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* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler:Agonist]]
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* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler:Agonist]][[spoiler:Baru takes the name of "Agonist" on becoming one of the Empire's secret rulers. An agonist is one who takes part in a struggle or contest.]]
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* TriggerPhrase: Suspire Suspire Suspire.
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* TriggerPhrase: "Suspire Suspire Suspire Suspire.Suspire", the command word with which one of the Clarified has been conditioned.
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that's just background
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* TheEmpire: The Imperial Republic of Falcrest, also referred to as the Masquerade or the Empire of Masks. Historically other empires have risen and fallen, such as the Oriati Mbo.
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* TheEmpire: The Imperial Republic of Falcrest, also referred to as the Masquerade or the Empire of Masks. Historically other empires have risen and fallen, such as the Oriati Mbo.
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Dickinson is [[https://twitter.com/sethjdickinson/status/674763485243383809 working on a sequel]], tentatively titled ''The Monster Baru Cormorant]].
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As of late 2015 Dickinson is [[https://twitter.com/sethjdickinson/status/674763485243383809 working on a sequel]], tentatively titled ''The Monster Baru Cormorant]].
Cormorant''.
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Dickinson is [[https://twitter.com/sethjdickinson/status/674763485243383809 working on a sequel]], tentatively titled ''The Monster Baru Cormorant]].
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** During protests in Aurdwynn, rioters are sprayed with a relatively weak acidic mixture in order to identify them when they seek treatment for their irritated skin. [[http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05/fighting-protesters-with-colored-water.html Similar tactics]] have been used against protestors in some real countries (albeit with paint or dye).
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** During protests in Aurdwynn, rioters are sprayed with a relatively weak acidic mixture in order to identify them for arrest when they seek treatment for their irritated skin. In the real world, [[http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05/fighting-protesters-with-colored-water.html Similar similar tactics]] (albeit with paint or dye) have been used against protestors in some real countries (albeit with paint or dye).countries.
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* KillItWithFire: The Imperial Navy loves burning things with Greek fire, and the Empire's mastery of chemistry gives them a technological edge over the world's nations.
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* KillItWithFire: The Imperial Navy loves burning things with Greek fire, fire (or blowing them up with torpedoes), and the Empire's mastery of chemistry gives them a technological edge over the world's nations.
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* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler:Agonist]]
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** During protests in Aurdwynn, rioters are sprayed with a relatively weak acidic mixture in order to identify them when they seek treatment for their irritated skin. [[http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05/fighting-protesters-with-colored-water.html Similar tactics]] have been used against protestors in some real countries (albeit with paint or dye).
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* NoodleIncident: Why Sahaule is called "Horsebane". (''What's the name about?'')
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* NotSoOmniscientCountilOfBickering: The Masquerade's committee of Secret Masters is held in balance because each member has dirt on one of the others -- deliberately so. Indeed, being blackmailable seems to be one qualification for recruitment.
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* NotSoOmniscientCountilOfBickering: NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: The Masquerade's committee of Secret Masters is held in balance because each member has dirt on one of the others -- deliberately so. Indeed, being blackmailable seems to be one qualification for recruitment.
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* NotSoOmniscientCountilOfBickering: The Masquerade's committee of Secret Masters is held in balance because each member has dirt on one of the others -- deliberately so. Indeed, being blackmailable seems to be one qualification for recruitment.
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** Aminata's descriptions feel vaguely Asiatic.
* AnimalMotifs: Shows up a lot. You have The Stag Duchy, the army of the coyote and later the army of the wolf, as well as the general association of birds with Taranoke and Baru herself.
* The Beard: [[spoiler: Baru]] bullies Bel Latheman into being this for a while. It goes about as well as anything else does, really.
* Brainwashed: The Masquerade has a method of making people into what amounts to human robots that are entirely compliant to their established masters, as well as being deadly warriors.
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* TheEmpire: The Imperial Republic of Falcrest, also referred to as the Masquerade or the Empire of Masks.
