Time stamps: 0:30 Helpful info 2:53 Synopsis 4:20 Characters, tropes, themes, pacing 11:38 Is it for you? Ruination: amzn.to/3doG49V Arcane review: ua-cam.com/video/upSuwxNeyWY/v-deo.html My Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=15204080 My Book: www.elliotbrooksnovels.com/peace-and-turmoil-purchase-links My Instagram: instagram.com/ebnovels/ *purchase link is an affiliate link
I read this book last month and I absolutely loved it. All the league characters in the audiobook are voiced by their exact voice actors from the video game so it was very cool to hear so many familiar voices and know who they were before their character was introduced.
As an Arcane fan and a long-time League of Legends player thank you for coming at this story as a book not just a "Video game book" and showing that it's a good fantasy even separated from the game itself. It's refreshing and I'm thankful to you for that. Also as a side note, the Arcane world is separate from the lore of the game. Kinda like the MCU and the comic books. Same settings, but different stories.
@@unavezms8167 The best advice myself and all my League of Legends playing friends give to people who are just getting into the lore via Arcane or the Books is this "If you enjoy the story don't play the game. Whatever you do don't play the game, just read and watch. The game has nothing to add and you'll end up hating it!" xD
@@ebnovels Arcane is an adaptation of the source material. The show changes details but it doesn't upend the whole story, especially not to the extent the MCU does with the comics. The main beats are still very much there.
@@Tea_Mist "The game has nothing to add and you'll end up hating it!" That's not entirely true. The champion abilities provide interesting insight into their backstory, personality and prospective fight scenes. The items are also relevant to the lore and world building of Runeterra. Apart from that, you're right. The MOBA game adds absolutely nothing to the lore. It's just random characters from around the world fighting with and against each other for no reason. Leona and Kled teaming up against Ivern and Rammus makes just as much sense as Kate Winslet and Mike Tyson teaming up against Vladimir Putin and Madonna in Tokyo. These characters have no business fighting with or against each other I love how the lore started out as "dressing" for the game, now it feels like the other way around
I had to doulbe take when i saw this title in your community post. I really didnt expect anyone in the book community. But im glad to hear it came out really well, I want to get to this soon. The lore and world of League of Legends is really great and im glad the creators are getting alot of good feedback from their artistic endeavors (Arcane) because it means we will get more stuff like this! Thanks for the review!
It's always helpful to hear reviews of Ruination from people who aren't fans of League of Legends. I'm glad that you connected with the characters, which are the biggest strength of the League of Legends IP imho. Planning on picking it up soon. Especially since I really liked the Garen: First Shield novella (also written by Anthony Reynolds). Your recommendation has definitely moved it up my TBR!
I have been playing League of Legends for Years. Runeterra is starting to expand and I am so excited that things are doing so well. Both the show, this novel and now they’re creating a new MMO video game.
If you wanted to explore more into this particular League of Legends story, they also released a turn-based JRPG style game called Ruined King: A League of Legends Story on Ps5. Its actually quite good imo.
I've enjoyed the book so far, like you said I'm hooked into wanting to see what happens next. Riot apparently now has a book division so more books could be on the way. I'm excited for their expanding media, they had comics, then tv, now books, probably movies next. Here's hoping for a manga!
Good gosh this sounds so good! I was worried that it was all / mostly court intrigue, but so happy there is so much more to this story! I loved League Of Legends so I was so nervous but you always explain books so well! ❤️
As a fan of the game, I’m super excited to read this. I would have liked a book about a different part of the universe. But either way, I can’t wait and hope they come out with another one at some point.
