazer** [+2] *Primordial Apologist* (11 days later) >> >> I just finished this. >> >> Just... goddamn. I honestly only saw it coming about 5 pages before it happened. >> >> Damn. > **u/JackStargazer** [+2] *Primordial Apologist* (3 hours later) > > I have the book in front of me and I'm about to finish chapter 8. I have to say, so far it is very good. The worldbuilding is impressive, and the characters impressively rational. > **u/Salaris** [+1] *Dominion Sorcerer* (5 hours later) > > Been reading this and enjoying it so far as well. I'll look forward to seeing if it has a solid ending, as I haven't read the short story. =D > **u/Empiricist_or_not** [+1] *Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm* (12 hours later) > > This is one of my Audible purchases for this month, credits drop tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. > **u/Ilverin** [+1] (19 hours later) > > [Spoilers Ch. 9](#s "My theory as I'm reading chapter 9 is that the revolution is being intentionally provoked so it can be crushed and the rebellion used as an excuse to revoke privileges of dukes/guilds to better reform the economy to benefit the empire.") > > [Spoilers Ch. 10](#s "I'm in chapter 10 right now, my plan for Baru to undermine the revolution was to stop accepting fiat currency for taxes and implement controls on currency such that it couldn't leave the province - not sure if she had the authority for currency controls though. This plan would seemingly avoid the issue of inflation in the rest of the empire.") >> **u/Soak96** [+1] (a day later) >> >> [Reply to #1](#s "Interesting theory.") >> >> [Reply #2](#s "Well - the dukes don't have anything except fiat currency to pay her with. I think currency control is also a non-issue, because pretty much the only ships leaving the province are imperial ones") >> **u/ArgentStonecutter** [+1] *Emergency Mustelid Hologram* (2 days later) >> >> [Reply to #1, spoiler Ch. 25 or so](#s " It seems increasingly likely.") > **u/TaoGaming** [+1] *No Flair Detected!* (20 hours later) > > I'll probably get this, but I'm just bothered that her last name is Cormorant, so my first thought was "Wait, What, an oriental female Howard the Duck?" ---