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* TheEmpire: The Imperial Republic of Falcrest, also referred to as the Masquerade or the Empire of Masks. Historically other empires have risen and fallen, such as the Oriati Mbo.
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*ExoticExtendedMarriage: Baru's parents, a mother and two fathers, although since it is her culture she doesn't see it as particularly exotic. The Masquerade, on the other hand, is [[HeteronormativeCrusader less pleased.]]
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* GreyAndGreyMorality: No one is squeaky clean, but no one is outright evil, the villains tending more towards IDidWhatIHadToDo, SocialDarwinist, or unwitting puppets of more powerful rulers utilizing their flaws. By the same token, even the more heroic dukes are manipulative and will turn on each other for the sake of advancement or to defend their people.
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* LowFantasy: Cynical, entirely human and ostensibly magic-less setting where everyone's morals are grey at best, and even wars for independence are laden with greed and machinations.
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*MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The setting is definitively [[LowFantasy Hard Fantasy]], though mentions of curses and magic appear sporadically, usually framed as superstition and given little credence. Then again [[spoiler: Baru's notes at the very end of the novel indicate that there may be supernatural phenomenae on a neighboring continent...]]
** Dickinson has said that the magic system in the novel is an economy "simple enough for people to twiddle the knobs and get predictable results."
** Dickinson has said that the magic system in the novel is an economy "simple enough for people to twiddle the knobs and get predictable results."
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* TriggerPhrase: Suspire Suspire Suspire.
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Indented the Hierarchic Qualm.
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-> ''"The sword kills, but the arm moves the sword. Is the arm to blame for murder? No. The mind moves the arm. Is the mind to blame? No. The mind has sworn an oath to duty, and that duty moves the mind, as written by the Throne. So it is that a servant of the Throne is blameless."''
to:
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* TheUnfettered: Baru will do ''anything'' to achieve her goal.
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Added some of Seth Dickinson\'s background. Should I just give him a page?
Previously known for numerous short stories on science fiction and fantasy magazines, his work with the ''VideoGame/{{Freespace}}'' [[GameMod mod]] ''VideoGame/BluePlanet'', and ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'s'' [[EncyclopediaExposita Grimoire]], Seth Dickinson's debut novel is an extension of his short story "The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds", which has been adapted as the novel's concluding chapter. Do not read this short story if you plan on reading the book, as this short story spoils the novel in full.
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This is Seth Dickinson's debut novel, and it's an extension of his short story "The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds", which has been adapted s the novel's concuding chapter. Do not read this short story if you plan on reading the book, as this short story spoils the novel in full.
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Correcting spelling (Incrastic, not encrastic), linking Arcadia
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* Arcadia: Baru's home country of Taranoke has shades of it, but this is probably the result of us seeing it through Baru's child's eyes.
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* Arcadia: {{Arcadia}}: Baru's home country of Taranoke has shades of it, but this is probably the result of us seeing it through Baru's child's eyes.
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* HigherEducationIsForWomen: What the Masquerade believes, surprisingly. Their "encrastic science" holds that the female mind is more suited to abstract thought than the male, so women hold prominent positions in the navy (because navigation is complicated), in mathematics or, in Baru's case, in finance.
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* HigherEducationIsForWomen: What the Masquerade believes, surprisingly. Their "encrastic "Incrastic science" holds that the female mind is more suited to abstract thought than the male, so women hold prominent positions in the navy (because navigation is complicated), in mathematics or, in Baru's case, in finance.
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* AmbiguouslyBrown: Nearly everybody in the world of the novel is portrayed as being of decidedly non-European appearance, including the people of Taranoke, Aurdwynn and even the Masquerade, which is itself racially diverse. Baru herself, as a Taranoki, has brown skin, but the novel never otherwise describes the appearance of the Taranoki (as the novel is told from her point of view, she has no reason to comment on it). There is a nation of pale-skinned people in the far north, but they are a rare and exotic appearance in the Masquerade's sphere of influence.
