BookBrowse Reviews Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth

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In this blend of science fiction and fantasy, a prophecy changes the life of a soldier when it predicts that she may lead her nation to victory in its long war over control of Earth.

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Life has always been a bit different for twenty-something Elegy Ahn, the protagonist of Veronica Roth's latest novel, Seek the Traitor's Son. Her mother is the Sword of Cedre, the nation's military leader, and her father is a bounty hunter, so she's been trained in combat and in the culture of the enemy Talusar empire. Elegy and her mother don't get along, to put it mildly, and so she's more than content to ignore her famous heritage, make her own name as a search and rescue soldier, and spend time with her husband. But then a prophecy upends Elegy's world: The augurs, who can see the future, declare that in the war between Cedre and Talusar, it will be either Elegy or a brutal Talusar general named Rava Vidar who will lead their people to victory. Elegy is deemed the Hope of Cedre and Theren Forint, the son of a Talusar exile, is chosen to be her Knight (her sworn bodyguard).

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Seek the Traitor's Son is the worldbuilding, which is an intriguing blend of science fiction and fantasy—there are Knights on horseback and magic and sword fights, but also spaceships and holograms and interactions with an alien planet. The novel takes place in the distant future, in which arose the Fever, a sort of magical biological weapon: a virus that kills everyone but resurrects half of the infected after a few days and grants them supernatural abilities, like the ability to see through time or into the minds of others. One segment of the remaining population, which became the Talusar empire, came to revere the Fever as a god; the other, which became the Cedre nation, feared the devastation and chose to isolate itself on what was once the International Space Station. For years they have been locked in a war for control of Earth.

This is the context in which Elegy encounters the prophecy and her new, not quite welcome role. After Theren is named her Knight, a brutal attack kills both Elegy's husband and her mother, leaving Elegy grief-stricken, and Theren is captured by the enemy. It isn't until four years later that Elegy and Theren reunite and must navigate the history and guilt between them, and also the question of Elegy's fate: Is she truly destined to lead the Cedre people in taking back Earth, or will Rava Vidar lead the Talusar to victory?

The perspective switches between Elegy and Theren, whose unique background—his mother came from the empire and taught him about her homeland and how to fight in order to help in his future role as a Knight—sheds new light on the Talusar empire for the reader. Seeing the world through both Elegy's and Theren's eyes allows the reader to understand both cultures, and sides of the war, without necessarily siding with either. Theren is a skilled fighter, violent in battle, but also gentle and a patient teacher; years of being forced into subservience have made him observant and quick to obey, but also kind and determined. Elegy is initially a happily married, seasoned soldier with mommy issues, but the death of her husband leaves her grieving and reeling; she takes up bounty hunting rather than return to the miliary and tries to ignore the prophecy. Over the course of the novel, both Elegy and Theren learn to deal with their grief and guilt, and figure out how to act around each other. A third main character, whose perspective comes later in the novel, lends an additional, surprising dimension to the story, as well as some unexpected twists.

The conflict between fate and choice is a major theme of Seek the Traitor's Son. For Elegy, the prophecy has stolen away her choices: her choice of who she will love, her choice of whether or not to fight, her choice of remaining herself or becoming someone bigger. As circumstances change, however, so does Elegy's view of the prophecy, and she begins to see that it has given her purpose. Many stories about prophecies explore this conflict between fate and choice, forcing characters to make their own choices within the parameters of their fate, but interestingly, Roth has put her protagonist in a situation in which her destiny, while foreseen, remains unclear—Rava Vidar may yet be the victor of which the prophecy spoke—meaning that Elegy's hard-won choices may be for nothing. How should, or must, Elegy act under these circumstances? And who will be the ultimate victor in this war? Seek the Traitor's Son, the first book in a planned duology, doesn't resolve all questions and plot points—although the sequel promises a satisfying resolution to the prophecy and a continuation of the slow-burn romance between Elegy and Theren—but it is a satisfying read anyway, with rich characters and shocking twists.

This review first ran in the May 20, 2026 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.