Veronica Roth on Seek the Traitor’s Son From Divergent to Epic Fantasy

Veronica Roth, best known for the Divergent series, opens up about her transformative journey from the pressure of global fame to rediscovering joy in storytelling with her new epic fantasy, Seek the Traitor's Son. Far from a mere sequel to her past work, the book emerged from five years of playful experimentation, evolving through multiple genre shifts and character iterations—only becoming fully itself when Roth allowed herself to write without self-censorship. She describes the novel as a romantic dystopian fantasy set in a far-future Earth where a deadly fever is worshipped as a god, centering on a soldier fated to fall in love with a man whose identity is tied to a prophecy. What surprised her most wasn’t the plot, but the unexpected comedic tone of a side quest involving a glowing plant—so whimsical it demanded its own playlist. Roth reveals that her writing process is a blend of meticulous outlining and instinctive revision, with a deep reliance on music to fuel her focus. She also shares how confronting the negativity around Divergent led her to therapy and a personal reclamation of her creative identity. Now, with a word for 2026—‘trust’—she’s embracing the courage to create for love, not validation. And in a delightfully quirky moment, she imagines the book’s scent as a dusty, lemongrass-infused desert perfume—complete with a hint of her husband’s favorite dusty perfume. The book is the first of a two-part series, with the second already completed, and Roth hints at future stories in the same universe, though film adaptation remains uncertain due to scale.