**MonochromeCasting is thereby consciously averted.
**MonochromeCasting is thereby consciously averted.
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*CultureChopSuey: The Masquerade exhibits features of the real-life empires of Britain and France, such as their cultural imperialism, dubious racial science and moral zeal (especially post-revolutionary France, with the Imperial Republic's warships sporting such names as ''Kingsbane'' or ''Egalitaria''), as well as Imperial China, with its bureaucracy and exams for obtaining government posts.
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*HeelFaceMole: [[spoiler: Baru is leading the rebellion of Aurdwynn against the Masquerade at the behest of the Empire's ruling clique, who prefer rebellions they themselves control to the other kind.]]
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*ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler: Baru, the titular traitor]], is afflicted by this, but more out of necessity than desire. [[spoiler: In turn, she betrays her homeland Taranoke by joining the Empire, that Empire by leading Aurdwynn's rebellion, that rebellion by betraying it to the Masquerade, and her lover Tain Hu by ordering her execution.]]
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*ConflictingLoyalty: Baru is torn between her love for her homeland Taranoke and her duties as a newly-minted Imperial technocrat. [[spoiler: And then also between all that and her leadership of Aurdwynn's rebellion, as well as between the rebel dukes' desire to have their putative queen marry and found a dynasty, and her attraction to her female field-general Tain Hu.]]
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* NotInThisForYourRevolution: [[spoiler: Baru, as it turns out. At the behest of the Masquerade's ruling clique, she betrays the very rebellion she orchestrated, as well as her lover, all in order to gain power within the Empire and to enable her to pursue her ultimate goal of liberating her homeland.]]
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* HigherEducationIsForWomen: What the Masquerade believes, surprisingly. Their "encrastic science" holds that the female mind is more suited to abstract thought than the male, so women hold prominent positions in the navy (because navigation is complicated), in mathematics or, in Baru's case, in finance.
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* BadassGay: [[spoiler:Tain Hu, Baru's field general. She twice defeats the hapless Imperial governor of Aurdwynn in single combet - first in a duel, then in battle.]] Notably averted with [[spoiler: Baru: While she trains with a sword, she never uses it in anger.]]
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* BadassGay: [[spoiler:Tain Hu, Baru's field general. She twice defeats the hapless Imperial governor of Aurdwynn in single combet combat - first in a duel, then in battle.]] Notably averted with [[spoiler: Baru: While she trains with a sword, she never uses it in anger.]]
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* BadassGay: [[spoiler:Tain Hu, Baru's field general. She twice defeats the hapless Imperial governor of Aurdwynn in single combet - first in a duel, then in battle.]] Notably averted with [[spoiler: Baru: While she trains with a sword, she never uses it in anger.]]
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* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:Baru's love interest, Duchess Vultjag, is executed by the Masquerade at the end. Baru might have prevented this, but does not - she considers it necessary to quash rumors of her "tribadist" inclinations, and to prevent the Masquerade's camarilla from blackmailing her with her lover's existence.]]
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* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:Baru's love interest, Duchess Vultjag, is executed by the Masquerade at the end. Baru might have prevented this, but does not - she considers it necessary to quash rumors of her "tribadist" inclinations, and to prevent the Masquerade's camarilla from blackmailing her with her lover's existence.]] But, this being something of a CrapsackWorld, [[spoiler: it's not as though ''anybody'' gets a happy ending, either.]]
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* LadyOfWar: Tain Hu, Duchess Vultjag, one of Aurdwynn's ruling nobles, and a very competent fighter and general.
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* WillTheyOrWontThey: Baru and [[spoiler: Tain Hu, Duchess Vultjag. The two are attracted to each other, but circumstances are such that neither is able or willing to act on it until near the end of the novel.]]
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* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:Baru's love interest, Duchess Vultjag, is executed by the Masquerade at the end. Baru might have prevented this, but does not - she considers it necessary to quash rumors of her "tribadist" inclinations, and to prevent the Masquerade's camarilla from blackmailing her with her lover's existence.]]
