Ruiner
Tellers, Book 1
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Ruiner
Pre-order Now for £12.89
-
Narrated by:
-
Lara Messersmith-Glavin
About this listen
A political fantasy where storytelling is combat magic and disparate forces unite against exploitation and environmental destruction.
War and physical violence are obsolete. Now tellers compete with stories, both for glory and survival. But a story lost in combat is lost forever, and with it, a piece of the teller.
Kell is a ritual lorist, trained to navigate the desert by way of the ancient pulsar stones. When the imperial city of Soogway begins mining these sacred relics, she must act as an envoy of her clan to win them back—and engage in story combat, should negotiations fail.
Shade is a scrappy pit fighter and survivor of Soogway’s underworld. When a shadowy patron offers to train them in unorthodox techniques, they must decide whether winning an illustrious prize fight is worth the cost.
Ruiner is a grand search for justice that wrestles with trauma and the nature of violence, a tale of strategy and sacrifice that offers us strength for the times ahead.
©2026 AK Press (P)2026 AK PressCritic reviews
"Ruiner ruined me. A magic system like nothing I've ever seen before, and the characters and the story are every bit as fresh and dazzling as the worldbuilding."—Sam J. Miller, Nebula Award-winning author of Blackfish City
"An intricate spiral staircase of a book that offers a rich invented world, lovingly rendered characters, and a propulsive plot that examines power, play, community bonds, and societal structures. It fascinates from first page to last."—Madeline ffitch, author of Stay and Fight
"The sort of fantasy I always yearn to find and find all too rarely. … Its meticulously built mythos becomes a lens through which to view our own troubled world. Storylight for finding our way forward."—Molly Gloss, award-winning author of The Dazzle of Day