REVIEW: RUINATION

The road to ruination...

I've been mildly interested in this novel as someone who used to play LEAGUE OF LEGENDS, especially after having enjoyed ARCANE as much as I did. When I found that my library carried copies of it, I figured I should finally go ahead and give it a read. 

HOW I RATED IT 

3/5 This novel, set in the world of the LEAGUE OF LEGENDS online game, isn't quite as stirring and meaningful as the ARCANE animated show, but it still offers a fun adventure featuring a nice selection of characters (champions) from the game as well as a satisfying exploration of different parts of Runeterra. 

CHARACTERS

One of the main draws to this book for LEAGUE OF LEGENDS players is going to be getting deeper insights into the stories of about a half dozen or so of the game's champions. Those drawn in primarily by the ARCANE TV show should know that none of those characters are featured here, making the appeal more so about getting to see a different part of the world. The story's main character is Kalista, a princess of Camavor and an accomplished warrior who's established herself as a woman of the people, a fact that rubs her fellow nobles the wrong way. She's joined by her faithful captain, Ledros, as well as her betrothed, Hecarim, in service to her uncle and King of Camavor, Viego. The dynamic between all of these characters is certainly a fascinating one. Viego is less like an uncle to Kalista and more like a little brother. There's a tenderness between the characters that I quite liked as well as a sweet, sisterly bond between Kalista and Viego's wife, Queen Isolde. Hecarim starts off as a rather charming character and there seems to be some interesting chemistry between him and Kalista in spite of their marriage being an arranged one. Unfortunately, we never really got to see what they might have been like together as we get some early hints that there might be a more sinister side to Hecarim and there's a bit of a love triangle that forms when Ledros confesses his true feelings for his Commander. I think there was the potential for there to be something rather compelling in how this all might have played out, but instead things leaned pretty hard into some YA tropes that I just wasn't a huge fan of. Similarly, her relationship with Viego disintegrates in a somewhat stilted way that could have felt a lot less forced if a little more nuance was worked into their familial drama. 

Though most of the book follows Kalista's perspective, we do also get some chapters and sections which are told from other characters' points of view. Most notable are Elrock Grael, a "Thresher" who serves as a Warden to Helia's underground vaults, and Ryze, a petulant apprentice who is dangerously gifted with some innate magical attunement. Both characters are a lot less noble than Kalista is, but I found Grael to be fascinatingly deranged and think he served as an awesome sort of villain in the story, though the lines between hero and villain in this world always seem to be a little bit less straightforward than in other stories. Ryze is not initially all that likeable or even interesting outside of his devastating magical potential. By the end of the book though, I think he ended up eclipsing most of his fellow champions in the sense that he's really the only one that has any kind of "character arc" to speak of. He's the only one that changes over the course of the whole book and probably the only one that really got a satisfying ending to his story. I also appreciated the way that his relationship with his mentor, Tyrus evolved over time. Tyrus himself was a fairly compelling figure despite his limited page time. Rounding things our are Vennix, a charismatic sea Captain that Kalista travels with as well as a boundary-pushing artificer known as Jenda'Kaya. Both were really fun side characters who added quite a lot to the story. I just wish some of the developments between them towards the end weren't so shoehorned in at the last possible second. Soraka, the Starchild, also makes an appearance. Though she really only gets one scene, I still thought she was super cool and since she was a character that I'd played a fair bit of back in school, I definitely appreciated getting to know a little more about her. 

I think all of these characters were perfectly likeable (or enjoyable to dislike). The way they are portrayed will certainly lend a lot more insight into players' understanding of who they are and how they came to be the champions that they know from the game. What's here is well-handled, I just wouldn't go in expecting character-work that is as comprehensive as what we got with ARCANE. 

PLOT/TONE

As one might expect, this novel largely serves as a prequel story to the video game which offers an exploration of parts of Runeterra while also delivering some origin stories for the champions that live in these regions. I think the novel largely succeeds at both of these things, but it is best to come in with tempered expectations. Whereas ARCANE tells a sweeping, deeply emotional tale with many moving pieces and intricate explorations of the characters, the story of RUINATION is decidedly more straightforward. The opening act seeks to establish Kalista and Grael as characters while also building out their respective worlds. Through Kalista's perspective, we get the full background on Camavor, are treated to some very light political intrigue, and get to know a little bit about the major players in the kingdom. Elrock's chapters give us a rather bleak outlook on Helia as he is cast into the dark depths of their undercity, though I quickly came to feel that those that "slighted" him may actually have been squarely in the right of the situation as we see what a twisted and narcissistic individual he is. The inciting incidents on either side come toward the end of the act where Grael manages to improve his station while Kalista sets out on a desperate mission to save the dying queen of Camavor and preserve King Viego's sanity in the process. The narrative becomes much more open and filled with adventure after this point which I quite liked. Kalista's seemingly impossible quest takes some interesting turns, with the introduction of Ryze being one of them. Her time in Helia was also quite exciting as it showed a far more flattering picture of the city than Grael initially gave us. I also appreciated how Kalista, Ryze, and Grael's perspectives all intertwined from this point forward. There's some fairly masterful plotting and there weren't really any plot points or characters that felt inconsequential (although there were a couple tertiary characters that just didn't leave an impression of any kind). Where things sort of fell apart a little bit for me was in the story's third act. While there were a ton of awesome action sequences and a lot of great character twists, it was hard to shake the feeling that it was all a bit forced. While character actions mostly made sense, I got the distinct impression that some things were just happening because they needed to happen so that everything could line up with the lore of the game rather than unfold in a way that seemed organic. I think this is the tradeoff with really any kind of companion media. ARCANE simply spoiled us a bit by very much doing it's own thing and, in some cases, making narrative choices that didn't necessarily jive with game lore (ex: killing off characters who are champions in the game and/or providing very different interpretations of them). I do wish that things had been a little more satisfying since most of the characters' stories simply end at the point where their in-game lore begins, but others get a decent enough conclusion to their story, so I'd say that the ending is a little bit of a mixed bag. I think die hard fans of the game who are still actively playing it will likely have a far greater appreciation for this novel's conclusion than I did. 