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* HeteronormativeCrusader: The Masquerade as an institution, and many of its officials, notably [[spoiler: Cairdine Farrier, Baru's mentor. It's implied that the Masquerade's institutional homophobia is in part due to his influence.]]
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* WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs: The Masquerade will overwrite your culture and government, make you pay for its wars, and mutilate or kill you if your conduct is deemed "unhygienic". But it will provide you with free education, effective healthcare, and sanitation.
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additions
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Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire of Masks, or the Masquerade as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from within the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant, talented with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to defeat the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
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Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire Imperial Republic of Masks, Falcrest, or the Masquerade as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from within the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant, talented with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to defeat the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
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This is Seth Dickinson's debut novel, and it's an extension of his short story "The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds". Do not read this short story if you plan on reading the book, as this short story spoils the novel in full.
to:
This is Seth Dickinson's debut novel, and it's an extension of his short story "The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds".Wounds", which has been adapted s the novel's concuding chapter. Do not read this short story if you plan on reading the book, as this short story spoils the novel in full.
* Arcadia: Baru's home country of Taranoke has shades of it, but this is probably the result of us seeing it through Baru's child's eyes.
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* TheEmpire: The Empire of Masks.
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* TheEmpire: The Imperial Republic of Falcrest, also referred to as the Masquerade or the Empire of Masks. Masks.
**Which sees itself as TheRepublic: Falcrest's current, nominally republican régime emerged from a bloody revolution against the ruling nobility.
**HegemonicEmpire: The Masquerade's imperialism is mainly of the cultural and economic variety. Military force is a last resort.
*FantasyWorldMap: The novel includes one for Aurdwynn.
**Which sees itself as TheRepublic: Falcrest's current, nominally republican régime emerged from a bloody revolution against the ruling nobility.
**HegemonicEmpire: The Masquerade's imperialism is mainly of the cultural and economic variety. Military force is a last resort.
*FantasyWorldMap: The novel includes one for Aurdwynn.
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Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire of Masks, or the Masquerade as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from inside the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to conquer the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
While the Empire dismantles Baru's island society, Baru dives headlong into Masquerade education. Her talents catch the eye of an Imperial agent, and she is selected for an exceptional post as the new Imperial Accountant for the recently conquered feudal nation of Aurdwynn, a powderkeg of sedition and rebellion. In order to earn the power that will free her people, Baru must navigate Aurdwynn's treacherous politics while keeping her true motives and her sexuality hidden, and in doing so learn that the price of liberation will be exacted on her conscience.
While the Empire dismantles Baru's island society, Baru dives headlong into Masquerade education. Her talents catch the eye of an Imperial agent, and she is selected for an exceptional post as the new Imperial Accountant for the recently conquered feudal nation of Aurdwynn, a powderkeg of sedition and rebellion. In order to earn the power that will free her people, Baru must navigate Aurdwynn's treacherous politics while keeping her true motives and her sexuality hidden, and in doing so learn that the price of liberation will be exacted on her conscience.
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Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire of Masks, or the Masquerade as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from inside within the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant savant, talented with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to conquer defeat the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
While the Empire dismantles Baru's island society, Baru dives headlong into Masqueradeeducation. Her education, where her talents catch the eye of an Imperial agent, and agent. After her graduation, she is selected for an exceptional post as the new Imperial Accountant for the recently conquered feudal nation of Aurdwynn, a powderkeg of sedition and rebellion. In order to earn the power that will free her people, Baru must navigate Aurdwynn's treacherous politics while keeping her true motives and her sexuality hidden, and in doing so learn that the price of liberation will be exacted on her conscience.
While the Empire dismantles Baru's island society, Baru dives headlong into Masquerade
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* [[spoiler: CounterfeitCash: It's how Vultjag gets its riches, despite the duchy being the poorest of Aurdwynn.]]
* CulturePolice: The only values allowed in Imperial lands are Imperial values. Marriages are tightly controlled by the Imperial Jurispotence, and promiscuity, religion, and homosexuality are punishable by mutilation and death.
