![]() According to local judgment, Aurdwynn’s quarrelsome, competitive, rebellious duchies cannot be ruled, even by the empire. Having distinguished herself at school, she receives the powerful appointment of Imperial Accountant to the cold northern land of Aurdwynn. Farrier, she learns, is one of a handful of shadowy figures who form the real power behind the emperor. 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. She meets Cairdine Farrier, who represents himself as a merchant and encourages her higher education in imperial schools. A highly intelligent child, Baru conceals her deep hatred. Taranoke’s easygoing culture, with its acceptance of homosexuality and multiple parentage, crumbles-a brutal fact Baru grasps only when one of her two fathers is murdered by imperial troops. ![]() The new imperial overlords offer significant advantages, including superior if doctrinaire education and medicine, but insist upon rigid sexual convention. ![]() 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. Fantasy intrigue, power politics, and revenge: Brooklyn resident Dickinson’s first novel. ![]()
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