Road to Ruin by Hana Lee was described to me as a Max Max: Fury Road-inspired fantasy with magic-fueled motorcycles, a dangerous wasteland, and romantic letter writing, and it lives up to the hype. I was instantly drawn in, and the whole thing was a romp that left me excited for the sequel. Not only does our main character Jin drive a magical motorcycle through the desert in order to deliver letters, she is playing go between for a prince and a princess in different cities. Because of circumstances, she also has to read and write the letters for them, leaving her drawn ever into their burgeoning long-distance relationship. Interludes in the form of the letters add an epistolary element and alternate POVs that I really enjoyed.
The book picks up when Courier Jin is delivering the latest letter to Lady Yi-Nereen, when the lady tells her that circumstances have changed, and she needs Jin’s help to escape across the desert to Prince Kadrin, immediately. Jin, a romantic at heart who is battling her own feelings for Kadrin and Yi-Nereen, agrees, and they set off on Jin’s motorcycle on a journey that takes them off the traveled path and on a voyage of discovery, danger, and heartbreak.
I really enjoyed the world-building of Road to Ruin, which is a delightful combination of fantasy and steampunk. This is clearly a society in decline, able to field motor bikes but also penned in magically-walled cities that are constantly on the verge of failure. You have some of the hallmarks of non-modern fantasy—couriers, knights, winged beasts, and magic sources—but clearly set in the long aftermath of some dystopian climate event. I thought it was very fun and imaginative, and I loved that it allowed us some of the tropes of romantic fantasy such as letter writing and royalty and arranged marriages while also giving us an extremely hot queer motorcycle aesthetic.
I also just loved the budding relationship between the three leads. I appreciate an epistolary work, and while Road to Ruin isn’t exactly one, letter writing is a huge part of the plot, and it allows Kadrin and Yi-Nereen to build a relationship, but one built partly on their own biases and what they choose to reveal to each other. Jin is the only one who actually knows both of them, and both of them see her as inextricable part of their relationship with the other, since none of it would be possible without her. For her part, Jin is trying her hardest to fall back on her independent Courier ways and motor bike life and pretend that she is not also having feelings. I think it is a delicious setup, made all the more fun by the setting.
Road to Ruin is a fun mishmash of fantasy settings and queer romance, and I do recommend it for anyone looking for some less conventional fantasy. I cannot wait to read the sequel (just out this June), and see if these three can save the day for everyone in their cities and the wasteland they live in.
