The idea that whoever wins the war writes the history is cruelly brought to life in The Rebellion’s Last Traitor. With ‘reach off the page and grab you’ characters and brutally intricate world building, this isn’t a book you can multi-task with. To get all you can from it you need to give it your full attention, and it is worth it.
Crime Noir meets Science Fiction, there’s no wonder this genre crossing novel is published by Angry Robot Books. Nik Korpon creates a deep and frighteningly believable dystopian Eitan City. Back-alley industries pop up around the ability to suck memories from the skulls of anyone and everyone. Delightful, no?
No, not if that memory affects you.
The blurb:
After decades of war, the brutal Tathadann Party restored order in Eitan City by outlawing the past in order to rewrite history. Memory became a commodity – bought and sold, and experienced like a drug.
For ten years, Henraek and Walleus led a people’s rebellion, until Walleus recognized what the others couldn’t: the Struggle was doomed. He joined the Tathadann, and Henraek, hurt and angry, incited a riot that killed his own wife and son.
Now Henraek works as a Tathadann memory thief, draining citizens’ memories while mourning his family. The people call him a traitor to his face; Tathadann spies whisper he’s a traitor behind his back. Walleus protects Henraek, but Henraek knows that loyalty has its limits.
Then everything changes when Henraek harvests a memory of his wife’s death. He will do whatever it takes to learn the truth – even if it means burning Eitan City to the ground.
As you can imagine, it’s a dark and unforgiving environment Korpon has created and not lacking in parallels to our modern day world. Despite the vicious society, it’s how the characters accept and reject their lots, how they come together in melting pot of a community which brings the story off the page. While we as readers are used to having our plots wrapped up neatly, Korpon only answers those questions relevant to the character, on a need to know basis. It’s evocative of the memory theft the inhabitants of Eitan City suffer. I think this added to the wicked charm of The Rebellion’s Last Traitor. The same goes for the way Korpon deals with the fluid action scenes, grim and as brutal as the world they exist in.
Strong females often get buried in kick ass expectation. Emeriann (Henraek’s girlfriend) is not a lost soul. There are many motivations for her to become the stereotype, or the damsel in distress. But Emerian’s strength is tested on a day to day basis. That said, for me Emeriann is perhaps the weakest of the characters. Being devil’s advocate when your world is dominated by unscrupulous sorts, you have to make the best of bad choices, time and time again. Perhaps had I seen more of the world from her, her sheer determination to exist would have revealed itself more.
The main characters however, Henraek and Walleus are immediately familiar, personable characters regardless of the sides they chose in this second rebellion. Korpon’s writing style rapidly draws you in as the character’s confidante, and their motivations are very cleverly interwoven. It’s the up close and personal contact with the characters that allowed me to forgive the times where I had to flick back to catch POV switches early on. Equally it’s that point of view style which makes this book stand-out.
It’s definitely worth picking up for those who like a well paced, challenging read.
Author’s website: https://nikkorpon.com/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/NikKorpon
Cover Art by Steve Stone
Review copy courtesy of a not very funny Angry Robot.
by Shellie Horst – SFFWorld.com © 2017
