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.