So when discussing what books to review for this issue, I mentioned to a friend that the category was "Traders". He responded "Traitors?", to which I said "No, Traders, with a 'd' and...."....*ding*, a lightbulb went off. I could review Treason, by Orson Scott Card! It features both traders and traitors (I mean, the book is called Treason!)! Sold.

The book follows the story of Lanik Mueller, first-born son of the king of Mueller, one of many lands on the planet Treason. The background is that a few thousand years before, a group of families rebelled against the Galactic Republic (well, the Republic... we don't really know how expansive they are), were caught, and all dropped off on a planet dubbed Treason. The planet lacks heavy metals, such as iron, making it difficult for much in the ways of technology. Each family was given an "Ambassador", a device to connect to the Republic with the instructions that when each family can offer something in trade to the Republic, they will get iron in return. What that "something" is, is the big question.

The Muellers are regenerative. Like Wolverine-level regenerative. Turns out the original Mueller was a geneticist, and take a few thousand years of genetics research and evolution, and you get cool regenerative abilities. But it isn't perfect -- sometimes Muellers can't stop regenerating and become radical regens (or rads), growing extra limbs and other assorted body parts. Ah-HA! Something to perhaps offer the Ambassador? Why, yes it is! The Muellers offer body parts harvested from the rads in exchange for iron, giving them the capability to create better weapons and thus, perhaps, can start taking over more lands. Which brings us back to Lanik.

Lanik turns out to be a rad, and by his own family's laws, cannot inherit the kingdom. Rather than killing himself (which is rather difficult for someone with his regenerative abilities) or giving in to a life in the rad pens with the other rads, he leaves under the guise of going as an emissary to other lands. The book follows his journey as he discovers what life is like in other lands, what things the other families have discovered to trade via the Ambassadors, what kinds of capabilities have been evolved by the other families, and how things on Treason are not what he thought, nor what they seem.

The books has many things working for it. Not only is the story interesting, but so is the philosophical journey that Lanik undergoes to find himself. Okay, that sentence sounds cheesy, even to me. But it is still true. There are compelling philosophical thoughts in this book. The take on technological evolution is also intriguing -- starting with the natural progression of genetics research leading to inherent regeneration, though the progression of what the topics the other original traitors to the Republic studied/focused on leads to. It reminded me somewhat of Isaac Asimov's seminal Foundation Trilogy, actually.

The book also has a bit of an interesting history behind it. Originally published as A Planet Called Treason, it was Orson Scott Card's second ever novel. Ten years later, he revisited the book, retooling it a bit, rewriting some sections, adding some sections, and in general polishing it, republishing it as Treason. I must admit that I don't know which version I first read, as it was a few decades ago, so rereading the newer version many years later was new enough to me that I didn't notice any significant differences (if it were the two versions that I had, indeed, read).

Despite the polishing, the book does feel like an early novel. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but noticeable for someone well versed in the literature of OSC. Though that does actually lead to one advantage for Treason -- I usually have issues with how Card ends his novels or series. Many of them start out quite compelling and usually end in an odd or unsatisfying ways, but I enjoyed this book all the way to the end. Of course, it is kind of on the short side, being less than 300 pages, so perhaps there just wasn't time to get derailed, but it works.

Bottom line: is the book worth reading? Yes. It provides a good story that brings up interesting questions, so it works on multiple levels. But it isn't so deep or convoluted as to get completely bogged down or hard to read. Probably the biggest compliment that I can give, though? This book is one that stayed with me through the years. Having first read it when I was younger, it was one that would randomly come to mind multiple times over the years, and one that I ended up seeking out to make sure I owned a copy (yay, Amazon!). The only thing it really doesn't do, though, is give an accounting of how to give yourself Wolverine-like regenerative powers. Alas. I suppose you can't have everything, though.

  -- K. Burtt