* CulturePolice: The only values allowed in Imperial lands are Imperial values. Marriages are tightly controlled by the Imperial Jurispotence, and promiscuity, religion, and homosexuality are punishable by mutilation and death.
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* [[spoiler: TheChessmaster: Aurdwynn is full of them.
* CounterfeitCash: [[spoiler: It's how Vultjag gets its riches, despite the duchy being the poorest of Aurdwynn.]]
* CulturePolice: The only values allowed in Imperial lands are Imperial values. Marriages are tightly controlled by the ImperialJurispotence, and promiscuity, Jurispotence for eugenics purposes. Promiscuity, religion, and homosexuality are punishable by mutilation and death.death.
* DarwinistDesire: The Masquerade wants all people in the Empire to marry for this reason.
* DidntSeeThatComing: Frequently, as the book is in large part about Baru learning to be a {{Chessmaster}}.
* CounterfeitCash: [[spoiler: It's how Vultjag gets its riches, despite the duchy being the poorest of Aurdwynn.]]
* CulturePolice: The only values allowed in Imperial lands are Imperial values. Marriages are tightly controlled by the Imperial
* DarwinistDesire: The Masquerade wants all people in the Empire to marry for this reason.
* DidntSeeThatComing: Frequently, as the book is in large part about Baru learning to be a {{Chessmaster}}.
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* GambitPileup: Baru, the Jurispotence, the thirteen dukes, and the Imperial Governor all have their own plans for Aurdwynn.
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* GambitPileup: A given, since Baru, the Jurispotence, the thirteen dukes, and the Imperial Governor Governor, and the Masquerade at large all have their own plans for Aurdwynn.
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* KillItWithFire: The Imperial Navy loves its analogue to Greek Fire.
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* KillItWithFire: The Imperial Navy loves its analogue to burning things with Greek Fire.fire, and the Empire's mastery of chemistry gives them a technological edge over the world's nations.
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* XanatosSpeedChess: Baru forgets that she is not the only player on the board, and will have to play these games when things don't go as planned.
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* XanatosSpeedChess: Baru forgets that she is not OutGambitted: Baru's good, but her more experienced rivals frequently get the only player on the board, and will have to play these games when things don't go as planned. best of her.
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Minor edit.
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Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire of Masks, or "the Masquerade" as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from inside the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to conquer the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
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Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire of Masks, or "the Masquerade" the Masquerade as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from inside the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to conquer the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
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Added spoiler entry.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_traitor_baru_cormorant_seth_dickinson.jpg]]
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* IDidWhatIHadToDo: The whole point of the Hierarchic Qualm:
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* IDidWhatIHadToDo: The Baru's justification for what she does for power, and the whole point of the Hierarchic Qualm:
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* KillItWithFire: The Imperial Navy loves its analogue to Greek Fire.
* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler: The actual Emperor is a lobotomized vegetable, and the Imperial Parliament doesn't really get anything done. The Masquerade is run by the committee of paramount masters, two of whom advise Baru throughout the story.]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler: The actual Emperor is a lobotomized vegetable, and the Imperial Parliament doesn't really get anything done. The Masquerade is run by the committee of paramount masters, two of whom advise Baru throughout the story.]]
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First revision.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_traitor_baru_cormorant_seth_dickinson.jpg]]
->[+"Any price. Any sacrifice. It is the only way to take a piece of their power for our own."+]
Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire of Masks, or "the Masquerade" as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from inside the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to conquer the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
While the Empire dismantles Baru's island society, Baru dives headlong into Masquerade education. Her talents catch the eye of an Imperial agent, and she is selected for an exceptional post as the new Imperial Accountant for the recently conquered feudal nation of Aurdwynn, a powderkeg of sedition and rebellion. In order to earn the power that will free her people, Baru must navigate Aurdwynn's treacherous politics while keeping her true motives and her sexuality hidden, and in doing so learn that the price of liberation will be exacted on her conscience.
This is Seth Dickinson's debut novel, and it's an extension of his short story "The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds". Do not read this short story if you plan on reading the book, as this short story spoils the novel in full.
NeedsWikiMagicLove.
----
!!''The following {{trope}}s have been found in this work:''
* BecomingTheMask: Baru fears doing this for all the figurative masks she wears.
* [[spoiler: CounterfeitCash: It's how Vultjag gets its riches, despite the duchy being the poorest of Aurdwynn.]]
* CulturePolice: The only values allowed in Imperial lands are Imperial values. Marriages are tightly controlled by the Imperial Jurispotence, and promiscuity, religion, and homosexuality are punishable by mutilation and death.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The methods used by the Masquerade to expand its borders are eerily close to methods used by real-world colonial nations to subjugate a colony's aboriginal peoples.
* TheEmpire: The Empire of Masks.
* GambitPileup: Baru, the Jurispotence, the thirteen dukes, and the Imperial Governor all have their own plans for Aurdwynn.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: The whole point of the Hierarchic Qualm:
-> ''"The sword kills, but the arm moves the sword. Is the arm to blame for murder? No. The mind moves the arm. Is the mind to blame? No. The mind has sworn an oath to duty, and that duty moves the mind, as written by the Throne. So it is that a servant of the Throne is blameless."''
* InsistentTerminology: Loyal servants of the Throne will insist that you address the Masquerade as "The Imperial Republic", or "The Empire of Masks".
* XanatosSpeedChess: Baru forgets that she is not the only player on the board, and will have to play these games when things don't go as planned.
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->[+"Any price. Any sacrifice. It is the only way to take a piece of their power for our own."+]
Armed with science, basic economics, and bureaucracy, the Empire of Masks, or "the Masquerade" as it is called by its detractors, slowly conquers Baru Cormorant's seaside homeland of Taranoke. Baru, lured away by the Empire's promise of a more prosperous society, watches from inside the Imperial academy's walls as the Masqerade rewrites Taranoke's culture and criminalizes the island's customs. However, Baru is a savant with the calculus of numbers and power, and she sees that the only way to conquer the Masquerade is by changing it from within.
While the Empire dismantles Baru's island society, Baru dives headlong into Masquerade education. Her talents catch the eye of an Imperial agent, and she is selected for an exceptional post as the new Imperial Accountant for the recently conquered feudal nation of Aurdwynn, a powderkeg of sedition and rebellion. In order to earn the power that will free her people, Baru must navigate Aurdwynn's treacherous politics while keeping her true motives and her sexuality hidden, and in doing so learn that the price of liberation will be exacted on her conscience.
This is Seth Dickinson's debut novel, and it's an extension of his short story "The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds". Do not read this short story if you plan on reading the book, as this short story spoils the novel in full.
NeedsWikiMagicLove.
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!!''The following {{trope}}s have been found in this work:''
* BecomingTheMask: Baru fears doing this for all the figurative masks she wears.
* [[spoiler: CounterfeitCash: It's how Vultjag gets its riches, despite the duchy being the poorest of Aurdwynn.]]
* CulturePolice: The only values allowed in Imperial lands are Imperial values. Marriages are tightly controlled by the Imperial Jurispotence, and promiscuity, religion, and homosexuality are punishable by mutilation and death.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The methods used by the Masquerade to expand its borders are eerily close to methods used by real-world colonial nations to subjugate a colony's aboriginal peoples.
* TheEmpire: The Empire of Masks.
* GambitPileup: Baru, the Jurispotence, the thirteen dukes, and the Imperial Governor all have their own plans for Aurdwynn.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: The whole point of the Hierarchic Qualm:
-> ''"The sword kills, but the arm moves the sword. Is the arm to blame for murder? No. The mind moves the arm. Is the mind to blame? No. The mind has sworn an oath to duty, and that duty moves the mind, as written by the Throne. So it is that a servant of the Throne is blameless."''
* InsistentTerminology: Loyal servants of the Throne will insist that you address the Masquerade as "The Imperial Republic", or "The Empire of Masks".
* XanatosSpeedChess: Baru forgets that she is not the only player on the board, and will have to play these games when things don't go as planned.
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