Ooh fabulous review ! I’ve been looking at this recently but I might just go pick it up, as I adored Arcane, and I love the lore of LoL while absolutely despising the game haha. Also that jacketless hardback was gorgeous, I do hope the Uk version has that
It's my boyfriends birthday on Saturday and I picked this up as a present for him, after hearing you talk about it. He loves playing League of Legends but I haven't heard anyone else talk about this book, other than you. So can't wait to hear what he thinks of it 😄
I'd argue that especially for LoL a book or show would be very different because LoL is not a story driven game really in any way. The majority of the lore is in short stories on the website, and not in the game experience itself its a online battle arena game, very different from things like the Witcher. So if people get into the stories in the books or show I would imagine the game would be a jarringly different experience. I say this as someone who loves books in video game worlds (I have read Diablo books, Dragon Age books, etc). I'd be curious what people think of this book who aren't as obsessed with Arcane as you are because I almost feel like you're predisposed to enjoying it (not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation)
How is your novel writing coming along Elliot? Hope we get a update on that soon you are amazing so talented gifted writer xoxo 😘 🍃🖤🍂🍁🍁🖤🍃🍂📚📚📚🎃📖📖🧡📙📙🍃🖤🖤🍃🍂📚📚🎃📖👻👻👻👻📖🧡🍃📙📙🍃🖤🍂🍁📚📚🎃📖📖📙📙📙🍃🖤🍂🍁🍁🍂📖📖🎃📚📚📚🎃🎃🍃📙🍃🖤🍂🖤
Overall I enjoyed the book. However; I think that the author was the weakest part. The events that take place were almost surely established by the Riot Games Lore Team beforehand, hence why it's more plot driven. The main thing that took me out of the story was the author's word choice, as well as unnecessary characters. While I won't list ever word choice I took issue with, as it's surely preference, I do think that the novel got off to a rocky start and did improve over time. Still, because the characters were more surface-level, I found myself thinking that there was serious bloat to the story. Namely, in the section with the ship captain (whose name escapes me) and the pit stop on the bhuru island and the visit with soraka. I feel like much of that portion of the story could have panned away to give Viego and Hecarim more characterization, or even Grael. The ship captain's presence did not add anything for Kalista's characterization, nor did it stand on its own as a compelling character with complex goals or a a notable personality. Even further, its status as a Vastaya was woefully underutilized and was immaterial to the story. In my opinion, the most interesting characters were: Viego, Kalista, Ryze, and Necrit, with Necrit being the least explored. If I were to retool the story myself, I would suggest the following changes: 1. Omit the portion of the Buhru Island from the story, as well as all scenes with Kalista and the captain of the ship. In the place of these captain scenes, either give Kalista introspective time or pan to a different character. For the Buhru island portion, finding Soraka was immaterial, and the main thrust of that scene is to introduce uncertainty to their quest. However, it is the rescue of the Blessed Isles scholars that leads Kalista and co to success, which could have been achieved without the buhru island. 2. Use the extra time to show how Viego is struggling without Isolde's presence. Show how as his two most loyal and well-intentioned supporters (isolde and kalista) leaving him lets his values waver and be influenced by the greedy and power hungry nobles around him. Adding this fall from grace, even showing how the people begin to despise him, perhaps having him show denial, would help make his eventual snap more compelling. 3. Hecarim can be a more surface level force, that's not a problem, but Necrit needed to be more fleshed out. He caused many of the events to be set into motion, yet we know very little about his motives or feelings on the events as they happen. I think this was a missed opportunity. Getting more time to hear how Necrit believes things are occurring, as well as what he's doing to nudge things to benefit his own ends would have been interesting to see. In summation, I'd give the book a B. It held my attention, and I enjoyed getting some backstory to a video game I have played for 10 years. I think that a newcomer would be underwhelmed by this book on its own merits compared to other fantasy novels, and I think that the plot was compelling, and has the potential to be made more interesting.
I'm currently reading the book and I'm enjoying it. But I feel like the reason why I'm enjoying it is because I'm familiar with the lore and there are a ton of easter eggs with references to other champions/characters and regions. It's pretty cool. I haven't finished it but I know how the story ends. That should be interesting to read. I would very much like to think that Anthony Reynolds was working with a strict word limit and/or deadline which would explain why the 'deep parts' weren't very there. And I'm kinda hoping that if this book is successful enough, the next/same author would be working with a higher word count. Because I picked up that book in the store and it was kinda thinner than I was expecting. And the font was bigger as well, and I was kinda worried. The story's still good but....I would've liked......more of it. For example, the relationship between Isolde and Viego. Knowing their story beforehand, I really would've loved to see the formation and evolution of their relationship rather than just having one chapter with single Viego than the next they've already met and married. That could've been interesting to read Also, after reading the book, I'd recommend going into the Universe of League of Legends website (the official lore site) and look up a short story called 'Echoes Left Behind' in Kalista's profile. It's an interesting story set after the events of the book told from Ledros' perspective. That's all I'll say about it
Thanks for the heads up! And I agree with everything you said (minus parts about knowing what was going to happen, since I obviously didn’t 😆). Fingers crossed we get more in this world though!
@@ebnovels You know, the book hints at the ending a few times. I remember reading some parts of it going "Ha! That's funny cos.....yeah" SPOILER: I remember a scene where Kalista compares a group of her own people to ghouls or something and I was like "Heh" And there's another part where Kalista remarks about Hecarim's relationship with his horse. 'They almost seem as one' or something like that. Then there's that whole Soraka interaction. That was a pleasant surprise
LOVEE the artwork incredible and really brings the story to life in the book League of Legends 📚📙🖤🖤🍁🧡🧡🍁🎃🖤🖤🖤🍁🧡📖📚📙📙📚👻🎃🖤🖤🖤📖📖🧡🧡🍁📙📙📚👻👻📚📚🖤🎃🍁🧡📖📖🧡🍁🍁🎃🖤📙📙📚📖📖🧡🍁🎃🖤🖤📙📚🍁🍁🍂🍂🍃🍂🍁🍁🍂🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍂🍁🍁🍁🍂🍃🍂🍁🍁🍁🍂🍂🍁
Time stamps:
0:30 Helpful info
2:53 Synopsis
4:20 Characters, tropes, themes, pacing
11:38 Is it for you?
Ruination: amzn.to/3doG49V
Arcane review: ua-cam.com/video/upSuwxNeyWY/v-deo.html
My Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=15204080
My Book: www.elliotbrooksnovels.com/peace-and-turmoil-purchase-links
My Instagram: instagram.com/ebnovels/
*purchase link is an affiliate link
I read this book last month and I absolutely loved it. All the league characters in the audiobook are voiced by their exact voice actors from the video game so it was very cool to hear so many familiar voices and know who they were before their character was introduced.
As an Arcane fan and a long-time League of Legends player thank you for coming at this story as a book not just a "Video game book" and showing that it's a good fantasy even separated from the game itself. It's refreshing and I'm thankful to you for that. Also as a side note, the Arcane world is separate from the lore of the game. Kinda like the MCU and the comic books. Same settings, but different stories.
I was surprised to find out how many people enjoy LOL content but don't play LOL.
/not saying it's a bad thing or anything
@@unavezms8167 The best advice myself and all my League of Legends playing friends give to people who are just getting into the lore via Arcane or the Books is this "If you enjoy the story don't play the game. Whatever you do don't play the game, just read and watch. The game has nothing to add and you'll end up hating it!" xD
You’re welcome! And to your second comment, that’s really interesting, I wouldn’t have expected that 😯
@@ebnovels Arcane is an adaptation of the source material. The show changes details but it doesn't upend the whole story, especially not to the extent the MCU does with the comics. The main beats are still very much there.
@@Tea_Mist "The game has nothing to add and you'll end up hating it!"
That's not entirely true. The champion abilities provide interesting insight into their backstory, personality and prospective fight scenes. The items are also relevant to the lore and world building of Runeterra.
Apart from that, you're right. The MOBA game adds absolutely nothing to the lore. It's just random characters from around the world fighting with and against each other for no reason. Leona and Kled teaming up against Ivern and Rammus makes just as much sense as Kate Winslet and Mike Tyson teaming up against Vladimir Putin and Madonna in Tokyo. These characters have no business fighting with or against each other
I love how the lore started out as "dressing" for the game, now it feels like the other way around
I had to doulbe take when i saw this title in your community post. I really didnt expect anyone in the book community. But im glad to hear it came out really well, I want to get to this soon. The lore and world of League of Legends is really great and im glad the creators are getting alot of good feedback from their artistic endeavors (Arcane) because it means we will get more stuff like this!
Thanks for the review!
It's always helpful to hear reviews of Ruination from people who aren't fans of League of Legends. I'm glad that you connected with the characters, which are the biggest strength of the League of Legends IP imho. Planning on picking it up soon. Especially since I really liked the Garen: First Shield novella (also written by Anthony Reynolds). Your recommendation has definitely moved it up my TBR!
I have been playing League of Legends for Years.
Runeterra is starting to expand and I am so excited that things are doing so well. Both the show, this novel and now they’re creating a new MMO video game.
I'm in the middle of reading this and I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for doing a review on it!
Well you’re very welcome! I’m glad you’re enjoying it :D
If you wanted to explore more into this particular League of Legends story, they also released a turn-based JRPG style game called Ruined King: A League of Legends Story on Ps5. Its actually quite good imo.
