Ruiner

Messersmith-Glavin makes her fiction debut (after the essay collection Spirit Things) with this ambitious speculative work, the first in her Tellers series, set in a ruined and rebuilt far-future world in which physical violence has been replaced with combat magic conjured through the act of storytelling. Chapters alternately follow Kell, who undertakes scouting missions across the broad desert through her gods-granted gift of listening to the pulses of stones, and Shade, a small but mighty nonbinary storyteller, whose prowess in the underground storytelling arena of the poor and rough area of the city in which they live leads them to a strange bargain. When one of the pulsar stones is stolen by generals from the city of Soogway, Kell’s and Shade’s worlds are both altered in distinct ways. It’s a lot of complex worldbuilding to catch up on quickly, but Messersmith-Glavin helps readers orient themselves by interspersing snippets of lore told as myth or legend throughout. The magic system is clever and unique, though Shade’s stories, which often take the form of fable, can feel familiar and even occasionally preachy. Still, readers seeking surprising postapocalyptic fiction will want to check this out. (Mar.)