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Traitors
"Traitors"is a riveting novel of power,magic & loss..Diate is a magical dancer forced to flee his homeland,the Kingdom,when his family are murdered for subversion.He settles in Golgoth,but he meets & falls in love with the woman whois heir to the Kingdom...
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 2011
2 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
1,365 books721 followersKristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 8, 2014
Traitors had a decent plot with good characters. There was political intrigue, assassinations, and plot twists. Yet, somehow the book failed to really light a fire of interest. I had no trouble finishing, but something was lacking, and I'm having difficulty putting my finger on what it was. I think I had trouble getting into the characters. The main character was pretty superficial in his taste of women. Perhaps that was my issue. He lacked flair and good taste.
This book could have had more drama with the subject material it started with, and its main character could have used more personality. It just wasn't for me.
This book could have had more drama with the subject material it started with, and its main character could have used more personality. It just wasn't for me.
September 7, 2017
Traitors has an sf premise: the book is set is another planet which humans colonized centuries ago and the people know it. However, mostly it reads like fantasy. The countries in this setting are islands so you need to have either a ship or an air-born shuttle to go from one country to the next. All high tech is controlled by one nation, Vorgel, and while other nations can use them, the Vorgellians keep tight reins on the tech so nobody else can build anything high tech, anything from laser pistols to shuttles.
The Kingdom is a place where, at the surface anyway, art and artists are regarded highly. However, the Kingdom has a very cruel and rigid caste system. In it, young children are tested for their level of Talent (in any form of art, such as dance, poetry, or music and also in Magic). Those with A-level Talent are then expected to perform so that their performances bring money to the government. Those without A-level Talent are essentially used for scouting rich targets (in foreign countries) and robbing them. Also, a person can have only one Talent and only one A-level Talent in one family. Of course, the Kingdom don’t admit that they steal to anyone outside. Golga is a neighboring country where all frivolous thing, such as fiction and other arts, are forbidden. Supposedly, the Golgans kill all Kingdom members they get their hands on.
Emilio Diante is an A-level Dance Talent. One day, he comes home and finds his family brutally murdered. He knows that the Queen has done it. So, he stows away on a ship, heading for somewhere else, anywhere else. He’s rather become a slave than stay in the Kingdom. However, a mage aboard notices him and the only place where he can stay is Golga. Diante is sure that he will be killed but instead the ruler of Golga, the Golgoth, gives Diante one chance to prove himself and stay. Diante takes that chance. 15 years later, he’s the head of detectives in the Golga capital and one of the ruler’s most trusted advisors. Then, he finds a badly beaten and burned Kingdom woman near the port. He and his closest friend, a wine merchant, take the woman to heal in a resort where they can hopefully rebuild her broken body. On the island resort Diante meets and falls quickly in love with a stunningly beautiful woman. He suspects that she’s from Kingdom but waves away his concerns. That turns out to be a mistake.
As usual with Rusch, I loved the setting. However, this is one of her earlier books and it shows a little.
The various nations we’re given a glimpse of are fascinating. Apparently, the people who founded them, made them opposites of each other. For example, Golga was once part of the Kingdom but the future Golgans rebelled and when they founded their own country, they forbade anything resembling the Kingdom, namely the arts.
Diante is the only POV character so his opinions color everything. He’s a very serious and duty-focused man. He’s only loyal to the Golgoth who trusts Diante. But few others trust Diante. The wine merchant is his only friend and he’s closed himself off from other people so much that he hasn’t had a romantic relationship until he meets the woman at the resort. Also, when he gives someone his loyalty, he has very hard time letting go.
Sheba, the woman Diante falls for, remains a mystery. We don’t see her reasons for her choices. The other major characters change through the story. The Golgoth is another very duty-bound man who will do anything for betterment of his country. He’s also quite different from his reputation in the Kingdom. The wine merchant starts out like a plot device (urging Diante to do something he normally wouldn’t do: take a vacation) but gets deeper during the story. The same thing happens to the wounded woman.
I rather enjoyed this book but it’s not one of Rusch’s best, even though it has some quite unusual twists which I quite enjoyed and the ending was also somewhat unusual (for fantasy).
The Kingdom is a place where, at the surface anyway, art and artists are regarded highly. However, the Kingdom has a very cruel and rigid caste system. In it, young children are tested for their level of Talent (in any form of art, such as dance, poetry, or music and also in Magic). Those with A-level Talent are then expected to perform so that their performances bring money to the government. Those without A-level Talent are essentially used for scouting rich targets (in foreign countries) and robbing them. Also, a person can have only one Talent and only one A-level Talent in one family. Of course, the Kingdom don’t admit that they steal to anyone outside. Golga is a neighboring country where all frivolous thing, such as fiction and other arts, are forbidden. Supposedly, the Golgans kill all Kingdom members they get their hands on.
