VERONICA ROTH Seek the Traitor’s Son. Reviewed by Robert Goodman

Set in a future Earth, the first instalment of Veronica Roth’s new science-fiction series imagines the consequences of alien gifts. 

Veronica Roth is probably best known as the author of the popular YA-pitched Divergent series (and the not-as-popular movie series based on those books). Since then she has delivered a number of fascinating standalone fantasy and science-fiction novels. Poster Girl was an exploration of a still fairly dystopian post-dystopian world, Chosen Ones explored the lives of teen heroes after they grow up, and When Among Crows (and its sequel To Clutch A Razor) was urban fantasy that riffed on Polish mythology. With Seek The Traitor’s Son, the first of a planned duology, Roth returns to a slightly more mainstream science-fiction premise with prophecies, betrayals and more than a bit of romance thrown in.

The world of Seek The Traitor’s Son is a well-imagined future Earth. Many years before it opens, humankind was offered the stars by alien beings, but rejected the approach. Not long after, humans were afflicted with a new disease known as the Fever.

The Fever is highly infectious, and it kills everyone who contracts it – every single person.

Half of them stay dead.

The other half come back to life, two or three days later. Their bodies regenerated. Possessing special gifts.

One of the powers that can develop as a consequence of surviving the Fever is that of prophecy. Those who attain this power are known as augers and are highly respected by the Talusar. Other examples include the power to read and share memories, or the ability to experience the deep past. The Talusar worship the Fever as a god, and all who live in their empire must go through the process of infection (and death) when they come of age. The Cedre reject the Fever, they see it as ‘a virus that devastated the planet’s population’ and keep their borders secure from the Talusar. But the Cedre are in the minority globally. (The Cedre do have control of Australia and its capital Naarm, the traditional Aboriginal name for the land on which Melbourne currently sits, although most of the action takes place in Losan, aka Los Angeles). The Cedre also control a giant space station, where they are building a spaceship, the Sundial, to try and re-establish contact with the aliens who came before.

Seek The Traitor’s Son opens with a prophecy delivered to two members of the opposing forces. Elegy Ahn is told she might be the saviour of the Cedre, but a similar prophecy is given to Rava Vidar, a general of the Talusar. Central to both prophecies is an unnamed man who the (already married) Elegy is told she will fall in love with. Before Elegy can come to terms with the prophecy and her role in it, tragedy strikes and it is only years later that she starts, unwillingly, to move towards her role in its fulfilment. At the same time, in the background is the story of alien visitation and a strange plant brought to Earth.

The characters and the way they are established are a little archetypal (plucky heroine, evil general, staid political operator).

Elegy’s enemies have always been the Talusar … Talusar soldiers killed her father for helping a child flee Talusar country, and then, after Elegy joined the military, they killed her friends and colleagues too … And Rava Vidar is the worst of them, a monster that lurks in the dark, a mythical thing.

The third point in this triangle is Theren, the man at the centre of both prophecies. He is probably the most interesting character to start – one of a younger generation of Talusar refugees to the Cedre, who as a result is sworn to a service he is not sure he wants. For Theren, when the book opens at least, ‘there’s no time, no choice, no path’ other than service to the Cedre.

But Roth builds all of them out, particularly Elegy and Theren, and most develop more depth and complexity.

The narrative follows Elegy as she constantly puts herself in peril to do what she thinks is right. But as Elegy feels the weight of the prophecy starting to coalesce around her, she also works to meet its requirements. Elegy does this while in a power struggle with her more politically astute sister, who has the title Sword of the Cedre, and wields a lot of control. Elegy has to rely on her friends and networks to subtly achieve her goals while also coming into her own power. And around all of this is a simmering, breathless romance element:

She can still feel the ghost of that touch on her fingers, his hot skin, the prickle of his hair. And the way he held her there, a desperate clutch of his hand, like he couldn’t bear for her to let go.

Which is at least flagged right up front in the prophecy and so should come as no real surprise.

Seek the Traitor’s Son is another fascinating and sometimes surprising work of speculative fiction from Roth. The world-building is strong, the central characters are engaging and the action (and there is plenty of it) is handled particularly well with some great twists and cliffhangers. The whole builds to what is a surprisingly satisfying ending, at least to the events of this volume, while it will leave readers hanging for the conclusion in book two.

Veronica Roth Seek the Traitor’s Son Tor 2026 PB 432pp $34.99

Robert Goodman is an institutionalised public servant and obsessive reader, who won a science fiction short-story competition very early in his career but has found reviewing a better outlet for his skills. He was a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards for many years and reviews for a number of other publications – see his website: www.pilebythebed.com

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Tags: aliens, duology, future Earth, infections, prophecy, science fiction, Veronica | Roth