Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Dickinson's debut, the start of a trilogy set in an impressively well-crafted fantasy world, is assured and impressive. After the island nation of Taranoke is conquered by the far-flung Empire of Masks, its culture and traditions are suppressed in favor of the empire's rigid structure. Baru Cormorant, a young native woman, vows to do whatever it takes to rise to power within the so-called Masquerade so that she might someday free her people. At school, Baru is dubbed a savant; when she's 18, she's appointed to serve as Imperial Accountant for one of the Empire's most troublesome regions, the country of Aurdwynn. There, Baru engages in a dangerous economic game against the empire and the quarrelsome dukes of Aurdwynn, always keeping to her own agenda while repressing her innermost longings, including her desires for other women. When her manipulations force the dukes into all-out revolution, she must pick a side and risk everything. Readers will share every one of Baru's strong, suppressed emotions. Dickinson's worldbuilding is ambitious and his language deviously subtle; both are seductive in their complexity. He combines social engineering, economic trickery, and coldhearted pseudoscientific theories to weave a compelling, utterly surprising narrative that keeps readers guessing until the end. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Review by Library Journal Review
After her island nation is conquered by forces from the Empire of Masks and one of her two fathers is killed, Baru Cormorant bottles up her grief and hate and joins the Masquerade civil service. Even as she succeeds in her schooling and service exams, she watches her native culture get demolished by the invaders. Despite her high test scores, Baru is not sent to the capital but is instead posted as the new Imperial Accountant to distant Aurdwynn, a land in perpetual rebellion. She navigates the dangerous political waters of her new northern home, while always plotting her next move against the Masquerade. VERDICT This is an accomplished debut, with a heroine whose motives are murky, seemingly even to herself. The twists and turns our unreliable narrator takes as she pushes the Aurdwynn nobles to rebel reveal her goals yet also expose her loneliness. We've only seen a fraction of the world of the Masquerade and a glimpse of Baru's plans, setting the stage for a compelling series.-MM © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Fantasy intrigue, power politics, and revenge: Brooklyn resident Dickinson's first novel. The arrival of the Empire of Masks at Taranoke, 7-year-old Baru Cormorant's home, signals a swift collapse of local autonomy, with the peaceful island's economy subverted by financial deceit and little means of military resistance. The new imperial overlords offer significant advantages, including superior if doctrinaire education and medicine, but insist upon rigid sexual convention. Taranoke's easygoing culture, with its acceptance of homosexuality and multiple parentage, crumblesa brutal fact Baru grasps only when one of her two fathers is murdered by imperial troops. A highly intelligent child, Baru conceals her deep hatred. She meets Cairdine Farrier, who represents himself as a merchant and encourages her higher education in imperial schools. Baru formulates a secret plan to rise through the ranks of the imperial civil service and eventually reach the seat of power in the distant capital, Falcrest, since only there, she reasons, will she find a way to free her people. Farrier, she learns, is one of a handful of shadowy figures who form the real power behind the emperor. Having distinguished herself at school, she receives the powerful appointment of Imperial Accountant to the cold northern land of Aurdwynn. According to local judgment, Aurdwynn's quarrelsome, competitive, rebellious duchies cannot be ruled, even by the empire. Baru discovers that her two predecessors both died in mysterious circumstances and trusts neither of her fellow imperial appointees, Governor Cattlson or Jurispotence Xate Yawa. Somehow, amid treachery, insurrection, and mistrust, Baru must concoct a scheme to further her greater ambitions. Against this persuasive backdrop, Dickinson's dense, chewy, deftly orchestrated narrative cleverly exploits fiat money and debt as tools of statecraft, while offering little in the way of real plot surprises and, ultimately, failing to expose the personalities behind the characters' literal and figurative masks. A highly impressive debut that engages intellectually while rarely offering emotional involvement. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
