First off; I will start by saying PLEASE do not be put off by the fact that this book is a league of legends book. You do NOT need to play the game to be able to read this; and if you are an enjoyer of fantasy you would be missing out if you denied yourself this. Much like Arcane the show- you can walk into this without ANY game knowledge and be fine because the writer does explain things; he has neither assumed you know everything in the world nor treated you as if you know nothing so no matter what your league lore knowledge is you can feel comfortable and dive in.

The book arms you with a map of the land and royal lineage before throwing you into the thick of it; a new crowning of the King of Camavor on one side; and the selection of scholars in another. it may seem random at first but the writer steadily links the sides of story into one another in a very satisfying way. But throughout there is feelings of foreboding and unease in such a way that you KNOW things will escalate and even if you do know the general gist of what may happen (maybe as a league of legends player) the foreshadowing (

Spoiler

"Inevitably, all nations crumble, fall, and are forgotten. And in their final death roes, they often drag others down with them"-Tyrus of Helia, and "How different the world might have been had that blade found its mark"- Sentinel- Artificer Jenda'Kaya are two quotes you get given quite early so you KNOW this doesn't bode well!

) and seeing how such little things end up leading to the bigger things in the story still presents a gutpunch as you read it. You read a lot from the point of view of Kalista and you see her try so hard for everything and everyone; fighting against time, against court politics, against the social hierarchy that is almost as cutthroat as the ACTUAL cuthroats! not to mention the age old traits of war and violence of the nation and the struggle between loving the nation but despising what they had become. I often sat and found myself marvelling over what if the characters had made a different choice because the end result was so many different consequences from different characters crashing together in the worst way.

I will say, armed with league knowledge, this book also drew in characters i didn't expect it to.

Spoiler

of course there was obvious ones to expect; Viego, Kalista, Isolde, Thresh and Hecarim (though hecarim was developed in a way i truly didn't expect but it was welcome! his descriptions on league just summed him up as "soldier man for viego" whereas he was given a lot more depth and a lot more sinister than believed!). It also expanded on Ryze and a little bit of soraka; and of the blessed isles

it also drew on other characters that hadn't been really linked to this part of league lore before and it helps flesh out the events and the characters in a way that feels a lot more grounded; in the game its easy to think of these characters living completely separate from each other and in their own little pocket universe when really it's all going on at the same time and the book did a beautiful show of demonstrating this.