Editorial Content for Seek the Traitor's Son

After soaring in the dystopian genre with her Divergent series, Veronica Roth casts a new post-apocalyptic spell with SEEK THE TRAITOR’S SON. Compelling characters fly between a space station, monasteries and a war-torn Earth, as they clash with swords, arrows and spears, in this first entry of a new fantasy series. As if it is the Dune of Generation Z, the book is backdropped by the colossal imaginative talent of its author, who is careful to make sure that the motors of her story are her characters’ feelings and experiences as they navigate a mysterious prophecy and a brutal war.

Exposition and an eerie inciting incident are weaved together in the opening chapter. Primary protagonist Elegy Ahn is summoned to hear a prophecy. She is escorted by “The Sword of Cedre,” her estranged mother and the head of the Cedrae people’s military. Another recipient of the prophecy is Rava Vidar, a ruthless warrior of the Talusar people, Cedre’s bitter enemies. Centuries ago, humanity was decimated by “The Fever,” a disease that kills half of those it infects, and resurrects the other half with supernatural abilities. The survivors (the Talusar) worship the Fever as a god and view those who want to steer clear of it (the Cedrae) as blasphemers.

"Besides immense imagination, worldbuilding, spots of humor and character development, Roth’s strongest achievement in SEEK THE TRAITOR’S SON is her memory. No character or detail is mentioned once and then forgotten."

The prophecy: either Elegy or Rava will win the war for their side. Elegy must gather someone who can see deep into the past, someone who can see the future, and a man she hasn’t met yet but with whom she will fall in love.

When the Sword pleads for her to behave while they are in neutral territory during a ceasefire, Elegy internally reflects how she is a spare heir, in case her mother’s first daughter dies and cannot inherit the mantle of the Sword of Cedre. When Elegy and Rava are brought into a room to hear the prophecy, Elegy explains how some Talusar (like Rava’s family) were resurrected with abilities of reading people’s memories, while others (like the augurs with their prophecy) have precognition.

Roth lays down a lot of worldbuilding early on, but Elegy’s reactions in a tense situation lead the way, allowing for a fluid introduction to both setting and characters. Unlike the openings of Star Wars or Blade Runner, Roth does not employ a lazy paragraph that politely tells audiences what they need to know. She has her characters’ thoughts paint a portrait.

On Cedre Station --- high above Elegy, the augurs, Rava and the Sword --- is Theren Forint, the second primary protagonist. He is the son of one of the Talusar exiles who fled to Cedre to spare him from the Fever’s 50-50 odds. The conditions of their asylum: their children must become a Knight of the Sword at age 21. His 20 years are deemed good enough when the Sword wants an unsworn Knight to pledge himself to Elegy, the newfound “Hope of Cedre.”

Roth’s fluid third-person perspective allows for the chapters to focus on Elegy or Theren, with moments of drifting toward a secondary character’s behavior and feelings. Elegy meets her new Knight right before his oath is taken, where the pair empathize with one another’s unwanted roles of immense importance. Immediately after Theren swears his oath to Elegy, Rava and the Talusar invade. Elegy’s Knight bolts and abandons her. Shir, Elegy’s husband, is killed, severing the third point of the love triangle to which the augurs alluded. Theren is captured by Rava and the Talusar, who infect him with the Fever.

The narrative then jumps four years to its primary timeframe. Most of the narrative time of SEEK THE TRAITOR’S SON is linear, where characters go from point B to point C without dwelling on how point A led them there, or how point D rose from their current point. But as the narrative and its imaginative setting settles into readers’ minds, Roth allows the characters to indulge more in flashbacks. When Elegy is captured as she tries to rescue Theren from Rava’s stronghold, she recalls a time when she and Shir were newly in love and reviewed tips in withstanding Talusar interrogations.

Elegy learns that Theren is no prisoner after all these years in Talusar territory. He became Rava’s chief “truthsayer” after the Fever resurrected him with the rare Fevered ability to feel others’ feelings. Theren lunges at the opportunity to amend his cowardice and restore his oath to Elegy. The Hope of Cedre and her Knight escape Rava’s stronghold, and later Elegy ensures that Theren is not subject to the Cedrae military’s harsh interrogations. Roth’s boldest and most effective maneuver with narrative time comes when Elegy arranges for a Talusar exile to read Theren’s memories. His memories of the Fever and four years with the Talusar highlight the antagonists and their society, as well as an important clue to realizing Elegy’s prophecy.

Theren physically feels others’ emotions, which naturally allows Roth to pivot the focus of a chapter between her protagonists. Elegy marvels at how Theren can be both a savage fighter and a gentle and sensitive person, while Theren feels the scorching tangle of her grief for Shir in his own chest, like a bad case of angina. Their cautious road to romance almost feels physical for the reader, as Theren feels his own growing attraction and affection for Elegy, as well as Elegy’s guilt for Shir and love for Theren.

Besides immense imagination, worldbuilding, spots of humor and character development, Roth’s strongest achievement in SEEK THE TRAITOR’S SON is her memory. No character or detail is mentioned once and then forgotten. Everything here is important, necessitating a slow, careful read, which is difficult with such exciting action and romance. The ending makes a sequel an instant want, but the book is also a strong stand-alone.