Emilio Diante is an A-level Dance Talent. One day, he comes home and finds his family brutally murdered. He knows that the Queen has done it. So, he stows away on a ship, heading for somewhere else, anywhere else. He’s rather become a slave than stay in the Kingdom. However, a mage aboard notices him and the only place where he can stay is Golga. Diante is sure that he will be killed but instead the ruler of Golga, the Golgoth, gives Diante one chance to prove himself and stay. Diante takes that chance. 15 years later, he’s the head of detectives in the Golga capital and one of the ruler’s most trusted advisors. Then, he finds a badly beaten and burned Kingdom woman near the port. He and his closest friend, a wine merchant, take the woman to heal in a resort where they can hopefully rebuild her broken body. On the island resort Diante meets and falls quickly in love with a stunningly beautiful woman. He suspects that she’s from Kingdom but waves away his concerns. That turns out to be a mistake.
As usual with Rusch, I loved the setting. However, this is one of her earlier books and it shows a little.
The various nations we’re given a glimpse of are fascinating. Apparently, the people who founded them, made them opposites of each other. For example, Golga was once part of the Kingdom but the future Golgans rebelled and when they founded their own country, they forbade anything resembling the Kingdom, namely the arts.
Diante is the only POV character so his opinions color everything. He’s a very serious and duty-focused man. He’s only loyal to the Golgoth who trusts Diante. But few others trust Diante. The wine merchant is his only friend and he’s closed himself off from other people so much that he hasn’t had a romantic relationship until he meets the woman at the resort. Also, when he gives someone his loyalty, he has very hard time letting go.
Sheba, the woman Diante falls for, remains a mystery. We don’t see her reasons for her choices. The other major characters change through the story. The Golgoth is another very duty-bound man who will do anything for betterment of his country. He’s also quite different from his reputation in the Kingdom. The wine merchant starts out like a plot device (urging Diante to do something he normally wouldn’t do: take a vacation) but gets deeper during the story. The same thing happens to the wounded woman.
I rather enjoyed this book but it’s not one of Rusch’s best, even though it has some quite unusual twists which I quite enjoyed and the ending was also somewhat unusual (for fantasy).
March 19, 2019
Blah.
November 4, 2024
I liked the world described.
Is this SF or fantasy? Somewhere in the middle
Started well, ended, meh.
Is this SF or fantasy? Somewhere in the middle
Started well, ended, meh.
March 7, 2016
I rather enjoyed this book. It has a good blend of sci-fi and fantasy and I like the mix (it reminds me of earlier Anne McCaffrey/pern). I felt like the time skips were a little handwavey. (I find that when writing papers sometimes I rely on headings to lay the foundations for me, and I neglect building transitions. The time skips did that here.)
It's an intriguing idea, though, to take these concepts that we take for granted as part of being human and then to isolate them and extrapolate them forward so they reflect ourselves back at us. I think maybe I have a soft spot for the kind of fantasy that takes human present as history. I'm kind of impressed, though, that in all of these societies capitalism reigns. Who's to say what an alternative might look like?
As other reviewers have pointed out, the protagonist falls hard and fast for one particular woman. I agree that this is a little bit weird and narrative-breaking, although I feel like were the genders to be switched, it wouldn't be as startling. In a way, he's just swept off his feet by sheer magnetism. That much is believable. I also commend Rusch for her attention to the women in this novel (I'd make that shelf for "believable women characters" but every author so far would be a woman =_=).
It's a book best enjoyed in two or three sittings, because it is long and spans decades.
It's an intriguing idea, though, to take these concepts that we take for granted as part of being human and then to isolate them and extrapolate them forward so they reflect ourselves back at us. I think maybe I have a soft spot for the kind of fantasy that takes human present as history. I'm kind of impressed, though, that in all of these societies capitalism reigns. Who's to say what an alternative might look like?
As other reviewers have pointed out, the protagonist falls hard and fast for one particular woman. I agree that this is a little bit weird and narrative-breaking, although I feel like were the genders to be switched, it wouldn't be as startling. In a way, he's just swept off his feet by sheer magnetism. That much is believable. I also commend Rusch for her attention to the women in this novel (I'd make that shelf for "believable women characters" but every author so far would be a woman =_=).
It's a book best enjoyed in two or three sittings, because it is long and spans decades.
March 8, 2016
I thought the love affair was superficial and the woman, Sheba was so devoid of agency it was unsatisfying.
I found myself skipping things. But I thought the world building was strong.
I found myself skipping things. But I thought the world building was strong.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews