Review: League of Legends’ Ruination novel is a competent fantasy story

RuinationThe first League of LegendsNovel, set in the past. Camavor is a fictionalized story about a nation built on conquering glory and fighting for its independence. Kalista, an imposing general, seeks a remedy for its doomed princess, as the king falls further into despair and madness.

If you’ve played League of Legends, or if you’ve engaged in the League You know the ending of this story: it involves a whole ecosystem that includes cinematics, comics and champion releases. It doesn’t end well, spoiler alert! This story has been repeated many times. RuinationIt’s all about the details. Author Anthony Reynolds had a daunting task at hand — make something that’s coherent and engaging to people who have never played a single game of LeagueThis allows the sad tale to be told in a way that is both entertaining and educational for those familiar with the story.

Largely, RuinationHe achieves this equilibrium. Camavor is the setting for the story, with the death of the previous king. His son Viego was never meant to be the heir, but he’s the one who ended up with the crown. Kalista is general of the Host and the King’s niece, betrothed to Hecarim, the grand master of the kingdom’s Iron Order. She’s doing her best to guide the young man away from his worst and most selfish impulses and into being a proper king while juggling her military duties, court politics, and her betrothed’s advances.

Kalista’s life becomes even more difficult when an assassin imperils the king’s wife, Isolde, and Viego sends Kalista to find a cure for the blade’s poison. Camavor is depicted as an empire built on blood, with the kingdom’s knightly orders regularly besieging and sacking new territory. Kalista, Hecarim are two sides to the coin of Camavor. Kalista is noble and cares about her soldiers. She also dislikes unnecessary bloodshed. Hecarim is an ambitious man who can play court politics and will crush any enemy under his horse.

It’s nice to read a bloody, grim fantasy novel where women aren’t used as props to torment and torture. Kalista is a general and meets many other women at high power. The narrative evades the common fantasy trap of “historical realism” by including queer love and female warriors. There are beautiful character moments interwoven among the battle scenes and piles upon piles.

It would be nice to have more moments like these. League of Legends players have spent years playing as Hecarim or puzzling out lore theories on Isolde, and it’d be nice forRuinationWe are grateful to them for sharing their stories. This book continues to move at an accelerated pace while covering all story points. LeagueIt was very early. There are no big surprises that come up here, nor any twists on the narrative — it’s just a grim march from the story’s origins to its conclusion.

The end result is a novel that I could recommend to someone who just likes fantasy books, even if they’ve never played League. After you have finished, RuinationThis book can also be used as a launchpad for greater endeavors, which I realized. League lore. You can find post-RuinationStory on Universe Website, Viego backs up in Riot Forge RPG The Ruined Kings. Since Ruination is a competent, well-executed fantasy novel, it’ll be interesting to see whether it breaks out of the LeagueTo attract more fans to the ecosystem

Current-day Kalista and Hecarim haven’t received a ton of love or attention in recent lore, and it’s cool to revisit their origins and get some more detail. Ruination has one frustrating feature, and it’s that I want more — what are those characters up to Get it now? What will happen to the Shadow Isles now that Viego has been frozen in Camavor, and where are they going? With Riot’s vast library of characters and pLotss, there’s still a lotthere is still much to be covered. However, RuinationIt is a great start. I’m hoping that Riot will continue to create fiction.