The Great Traitor by Joseph Kassabian [Book Review]
The Great Traitor by Joseph Kassabian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Great Traitor is the second book in the Galaxy on Fire series. It picks up where Citizen of Earth left off. It’s much better than its predecessor, there’s less of the random chaos, and is more about making sense of everything.
The Great Traitor
The title is a direct reference to the nick-name that Vincent has picked up from the loyalist survivors. His involvement in the last part of Citizen of Earth has been misconstrued, perhaps deliberately, and he is seen as the guy that destroyed the central committee and Earth. At first Vincent hates the nickname. Vincent thinks that isn’t fair, because he was trying to stop the weapon being used against Earth. As the story moves on Vincent grows into using it to help him achieve the ends he wants. He manipulates it by leaning into the beliefs that people have about him.
What I liked about The Great Traitor
What I particularly liked was the machinations of the various parties to the story/conflict. We have Vincent and his friends along with a load of human survivors now in an enclave on the alien planet. Amongst them are Martians, Black coats that are still loyal to the Earth’s Central Committee (even though it was wiped out), and a load of people just trying their best to survive. Vincent is now the human representative and struggles to get the humans allowed to participate in the war, and also make plans to liberate Mars and take the fight to the survivors of the central committee on the Moon.
There’s a multi-faceted strategic story here, sitting alongside a tactical military boots in the trenches story too. While fighting a desperate battle for survival, Vincent and the others build a new human army and start a longer struggle for liberation from central rule. It’s a great multi-layer story and I look forward to the next instalment!
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