I really liked The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. It was provided to me as a review copy by the publisher. Some parts were weaker than the first part of the series, which was rich due to its time skips and introduction into the world, but other parts were just as good and better – we see Baru through other eyes, and even when people misjudge her, it's quite telling. Baru remains a very flawed, sometimes horrible, but always compelling protagonist. I mean, she explains how people are like hash functions, in a non-computerised fantasy world, of course I'd like her. Regrettably, the ending is quite open and we'll all have to wait for the last volume to come in. Drat.

I loved The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. I don't even know where to start. Our protagonist is a young girl in a "primitive" country when the story starts. Her country is annexed by the big empire next door by economic and cultural means. The Masquerade promptly sets about destroying local culture (which involves polyamory and homosexuality, which doesn't go well with the Masquerade's straight repressive culture and eugenic views). The protagonist is educated in the school, recognized as a genius, and on fast track to rise high in the professed meritocracy. Her talents are mostly in economy and related areas, and the book follows her first posting, complete with intrigue (well, mostly that), love (both homo- and heteroromantic), hate, betrayal, loyalty, some fighting, all that. The book moves very fast, which was a delight to me. Every sentence counts, and years can pass in one page, while still hinting at the important things left out. The ending is a very brutal payoff, and I was happy that I had the second book at hand.