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll look into it 😄😄😄
I've enjoyed the book so far, like you said I'm hooked into wanting to see what happens next. Riot apparently now has a book division so more books could be on the way. I'm excited for their expanding media, they had comics, then tv, now books, probably movies next. Here's hoping for a manga!
Good gosh this sounds so good! I was worried that it was all / mostly court intrigue, but so happy there is so much more to this story! I loved League Of Legends so I was so nervous but you always explain books so well! ❤️
I hope you have a good time with it 😄
This looks like a great read. I haven't played League of Legends in years but this might be a great place to get back into it.
Silco supremacy!
As a fan of the game, I’m super excited to read this. I would have liked a book about a different part of the universe. But either way, I can’t wait and hope they come out with another one at some point.
I think this book is supposed to be something resembling an apology for the Ruination event
I'm so glad I picked this up, the book is stunning. I'm excited to read this this month and see what I think.
Ooh fabulous review ! I’ve been looking at this recently but I might just go pick it up, as I adored Arcane, and I love the lore of LoL while absolutely despising the game haha. Also that jacketless hardback was gorgeous, I do hope the Uk version has that
I hope so too! And I hope you enjoy the book :D
I REALLY want to read this.
It's my boyfriends birthday on Saturday and I picked this up as a present for him, after hearing you talk about it. He loves playing League of Legends but I haven't heard anyone else talk about this book, other than you. So can't wait to hear what he thinks of it 😄
Happy birthday to your boyfriend! I hope he enjoys the book 😄
Ohhh this sounds interesting. I’ll have to check it out.
I’d be curious your thoughts on it :D
Why did youtube recommend me this video just now? I could have rewatched it so many times by now...
Tunning in!
Hey! One of these days I’d love to do another video with you-the last one was so fun 😄
@@ebnovels same! It was so fun! I’ve been loving your daily schedule.
I'd argue that especially for LoL a book or show would be very different because LoL is not a story driven game really in any way. The majority of the lore is in short stories on the website, and not in the game experience itself its a online battle arena game, very different from things like the Witcher. So if people get into the stories in the books or show I would imagine the game would be a jarringly different experience. I say this as someone who loves books in video game worlds (I have read Diablo books, Dragon Age books, etc). I'd be curious what people think of this book who aren't as obsessed with Arcane as you are because I almost feel like you're predisposed to enjoying it (not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation)
SO EXCITED!!! 📙📙🖤🖤🍁🧡📙📙📙🍁🖤🖤📚📚🖤🍁📙📚🖤🍁🧡📙🧡🍁🍁🖤📚🖤🖤🍁🧡📙📙📙🍁🖤🖤🖤 👻 🎃 🎃🍁📙🖤🖤📙📙🍁🍁🎃🧡🎃🍁📙🖤🖤🖤🎃📚📚📚📚📚📚📖📚📙📙📙📖📖📖📖📖📙📙📚📖📖📚
ok
Good morning Elliot Hope you have a great day xoxo 😚 🖤📖📚📙📙📙📖🖤🎃🎃🎃🎃📙📖🖤🍁🍁🖤📖📖📙📙📚🖤🍁🍁🍁🎃🎃🎃👻👻🍁🍁📖📚📙📙📚🖤🍁🍁🍁📖📚🎃🎃🧡📖📖🖤🖤🍁🍁🍁📖📚📙📙📖🖤🖤🎃🎃🎃📖🖤🖤👻👻👻🍁🖤🎃🎃🧡🧡🧡
How is your novel writing coming along Elliot? Hope we get a update on that soon you are amazing so talented gifted writer xoxo 😘 🍃🖤🍂🍁🍁🖤🍃🍂📚📚📚🎃📖📖🧡📙📙🍃🖤🖤🍃🍂📚📚🎃📖👻👻👻👻📖🧡🍃📙📙🍃🖤🍂🍁📚📚🎃📖📖📙📙📙🍃🖤🍂🍁🍁🍂📖📖🎃📚📚📚🎃🎃🍃📙🍃🖤🍂🖤
It’s coming, just very slowly ☺️
@@ebnovels you are doing so well 😀🧡
Overall I enjoyed the book. However; I think that the author was the weakest part. The events that take place were almost surely established by the Riot Games Lore Team beforehand, hence why it's more plot driven. The main thing that took me out of the story was the author's word choice, as well as unnecessary characters.
While I won't list ever word choice I took issue with, as it's surely preference, I do think that the novel got off to a rocky start and did improve over time.
