Review: Ruin: The Birth of a Legend

Ruin: The Birth of a Legend is a novel by Samsun Lobe that focuses on the main protagonist, Ruin and his two other companions battling every step of their way through the magic world of Mareta. It is a first book in a continuing fantasy series, and four books are currently available. There is also a card game based on the series, Ruination Battlecards, but this book is where Ruin’s journey begins.

When you first meet Ruin, you want to smack him…hard. Then you will want to smack him again because trust me, one hit won’t do anything to that guy. After that, you will want to find something heavy, preferably spikey, and smack him a third time. Following that, the only thing you could do is to fold your hands and watch things unfold, shaking your head in disapproval. Or in disbelief. Maybe both.

You know that big muscly guy that hits before he thinks? The very strong but not at all clever type? Unnecessary violent and easy to anger type? Yeah, that’s Ruin. I hate that guy.

Having a dislikeable protagonist is not just tricky, but also risky. As a reader, we live and breathe the world of the book through the protagonist. Also this is the character whose experiences we are re-living, feeling and sympathising with. So when we have to do it through someone we don’t like, there is a big chance we might not like the book either. This is why I will applaud any author who dares to brace these dangerous waters. Partly because I am just tired of reading about goody-two-shoes battling the Big Bad, but also because I think this makes a more challenging story. This is also definitely one of the reasons why I stuck with Ruin: the Birth of a Legend. By the end of the book, I stopped wishing that someone bigger and stronger – possibly, Hulk, who else could? – would come to Mareta and smash Ruin, and come to realise that there is something to that guy. I can’t exactly pin point what it is though… he looks good in armour?

The story of the first book is very fast paced, which is both good and bad. Good, because you never get bored and events are always changing and evolving. Characters are never having George R.R. Martin-esque snooze festivals of reminiscing about the old legend of the thousand years dead king for two chapters. Every chapter, brings new scenes and new action. Characters are never stale and are always on the move. A lot of things happen in one book. And I am glad they do, because I learnt so much more about the world of Mareta through the action, rather than description.

However, there is one important aspect that in this action chase, I really missed and would benefit the overall story – understanding who the characters are. In the case of Ruin, the bases were covered, granted there weren’t many of them. You understand who Ruin is and whatever little mystery left, I am guessing will be covered in future books. However, the two companions, Kail and Efferial, are a bit two dimensional. At one point in the book, one of the characters remarks how the traumatic events have changed another character. To be honest, I wouldn’t be able to tell how those events changed him because I knew so little about him in the first place. Later in the book, Efferial remarks how Ruin, Kail and her are friends. I was left wondering when did that happen? To me it looked like Ruin did a lot of fighting, Kail did a lot of escaping from people who wanted to torture him and Efferial was rolling her eyes at Ruin a lot. So… when did they bond? Moreover, the romantic feelings have also managed to develop between the characters. I only wish there were more than one or two throw away lines to show that to me.

To be fair, there is a scene that I quite enjoyed between Ruin and Efferial, where they talk about where they come from, how their countries differ from each other and how that shaped them. That exchange left me wanting more. Maybe not for a long, sitting by the fire type conversation, but for some banter while the characters are travelling. How did they get along with each other? Did they have any inside jokes, apart from ‘Ruin is a bit thick’? When did those romantic interests start to develop?

Regarding the plot of the book, there are two attitudes fighting inside of me. The lack of character development also had a ricochet effect of not being able to explain the character’s motivations and hence damaging the logic of the plot. The part of me that tried to understand why a character Ruin had barely met, came to help with his army in the final battle, was left unsatisfied. However, the part of me that wanted fun action packed battles, cheered on. I have enjoyed every place Ruin and co went, and every enemy they battled or escaped.

The book itself is very easy to read and chapters fly by in what seems like no time at all. I liked the straightforward writing style, that didn’t drag, but also gave me a good idea of the world. My only nit pick is that the author would always state when a character made a joke or even said something slightly humorous, which is not really necessary. I have enjoyed reading little lore codices before every chapter, also a map and glossary are always incredibly helpful when learning about the new world.

Ruin: The Birth of a Legend is a very action packed fantasy novel that is not afraid to have a main character that is unlikable and does some gruesome things. By the end of the book, I may not have started liking Ruin, but I could appreciate his moral codex and bravery. While I have enjoyed both of his sidekicks, Efferial, a kick ass, and Kail, a skilful adept, I wished there was more about those characters and I could understand their motivations better. The book, however, does action very well, making it fun and easy to read.