Divergent<\/a> series, one of the hottest dystopian young adult series of the 2010s. Thematically, the novels are similar. Like \u201cDivergent,\u201d this new book is also set in an alternate, dystopian version of our world; it is also packed with vivid, present-tense prose full of capitalized labels to let you know that something different is going on; and it also centers on a classic \u201cChosen One\u201d who is burdened by the mantle of savior she carries.<\/p>\nThese are classic tropes, but I, like many other genre fiction fans, enjoy that familiarity. Still, I\u2019m always hoping for a subversion, a tornado twist that sucks me into imagination land.<\/p>\n
In \u201cSeek the Traitor\u2019s Son,\u201d our Chosen One is Elegy Ahn, the spare heir of the most powerful woman in Cedre. Elegy likes her life, even if it\u2019s filled with danger. See, some time ago, a virus took over the world. The contagion is strange: Everyone who is infected dies, but 50 percent of the people who die come back to life with mysterious cognitive gifts.<\/p>\n
After the outbreak, Earth split into two factions: The dominant Talusar, who worship the Fever, believe it is a divine gift, willingly infect themselves with it and consider anyone who does not submit to it a blasphemer; and Cedre, a small country made up of everyone who rejects the virus and the dogma around it. They are, naturally, at war.<\/p>\n
Early in the book, Elegy, solidly on the Cedre side, and Rava Vidar, a brutal Talusar general, are summoned by an order of prophets who tell them: One of you will lead your people to victory over the other, and one of the deciding factors involves an unnamed man whom Elegy is prophesied to fall in love with.<\/p>\n
Elegy doesn\u2019t want this. But the prophecy spurs the Talusar into action, and so her mother assigns her a Talusaran refugee as a knight and forces her into the fray as the Hope of Cedre.<\/p>\n
If that seems like a lot of setup, don\u2019t worry. That\u2019s just the first few chapters. Besides, if you know those dystopian novel tropes, you\u2019ll get the hang of it. Roth gets through the world exposition quickly, and after a rather jarring time skip, the plot takes off, effectively and entertainingly driving readers to the novel\u2019s exhilarating end.<\/p>\n
The strength of \u201cSeek the Traitor\u2019s Son\u201d is Roth\u2019s character work. Elegy is a dynamic heroine. She has a lot to lose, and she leads with love, which is reflected in the intense grief she feels for the people she\u2019s lost in the war and the life the prophecy took from her. It\u2019s love that makes her stop running from her destiny and do what she thinks is right to save the people she has left.<\/p>\n
Many authors isolate their characters to back them into bad decisions, so it\u2019s refreshing that Roth has given Elegy a community to support her. Her sister Hela in particular is a treat. She\u2019s refreshingly grounded, and often gives a much needed reprieve from the melodrama of the other characters\u2019 lives. (She has an important subplot that has to do with a glowing alien plant, but the real reason you should pay attention to her is that she\u2019s funny, loves her sister so much, has cool friends and listens to gay romance novels.) Hela and Elegy\u2019s unwavering loyalty to each other casts a positive illumination on both characters.<\/p>\n
My favorite character is Theren, Elegy\u2019s knight, who is kind and empathetic to everyone but himself. As the obvious romantic lead, his character most diverges from genre standard because of the nuanced depiction of his trauma. He has been so broken by his experiences that he thinks what he can do with his body is all he can offer, and it\u2019s worth nothing to him.<\/p>\n
But like I said, I need subversion, and for all the creative world-building, I didn\u2019t quite get it. The most distinct part of the novel was the setting and structure of alternate Earth, as well as the subcultures born from that setting. But after ripping through the novel, I found that those details didn\u2019t provide nourishment for thought, and the general handwaviness of the technology and history of Earth was distractingly easy to nitpick.<\/p>\n
I am a greedy reader, so I want my books to have everything: romance, action, an intellectual theme, novel ideas about the future, and character development. \u201cSeek the Traitor\u2019s Son\u201d comes close. The novel is the first in a series, and I\u2019m willing to hold my reservations until I read the next book. Elegy and Theren are worth it.<\/p>\n
SEEK THE TRAITOR\u2019S SON | By Veronica Roth | Tor | 416 pp. | $29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEEK THE TRAITOR\u2019S SON, by Veronica Roth I read Veronica Roth\u2019s new novel for adults, \u201cSeek the Traitor\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[36197,9,24,55,54,56,52635,90409,90408],"class_list":["post-230253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-books-and-literature","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-roth","tag-seek-the-traitors-son-book","tag-veronica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}