Still, because the characters were more surface-level, I found myself thinking that there was serious bloat to the story. Namely, in the section with the ship captain (whose name escapes me) and the pit stop on the bhuru island and the visit with soraka. I feel like much of that portion of the story could have panned away to give Viego and Hecarim more characterization, or even Grael. The ship captain's presence did not add anything for Kalista's characterization, nor did it stand on its own as a compelling character with complex goals or a a notable personality. Even further, its status as a Vastaya was woefully underutilized and was immaterial to the story.
In my opinion, the most interesting characters were: Viego, Kalista, Ryze, and Necrit, with Necrit being the least explored.
If I were to retool the story myself, I would suggest the following changes:
1. Omit the portion of the Buhru Island from the story, as well as all scenes with Kalista and the captain of the ship. In the place of these captain scenes, either give Kalista introspective time or pan to a different character. For the Buhru island portion, finding Soraka was immaterial, and the main thrust of that scene is to introduce uncertainty to their quest. However, it is the rescue of the Blessed Isles scholars that leads Kalista and co to success, which could have been achieved without the buhru island.
2. Use the extra time to show how Viego is struggling without Isolde's presence. Show how as his two most loyal and well-intentioned supporters (isolde and kalista) leaving him lets his values waver and be influenced by the greedy and power hungry nobles around him. Adding this fall from grace, even showing how the people begin to despise him, perhaps having him show denial, would help make his eventual snap more compelling.
3. Hecarim can be a more surface level force, that's not a problem, but Necrit needed to be more fleshed out. He caused many of the events to be set into motion, yet we know very little about his motives or feelings on the events as they happen. I think this was a missed opportunity. Getting more time to hear how Necrit believes things are occurring, as well as what he's doing to nudge things to benefit his own ends would have been interesting to see.
In summation, I'd give the book a B. It held my attention, and I enjoyed getting some backstory to a video game I have played for 10 years. I think that a newcomer would be underwhelmed by this book on its own merits compared to other fantasy novels, and I think that the plot was compelling, and has the potential to be made more interesting.
I'm currently reading the book and I'm enjoying it. But I feel like the reason why I'm enjoying it is because I'm familiar with the lore and there are a ton of easter eggs with references to other champions/characters and regions. It's pretty cool. I haven't finished it but I know how the story ends. That should be interesting to read.
I would very much like to think that Anthony Reynolds was working with a strict word limit and/or deadline which would explain why the 'deep parts' weren't very there. And I'm kinda hoping that if this book is successful enough, the next/same author would be working with a higher word count. Because I picked up that book in the store and it was kinda thinner than I was expecting. And the font was bigger as well, and I was kinda worried. The story's still good but....I would've liked......more of it.
For example, the relationship between Isolde and Viego. Knowing their story beforehand, I really would've loved to see the formation and evolution of their relationship rather than just having one chapter with single Viego than the next they've already met and married. That could've been interesting to read
Also, after reading the book, I'd recommend going into the Universe of League of Legends website (the official lore site) and look up a short story called 'Echoes Left Behind' in Kalista's profile. It's an interesting story set after the events of the book told from Ledros' perspective. That's all I'll say about it
Thanks for the heads up! And I agree with everything you said (minus parts about knowing what was going to happen, since I obviously didn’t 😆). Fingers crossed we get more in this world though!
@@ebnovels You know, the book hints at the ending a few times. I remember reading some parts of it going "Ha! That's funny cos.....yeah"
SPOILER:
I remember a scene where Kalista compares a group of her own people to ghouls or something and I was like "Heh"
And there's another part where Kalista remarks about Hecarim's relationship with his horse. 'They almost seem as one' or something like that.
Then there's that whole Soraka interaction. That was a pleasant surprise
LOVEE the artwork incredible and really brings the story to life in the book League of Legends 📚📙🖤🖤🍁🧡🧡🍁🎃🖤🖤🖤🍁🧡📖📚📙📙📚👻🎃🖤🖤🖤📖📖🧡🧡🍁📙📙📚👻👻📚📚🖤🎃🍁🧡📖📖🧡🍁🍁🎃🖤📙📙📚📖📖🧡🍁🎃🖤🖤📙📚🍁🍁🍂🍂🍃🍂🍁🍁🍂🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍂🍁🍁🍁🍂🍃🍂🍁🍁🍁🍂🍂🍁