A wild ride science fantasy of magic, motorcycles, and the extremely complicated hearts and maps of human relationships.
But this is different. This is a post apocalyptic world of magic and technology, of magic users who fight storms and magical motorcycles. A story of a world facing deep problems that could wipe away the tenuous hold the cities have in this wasteland. Oh, and the love story is polyamorous and queer in that the messenger is secretly in love with both the prince and the princess.
This is the story of Hana Lee’s Road to Ruin.
Road to Ruin is a novel that defies some tropes right from the get go. Classically in a lot of myths, legends, stories and sadly novels to this day, the prince rescues the hapless princess from the tower, and go on off together to a happily ever after. The prince gets to have the powers, abilities and skills and the princess is there to be rescued. Although Jin, our magebike courier sending messages between them is our primary point of view and protagonist, this script is unended right from the start. And Yi-Nereen is a princess trapped in her city state of Kerina Rut, and about to be forced into a marriage she manifestly does not want (even above and beyond her feelings for Kadrin). But she is also a sorceress and has an important role in defending the city as one of the city’s shields against the storms that batter the wastelands. If anything, Kadrin feels like *he* is the one without skills or usefulness, and points this out a couple of times in the narrative. He does, in the end, find value and worth in his skills and abilities and the challenges that they face in the story.
The story runs on two tracks. In the present, we get Jin delivering what turns out to be the last letter Yi-Nereen receives from Kadrinx, even as she is ready to be married against her will and desire, and very soon. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and so Jin is recruited by Yi-Nareeen to spirit her away from Kerina Rut to Kerina Sol the home city of our Prince Kadrin. To be charitable, this doesn’t go immediately to plan. And of course, Yi-Nereen’s family does not take this sitting down and soon dispatches forces to retrieve the wayward princess. Oh, and her own fiancee, not satisfied with that, set off on his own. And then there is the prince...
The other track of the story are a series of letters between Kadrin and Yi-Nareen. As much as it shows their burgeoning relationship in an epistolary mode, there is important context and background laid in these letters that helps us to understand what drives both characters, and also Yi-Nareen’s project regarding the heritability of magical talents. This latter feeds right back into the main plot when Jin and Yi-Nareen’s efforts to reach the city of Kerina Sol are foiled by the mother of all storms, and their detour is straight into a hidden community, and, as it turns out, secrets long buried about the world, about magic, and the previous civilization.
For all of the post apocalyptic landscape, this story and its settings and framings are all about societies and groups of people. Yes, the desert landscape and its storm and Jin riding across it are vividly and winningly described. It’s an immersive world that kept my mind going to my limited travels into Utah and the desert southwest, and I had a real urge and desire to go to Utah again after reading this book*. But ultimately the book really pivots and revolves around communities and relationships, and the variety of both that we get. Prince Kadrin’s family and home, especially his relationship with his father, as well as the whole ethos of the city-state. Princess Yi-Nareen’s city state and her family, her betrothed, and others. The desert community that Yi-Nareen and Jin stumble into. The relationship between the three principals. Oh, and if that was not enough, Jin’s ex-lover enters into the scene and plays a major role in events. The plot and worldbuilding really runs off on how these relationships and communities spin off and against each other.
But I do want to talk a bit about worldbuilding and the feel of the science fantasy that we get here in Road to Ruin. The most common way for these sorts of stories to run, especially post apocalypse ones in a wasteland setting like this, is a desperate clawing for survival, as resources dwindle and things become more and more dire for all involved. The whole idea of “the world as an open grave” and ever so steadily spiraling downward is a theme that I see, for example, in the roleplaying game Other Dust, which is all about this feel. And we do get a heaping of this in the novel. Yi-Kareen’s city state of Karina Rut, and the overall feel IS this, trying to keep enough shield capable magicians going to protect the city against storms.
And there are some of the usual sort of tropes you get in societies on the edge. Kerina Rut does not permit women with magic (Talented) to read. Kerina Sol is extremely unforgiving to those (like Kadrin) without Talent at all. Societies under stress often turn to drastic and unforgiving solutions and cultural standards and workarounds in an environment of scarcity.
And yet, all that is not the whole story. The central and defining science fantasy element of Lee’s novel, the Magebike, is in fact, something that was only invented several decades ago (and who and why and what happened to the inventor becomes extremely plot relevant). There are other instances in the novel where there are efforts at innovation, at trying new things, at being curious about the world and doing better with a “bad hand”. A lot of post-apocalyptic stories are all about “raging against the dying of the light” with a lot of trying to shore up the walls. I appreciate that as the standard run of how these stories go. However, Lee shows us that even in an apocalypse and its aftermath, there are people trying to find new ways and new methods (my recent non fiction reading has strongly influenced my thought on these matters.)**
I want to go back to what I mentioned in the beginning and not hide it under a basket. The novel is queer friendly although I am not entirely certain it’s queernorm. Our princess does mention the possibility of romantic entanglements with women (but when it comes husband time, such pursuits are put away, firmly). Jin is as mentioned in love with the prince and princess both, and her ex-lover, a woman features strongly in the plot. Kadrin seems firmly fixated on Yi-Nareen, though. If he is genderqueer, the text does not support it. But the pain and agony of relationships here is all socially based and matters of the heart, not restrictions on gender based on social and societal standards.
As far as the ending of the book, while the main threat and issue is resolved at the end of this book, the book does definitely have a sequel hook given what occurs. While I do feel the ending of this book was somewhat compressed and rushed compared to the rest of the book, I have curiosity as to the fate of Jin, Yi-Kareen, Kadrin and their world. I do want to know more about all of it, the story of these three characters, the world of the ancient Road Builders, and what it all means. I’d definitely be up for a sequel.
* In the acknowledgements, Lee calls out Mad Max Fury Road. That’s the visual feel she is going for in the novel. And I think she hits her marks.
** I seem to be in a Post apocalyptic mood, lately. I recently read Eric Cline’s AFTER 1177 BC, which is about the aftermath of the Bronze Age Collapse (a followup to his book 1177 BC, which is all about the collapse). This new book is about how societies in the Mediterranean dealt with, or didn’t, with the results for various societies. Some stagnated, some recovered, others slowly declined, some found new horizons, and some did rather well for a time. The other book in this vein is Paul Cooper’s Fall of Civilizations, which looks at a number of civilizations, their heights and collapse, and what happened next for them.
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The Math
Highlights:
- An interesting and vividly seen desert apocalyptic world
- A winning combination of science and fantasy
- Excellent action and emotional beats alike.
Reference: Lee, Hana, Road to Ruin [Saga Press, 2024]
POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I'm just this guy, you know? @princejvstin.
