Seek the Traitor's Son, Reviewed

all my homies hate the Talusar

I remember the Divergent series gaining traction when I was in middle school. The movies were just announced, and everyone was taking online quizzes to see which faction they were in. I read the first book and never picked up the rest. I didn’t understand the world (it seems nobody really did) and I couldn’t muster any empathy for the protagonist.

So when I heard that the Divergent author, Veronica Roth, had released an adult science fiction novel just a few months ago, I was skeptical. It’s been 15 years and yes, she’s written plenty of other books in that time, but my expectations were low, and when I saw that Seek the Traitor’s Son had an almost five-star Goodreads rating, I thought, psshhh, it can’t be that good.

Veronica Roth I am so sorry. You are a genius. Do you, perhaps, have a fan club?

Seek the Traitor’s Son is my first ever six star book—that is to say, it was perfect. I don’t really believe in perfect books, but this is definitely as close as anyone can get. I couldn’t put it down. The sequel isn’t coming out until next year and I will be using my elbows to be first in line.

The plot is straightforward: Set far in the future, two young women from opposing countries are summoned to hear a prophecy. One of the women, and thus her country, will triumph over the other. No one knows which. At the center of their prophecy is a man, also unknown, who they will both fall in love with. Our protagonist, Elegy Ahn, is just a soldier. The other woman, Rava Vidar, is a genetically enhanced superhuman with psychic abilities. Both women part ways knowing they will eventually meet again—and one of their nations will crumble.

The world building is where things get really interesting. Elegy is from a small country that’s outnumbered by the Talusar, a nation that’s taken over Earth and worships a disease called the Fever. The Fever kills all its victims, but revives half of them with extra strength and psychic abilities (usually seeing into the past or future). Elegy’s nation believes the cost is too great to trust in the Fever, and the Talusar believe that is heresy. The Talusar have the advantage, and Elegy’s nation is on the brink of being overrun. At the center of everything is a mystery surrounding a plant, one that may not be from Earth…

Seek the Traitor’s Son is an underdog story with real stakes and a fascinating mystery. It can be hard to care about a world-ending storyline, because we don’t live in that world, and we have no stakes in it (Timothy Hickson has some great analysis on why “save the world” stories sometimes fall flat). But this book is perfectly centered on a small cast of characters whose differing goals give us insight into the world at large, and thus as we start to care about the cast, we start to care about the world. And the mystery is revealed piece by piece, giving readers just enough information to feel like they’re figuring it out themselves.

Most importantly, its characters feel real. I can not stand novels whose characters feel like caricatures—an idea of a person, not fully fleshed out, only meant to serve a narrative purpose. Every character in this book has realistic goals, motives, and they react like real people would to stressful and dangerous situations. The first time we meet our love interest, he isn’t introduced as a hunk of a man who saunters into the room. His introduction feels human, and so does the inner monologue of our protagonist, Elegy.

I was worried the romance would feel rushed, and that Elegy, aware that she’s destined to fall in love with an unknown man, would immediately know who he was and feel an immediate lust towards him. But Seek the Traitor’s Son provides a true slow burn romance with a natural chemistry that develops into something more.

The villains were the final cherry on top for me. The Talusar are intimidating. They’re strong, fast, smart, and not lacking in resources. How do you fight a nation whose residents can see the future? Or the secrets of your past? Veronica Roth took a really fun route with the memory reading element, too—some characters refused to give each other information in case “someone was watching” from the future, or they planted actions/information that could only be accessed by a memory reader who knew what they were looking for.

This book was amazing. The mystery, the characters, and the world were fascinating. I can’t wait for the sequel next year.

STAR RATING: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