Traitor’s Son, The

The Traitor’s Son
by Dave Duncan
Published by Shadowpaw Press
Review by Toby A. Welch  
$26.99 ISBN 9781989398913

The Traitor’s Son is the ultimate worst case scenario book and I couldn’t put it down!

This science fiction read is about a colony in futuristic times. The colony has limped along for centuries but it is now at a crossroads; either they change almost everything in their world or they face extinction. I don’t want to give away too much!

Duncan does a phenomenal job of making readers feel like they are immersed in the action taking place on the pages. For example, check out this paragraph about a crew fighting to keep their ferry on course despite storm surges and squalls: “Melchior sighed in relief. ‘That’s Touchdown. Stand by for a sharp turn.’ He has landmarks to guide him now, and swung the boat to the left just as it cleared the island. The tide itself shot them around into the calmer water in the lee, although Doig’s stomach thought he had slid over a cliff.”  

Science fiction isn’t one of my must-read genres. But every time I dive into a sci-fi book – especially one as engrossing as The Traitor’s Son – I resolve to make this genre a priority. Sci-fi books are filled with interesting worlds and even more interesting people. For example, in The Traitor’s Son, Saturday, February 42 is a regular day on the calendar. Duncan created a world that keeps you eager to continue reading. 

Another bonus of sci-fi books is the language; they are usually filled with words that are either made up or I am clueless as to what they mean. That said, once you are done The Traitor’s Son, you will be well versed on stevedores, hawsers, perihelion, troglodytic, and numerous other words. Then there are terms I should know but didn’t such as dendrologist, which is a tree expert, and mouldering, a slow decay. 

Although he is now deceased, Dave Duncan is a powerful name in the Canadian sci-fi world. Thankfully for his fans, his writing lives on. Duncan was just as intriguing as his books are. He spent three decades as a geologist before giving writing a try. His first book was published when he was fifty-three. Between then and his death in 2018 at the age of eighty-five, he wrote over sixty-five books. In 2015 he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. What a tremendous legacy he left behind with his lengthy list of published works. 

Duncan was working on the final edits of The Traitor’s Son when he passed away. Reading the book feels like holding a piece of history in your hands. If you are looking for a sci-fi book that reads like a classic yet is fresh and exciting, get your hands on a copy of The Traitor’s Son.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM