The Monster Baru Cormorant

The Masquerade, Book 2

By: Seth Dickinson

Narrated by: Christine Marshall

A breathtaking geopolitical epic fantasy, The Monster Baru Cormorant is the sequel to Seth Dickinson's "fascinating tale" (The Washington Post) The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

Her world was shattered by the Empire of Masks. For the power to shatter the Masquerade, she betrayed everyone she loved.

The traitor Baru Cormorant is now the cryptarch Agonist - a secret lord of the empire she's vowed to destroy.

Hunted by a mutinous admiral, haunted by the wound which has split her mind in two, Baru leads her dearest foes on an expedition for the secret of immortality. It's her chance to trigger a war that will consume the Masquerade.

But Baru's heart is broken, and she fears she can no longer tell justice from revenge...or her own desires from the will of the man who remade her.

©2018 Seth Dickinson (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2019, Locus Awards - Nominee, Short-listed

Confusing, but partly my fault.

Unfortunately, I listened to this sequel before the first book. I blame Audible Auto Play that started it while I was driving. I didn’t realize it was the second book in a trilogy until more then half way through and by then I was invested. That fact may have contributed to my confusion as the names, places, characters, and consequences from the first book were introduced to me in rapid succession.

That being said, the recording itself is rather confusing. The narrator jumps between perspectives and times without announcement, voice change, or pause. As one section flows into another you just have to figure it out with context. Apparently this isn’t an issue in the book, but definitely is in this recording.

Nonetheless, I was able to follow enough to be captivated by this confusing world I found myself in. While the characters aren’t likable, they are at least relatable and I find myself interested enough to listen to the first book. Hopefully I’ll be less confused this time around.

The Rabbit Hole Goes Waaay Down

Rides the line between lyric brilliance and bat-sh** crazy gibberish. Its universe is carefully realized but sometimes obsessive in its minor details. Frequently compelling however.

Beautifully written but a bit lackluster

The first book was a climb with Baru making calculated moves in life or death situations. With each victory she moved closer to her goals. It was satisfying and exciting. This sequel however lacks much of that and leaves our main character going through the motions as she tries to reconcile with the events of the first book. While the plot is merely good, the writing and the characters are amazingly fleshed out and a joy to listen to. Overall, a good book but doesn't quite live up to the promise of the last one.

Brilliant

I somehow adore the second installment more than the first. The plot thickens so very much, and the world-building just layers onto itself like layers of flavor in a curry. Delicious.

Dickinson does it again

For fans of the first book, there's a lot to love here. There's also some growing pains as it's a second book in a series and spends a fair amount of time building for the rest of the series.

Baru is brought down to earth somewhat as she becomes more reactive than proactive and her schemes don't seem to succeed quite like they did in book one. But, overall, this is a great book and I'm super excited to see the next one very soon.

Not as good as the first one

Seems like all Baru does in this book is run away and lose various body parts while waxing introspective about Tain Hu. Not as much of the ruthless, brilliant scheming I remember.

The plot about the Cancriot makes no sense. Transferring tumors to gain immortality? Eh? I thought the Falcresti were supposed to be smart. Maybe this is fleshed out more in later books.

Also Tain Sher or however it's spelled is a crappy villain. What motivates her? Death of a relative, although she turned on her Falcresti masters. Why did she turn? If it was explained I don't remember. She seems like a weak and nebulous villain, just a reason for Baru to flee all over the place.

The POV Exate Yahweh chapters are very meh. Amanita slightly better.

The narrator is again terrible. She starts out a little better than Book 1 simply by reading more slowly. But since this book as multiple female POV characters, she is even harder to follow. When perspective shifts it usually goes unannounced. I frequently found myself having to rewind after realizing I was hearing a different character. Because they all sound the exact same.

It's listenable at like .85x speed and if you're willing to rewind many times.

uranium cult that is terrifying

she is a monster 5/5 aiama aiama agulien the cancer grows and so will your interest in this book it got me

༼ つ ಥ_ಥ ༽つ My soul is in agony ༼ つ ಥ_ಥ ༽つ

This is the best book I've ever read. I don't even know what's real anymore.

Brilliant

Good reader. Very complex story, but gripping and satisfying. Will be diving straight into the next book in the series!

Confusing and pointless

I read the first installment of this series and liked it well enough to try the second. But this book is incoherent and goes nowhere. In particular, it does not work as an audiobook, given the many many strange names and the long back stories and flashbacks and histories of various realms that are jammed in to the muddled and pointless plot.