Book Review | Ruin by John Gwynne
As I write this, I have just finished reading Ruin not ten minutes ago. I want to at least start drafting my review while the memory is still so fresh in my mind and before the wounds have healed. John Gwynne’s Ruin is masterful and remarkable, definitely the best book thus far in The Faithful and the Fallen, in my humble opinion. It exceeded my expectations unfalteringly and I had a blast reading through this, with much of the final pages in the book being a flurry as I flipped the pages so quickly they were bound to tear.
Well… now that I’ve given a clearly flat introduction that certainly leaves you wondering how I feel about the book, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of this spoiler-free review of John Gwynne’s Ruin, the third book in The Faithful and the Fallen. Can’t believe I’ve just one more to go, now.
Exceptional Writing
Ruin is a far cry from the first book in this series, Malice. The work is, to me, almost unrecognizable from what came before. In Ruin, the characters are compelling, the story is a masterwork, and the action is brutal. While I enjoyed Valour well enough, it feels that John Gwynne really pulled out all the stops with this entry into the series. After reading Ruin, I can tell why people have praised him and taken time to read everything the man writes. Ruin was outstanding.
Amazing Fight Scenes
There are some unforgettable fight scenes in this. In my prior review for Valour, I mentioned that I didn’t particularly like the one-on-one fight scenes, though I did greatly enjoy his larger battles. That is not the case, here. There are several smaller fights that take place in which the combat is eloquently described. One in particular really stands out to me as being just amazing. It was tense, beautiful, and above all: memorable. I think it will stand as one of my favorite one-on-one fights I’ve read in quite some time.
But John Gwynne didn’t let the quality of his larger battles fall by the wayside to make way for better small-scale fights. No, if anything, the larger fights that take place in this book are better than they have been before. They are whirlwinds of chaos, blood, and iron. Yet, in spite of the confusion that the characters in the book are feeling, the reader is given a firm grasp of what’s happening. You know exactly what you need to know in these fights and are able to follow them and all their grisly details.
Even Better Characters
In Valour, my favorite characters were Cwyen and Camlin, but I’ve got a couple of others to add to the mix. One of them is Coralen, whose perspective was always an absolute delight to read. I enjoyed her in the prior book, don’t get me wrong, but she felt a bit too one-note to me in that one. Here, she feels more well-rounded and interesting. She also does some really shocking things that reveal more about who she is and what she’s willing to do. Beyond that, her relationships with other characters—Dath and Corban in particular—are a lot of fun to read.
Another new favorite is Maquin. I actually liked Maquin well enough in Valour. His storyline was actually my favorite to follow in that book (and in this one). However, I didn’t really get enough of his personality in that book, mainly because of the severe changes he was undergoing as the story progressed. Here in Ruin, though, Maquin’s wants feel more set, his personality more developed. I was able to connect with him more easily and I found him to be a much more fascinating character to follow than in prior books. Any time that he was on the page—whether from his own perspective or someone else’s—I was excited. I enjoyed him so much in fact that I’m going to say that he’s my favorite character in the book, just a hair above Camlin.
Laughter and Tears
Drawing an emotion out of a reader can be a tough job. You rely on the reader’s imagination and connection to the characters as much as you do on your own capability as a writer. In the case of some books that I’ve read, I haven’t really laughed when I was expected to laugh, nor have I cried when I was expected to cry. It’s tough to elicit those emotions from a reader. You need wit, wisdom, and above all great characters.
And John Gwynne pulls it off. Moreso than either of the prior books in The Faithful and the Fallen, John Gwynne absolutely nails it not just with comedy, but with tragedy. This is a spoiler-free review, so I won’t go into specifics, but there were some tear-jerking moments as well as many laugh-out-loud ones. Here’s the key thing, though: they didn’t feel out of place. These moments belonged. They weren’t forced, nor were they added purely for shock value. Humorous lines were delivered by characters who would say them, tragic moments were added because they served a purpose.
Subversion Subversion Subversion
The absolute most important piece of praise that I can give to Ruin, though, is that it finally did what I have been waiting for the story to do: it subverted my expectations. There were twists I did not see coming, there were trope subversions I did not expect, and moments that I thought I’d predicted went ways I did not anticipate. Sure, some things still went about as I thought that they would, but still more were vastly different from the image I’d had in my head. Here at the end of Ruin, I’ve no idea what to expect from the final book in the series: Wrath.
However, I am going to stick to my guns and say that I really think much of these subversions should have happened far earlier in the series, preferably in the first book. At the very least, there should have been extremely strong hints so that any reader could easily pick up on the fact that The Faithful and the Fallen is not your typical high fantasy series. If I’d not had many people saying that the series greatly improves after Malice, I wouldn’t have kept reading and would have carried on believing that it follows the exact same formula that I’ve read half a dozen times.
But, I’ll not complain much more than that—what’s done is done, and Ruin finally showed me that this is not your average high fantasy story. Sure, there are still some tropes present, but even with that, I am still uncertain as to where the story is going to go from here. It has flipped the script and I am left eager to read the finale. That’s actually why I’m writing this review so soon after finishing the book: I’m ready to get into the next one right now!
Overall Rating
Okay, enough blowing smoke and all that—what’s the verdict? In truth, I am left here with the same feeling that I’ve had for many past works. For the majority of Ruin, I felt a solid four stars. It was really well-done, definitely better than Valour, but was lacking the real umph that’s needed to drive a book up to that coveted five-star rating.
And then, the final handful of chapters came, and everything changed. Just as was the case with Malice and Valour prior, John Gwynne absolutely nails the ending of his book. This is, by far, the best ending to a book I have read this year. I am so incredibly glad that I don’t have to wait for the next book. It’s sitting on my shelf and, as soon as I’ve finished writing this review, I’m going to go and grab it.
With that astounding ending in consideration, Ruin is going to get five stars from me. My second five-star read of 2022; I’m as surprised as you are that I’ve found two high ratings this early. If any book I’ve read this year deserves it, though, it’s Ruin. What an amazing, amazing read. Thank you to all of the reviewers and friends and strangers alike who have repeatedly touted that the series really does get better if you keep reading. I’m glad I got to experience this.
Conclusion
Wow, this may be the fastest I’ve ever written a review, it took me just under an hour. I am racing to get back to reading. I’ve got to at least get through the first chunk of Wrath before I can sleep peacefully (it’s also past my bedtime, go figure). So I’ll leave you with this: if you have the time for it, The Faithful and the Fallen is worth a read. Malice is a little rough, but here I am at book three and the memory of Malice is well behind me; I’m too fixated on the characters, story, and excellent writing to fret over a book I didn’t particularly enjoy. Five stars is something I rarely give to anything (Ruin is the fourth book in the last six months to get it from me), and I only hand it over when it’s well and truly deserved.