She saved the world... and now she'll end it.
Divine Traitors is a young adult fantasy duology written by Kamilah Cole. The first book, So Let Them Burn, was published in January 2024. The sequel and finale is slated for 2025.Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She’s a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbors.
When she’s forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn’t expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon—or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.
As Faron’s desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other’s lives, as well as the fate of their world.
This series contains the following tropes:
- Big Sister Instinct: Elara is so protective of Faron that she followed her to war at only thirteen. And Faron is just as protective of her.
- Big Sister Worship: Faron adores her older sister.
- Bond Creatures: Dragons choose two humans to be their Riders, forming a magical bond that allows them to share thoughts, magic, and durability.
- Cast from Stamina: Too much summoning can cause bodies to overheat and summoners to pass out. After long periods of powerful summoning, they need to rest, sometimes for nearly a day, before they wake again.
- Cosmic Plaything: Even after the war, the gods still talk to and interfere in Faron's life.
- The Chosen One: Faron was chosen by the gods when she was twelve.
- The Chosen Wannabe: Meanwhile, Elara longs to do something as great but lives in her sister's shadow.
- Cybernetic Mythical Beast: To fight back against Langley's dragons, San Irie developed giant metal dragons of their own, which they pilot like mecha.
- Divine Intervention: How San Irie won the war against Langley.
- Dragon Rider: Elara unwittingly becomes one.
- Dragons Are Divine: In Langley, dragons are worshipped as godly creatures, while their riders are considered saints.
- Emissary from the Divine: Faron is known as the Childe Empyrean, because instead of summoning the souls of her ancestors, she can summon and channel the power of the gods. She can also speak to them directly and is considered their warrior.
- Extranormal Institute: Hearthstone Academy is a training school for dragon riders.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Faron is the Foolish to Elara's Responsible.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Faron and Elara love each other and would do anything for one another, but they clearly resent the things the other is good at.
- God of Light: Irie, the patron god of Saint Irie.
- God's Hands Are Tied: The gods can't interfere with the mortal world directly, hence why they need Faron.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Elara is sent to the dragon riding school, Hearthstone Academy, to learn how to use and control the powers from her dragon.
- Leaking Can of Evil: The Iryan gods suspect this is the cause of the plot.
- Limited-Use Magical Device: After they die, dragon bodies are harvested for bones, claws, teeth, etc, that are crafted into relics, which allow even non-riders to use the magic left behind until it runs out.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Elara.
- Our Dragons Are Different: In So Let Them Burn, the different dragon breeds are identified by their different colors—red, green, yellow, blue, and white—and each breed has their own unique strength or power. Dragons also pick two riders, instead of only one, to bond with.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Faron is approached by an unknown, imprisoned god, who promises to help her if she frees him.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Faron identifies as demisexual, so her romance arc plays out like this.
- Successful Sibling Syndrome: Elara.
- Summon Magic: In San Irie, they perform magic by summoning the souls of their ancestors to loan them power and directing that as they see fit.
- The Magic Versus Technology War: The war between the two countries were fought between dragons and their riders and the islanders and their drakes, or giant metal dragons driven by pilots and powered by magic.
