There is only one sequence that shows what Baru is capable of when unleashed and I loved it. There is nothing of the secret and total power Baru was promised and sacrificed so much to gain, instead she is dancing to other people’s tune, supposed mysteries that are key to blackmail and coercion are swapped over dinner like bad jokes that nobody enjoys, and the superb geopolitical machinations I so admired in the previous instalment are substituted with hazy ideas of magical mbo and trim. I am not as fuming as I might be should I have first-hand experience with oncological trauma but I tell you the ash cake made of burned miscarried child was more than enough for me because I went through the death of my baby. Cancer as a vehicle for immortality is one fat “what the hug?!” for me. The intrigues in this volume are about as subtle as a hippo in the porcelain store there is also a new antagonist (so to speak) and a new layer to the world building that has the stink of comforting metaphysics able to account for everything should the need arise.

So, forget the ledger of secrets, and if you are at that, forget the secrets altogether. Instead you will be embarrassed to read how the cryptarch Agonist, formerly known as Baru Cormorant, wallows, is paralysed by her own trauma and fears which means putting things off and stumbles around crippled by her naivety and indecisiveness, which puts her in tow, following up on the tide of events and then in the final moment just before doom, saving the hour thanks to being a savant which in the book’s lingo means just a snow-flake with a special capability. … you think you will read how Baru delves deep into the heart and mind of Masquerade’s power and takes no prisoners, so to speak, in order to kill the empire relying solely on the power of her mind and her knowledge of the money - you could not be more mistaken… Now she is elevated to the new heights of power that gives her power and influence on the decision-making processes, the policies, the intrigues of the monster that devoured her homeland and so… Rebel accountant Baru Cormorant murdered the love of her life and betrayed almost everybody who considered her an ally in her quest to vanquish an evil empire from within. Nothing that could develop into a many-volume relationship. If you remember my review for Traitor Baru, you know that I was truly smitten. However, once the initial infatuation fades away, it takes a lot to keep my love going, lest I move on to some new book-love of my life. The promiscuous book-lover that I am, I fall in love with new series quickly and you can find my passionate and awed reviews that sing this love without abandon. Make enough death, and like any other currency it loses its value.”

The monster baru cormorant