Strength rules supreme - to show kindness, hesitation or loyalty is a weakness, guaranteed to have you killed. Those blessed by the Ruin - an invisible spiritual force that grants power and unimaginable abilities - constantly fight and scheme for a foothold in the hierarchy of the Ruined Empire. Krothus, brawny and learning to be less brash, and Vyrion, wise and powerful but hindered by his moral compass, begin their journey as bitter rivals. When they agree to become partners and go against the status quo, they help unlock the other's potential, ensuring their places as Ruin Lord apprentices.

Their masters, Ruin Lords, hold more strength and cunning, teaching their apprentices to wield the Ruin fully whilst playing political games with other Ruin Lords for land, subjects, and power, all in the name of the great but elusive Emperor. This is the law of the Ruined Empire - kill or be killed, seize power and rule. But Krothus and Vyrion have uncovered a more sinister game in the making, one that threatens the Empire and themselves. The Ruin Lords continue to play their games - Krothus and Vyrion are done being pieces on the board.

Objectively, this greatly appealed to my nerdy, metal heart - it had elements of Doom and Warhammer; it was Dune on speed. Thomas Perkins has beautifully crafted a world of diverse characters and abilities, power struggles and politics, and had multiple characters driving the story along, providing different emotional and moral POVs throughout.

Perkins went full Oprah with character development - everyone integral gets an arc and I am here for it. Finding inner strength, letting go of the past, evil turning to neutral lawful and vice versa, they all had natural journeys to discovering their better selves or became power hungry and evil. The Ruined is a definite win for fantasy and action fans, and I look forward to seeing the world and lore expanded on in the next instalment.

Official Review

Characters:

I enjoyed the characters in this novel. I’m glad that Krothus’ and Vyrion’s roles basically stayed the same throughout, but each of them growing their strengths. I do feel like in terms of growth there could’ve been a little more? More so with Vyrion, I felt like he was very much the same just physically stronger.

Now with Krothus I believe he had a lot more growth mentally, but I am glad he maintained his “I will rule, I’m the best” kinda attitude. I enjoyed him having some personal mental conflict in terms of morality and ethics, I thought those moments were well written but still stayed true to Krothus’ character.

I enjoyed all background/other protagonists a lot as well. Each character played an overall critical role in the plot, no character was wasted which is always something I love in a read.


Plot

In terms of plot the story basically played out how I expected it, which isn’t a bad thing for me. I wasn’t able to necessarily guess what was going to happen but was able to have a clue to a few major plot points.

Plot itself was well paced, there were a few parts that kinda felt like a slump but it was always brief. Was probably just personal anxiousness to reach a specific plot point.

I was happy with the ending, I loved the way it was kinda just “over”. It was the epitome of “no one wins at war”.

There were some twists that caught me off guard but added to the plot, I thought they were worked in very nicely.

Writing

The way Perkins writes battle scenes is BEAUTIFUL! Wow, I absolutely loved reading the battle scenes. Extremely well written, they were complex but easy to follow so I was just able to imagine them in my head.

The dialogue of this novel was well done, each character had a specific cadence to them which Perkins executed so well. Even if names weren’t there I’d be able to tell the characters apart with their dialogue alone.

Setting

Right off the bat for me the ruin energy and ruinblades SCREAMED Star Wars, and if I had to guess that’s definitely where Perkins drew his inspiration from. However, while it mimics the way lightsabers and the force works Perkins added his own unique touch. I thoroughly enjoyed the ruinstones being what changed the color of a ruinblade and each having a particular purpose (focus, decay, etc.)

I do however would’ve loved to find out more background info, I wouldn’t say it is pivotal to the story but I wanted more.

I wanted to know how you become an acolyte, how training there is conducted, what you learn. I also would’ve loved a deep dive into the history of the empire, into ruinstones and the Wasteland. Once again none of this was necessary to the plot. I just wanted more.

This was a pretty fun read. It didn’t blow me away but there were parts that I enjoyed. The main characters were dull IMO and had little to no growth. I wouldn’t say I was emotionally invested in them, but I was definitely curious to see where they’d end up.

The world building was cool at first, but after a while it started to feel a bit repetitive. The pacing was all over the place. Some chapters moved fast, others kinda dragged. Fortunately the writing is easy to follow thru, so even the slower chapters didn’t feel like a chore to read. I think if you love DnD you’re gonna love this book.

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The review will be posted on my GoodReads account, 23/05/2025

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for providing me with the digital Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review ♥️