SETTING/WORLD

In some ways this is a tale of two great cities: Camavor, the seat of a grand empire, and Helia, a magically sequestered island nation that has amassed the most spectacular collection of knowledge in the world alongside the most impressive hoard of magical artifacts (though the Camavorans also have a penchant for collecting arcane items). The world of Runeterra has always been a captivating one. There isn't much of it that players get to see in the game itself, but I remember the little bits of information provided by character lore being quite tantalizing. The supporting media (CG trailers, books, TV shows, side games) has further developed the world into something that captures the imagination. One of the main draws of this novel for any fan, either hardcore or casual, is likely going to be in getting a better look at these parts of it. I certainly left with a very strong sense of what both Camavor and Helia are all about. I also appreciated the seafaring portion of it and enjoyed some of the little stops that Kalista made during her quest to find Helia. There are even some little bits of information dropped about places the novel doesn't physically take readers too. All in all, I don't think there's much that can really be complained about here other than maybe how some of the information is delivered. While there aren't any egregious info dumps to be found here, it's not altogether uncommon for the worldbuilding to be done via offhand lines within the prose or larger paragraphs explaining the background of a specific place, people, or thing. It's not that the way this is written is bad, but my preference is definitely more to have these elements be something that readers can discover for themselves as opposed to being served up in a way that sort of interrupts the flow of the story being told. 

HARDCOVER

The cover for this book is quite striking. While it might initially seems like just a fancy sword with some cool typography, there's a little more going on with the ominous character art formed by the ghoulish mist in the background and I just found myself appreciating the striking subtlety in the design. The interior is also filled with some really nice little details. First and foremost are some lovely maps of the regions that the story takes place in, including some of the neighboring nations which are mentioned within dialogue. There is also a family tree for the Camavoran royal family which is greatly helpful in understanding how Viego came into succession of the throne and how exactly him and Kalista are related. While the fonts and formatting are all very nice, the real treats are little icons which represent different characters and denote when the perspective switches over to them. I adore little flourishes like this and also appreciated that there are icons even for characters we only follow for a single scene or segment. Another helpful addition is that there are some pieces of character art found in the back of the book which illustrate what each of the champion characters look like. I don't think these were necessarily done explicitly for the book, but there inclusion here is very nice even though I felt as though the physical appearances of everyone are described well enough in the writing. In relation to the prose, I went in expecting a fairly accessible and straightforward writing style evocative of what is stereotypically considered to be "YA." I'd say that the writing is probably a slight step above that with some nice variety in the vocabulary and some character moments that are almost nuanced enough to feel at home in adult fiction. This is far from the most elegant reading experience I've ever had, but I think the writing accomplishes it's goal of being accessible to a wide range of readers without ever feeling condescending or "dumbed down." I also have to mention that the construction of the book itself is quite nice. It's sturdy, feels nice to hold, and has good paper quality. In a world where a lot of publishers seem to like skimping on quality, it's always nice to just see a well-made standard edition hardcover. 

CONCLUSION

I think mileage on this one is really going to vary. The primary audience for this is really going to be fans of the LEAGUE OF LEGENDS online game who are interested in diving deeper into the lore of the world and characters. A secondary group might be people who simply enjoyed ARCANE and are hungry for more stories set in this world. I'm not really sure there's as much here for general fantasy readers who have no interest in the game or its associated media, but there's certainly an interesting enough story told here for anyone to be able to enjoy.

(+) An enjoyable cast of colorful characters both noble and unhinged

(+) Fun exploration into Camavor, Helia, and some surrounding locales

(+) Comprehensive backstories for some of the game's champions

(+) There's lots of great action and adventure to be found across the story's three acts

(+) The main story beats appeared to closely follow the lore of the game (I'm no expert, but it all seemed accurate to my memory)

(+) A beautifully produced hardcover filled with amazing little details 

(-) Most characters don't really change and meaningful ways or have satisfying endings to their arcs

(-) I prefer worldbuilding to be done a little more organically than what we got here

(-) Some of the storytelling felt unnaturally delivered in the interest of matching up to the game's lore