Today marks the release of Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, the new tie-in novel for Riot's hit League of Legends television show Arcane. If you loved Arcane as much as I did, you're probably pretty excited for this book; and if you're not, you should be. I've had a chance to read Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf and consider it a "must-read for fans of Arcane." It's filled with important bits of lore and backstory for the Noxian warlord Ambessa Merdada, her daughter Mel, and the rest of their family. By the end of the book, you have a much clearer picture of who these characters are and how they became estranged by the start of Arcane.
Of course, none of that backstory would matter without a great writer penning it, and fortunately Chosen of the Wolf has an excellent one: C.L. Clark, the author behind the Magic of the Lost fantasy series (currently consisting of The Unbroken and The Faithless). Those books center around several women stuck in the middle of a complicated political morass, and are filled with violent revolution, scheming, and star-crossed romance — all elements that are also key to Ambessa's story. Add in the fact that Clark was already a fan of Arcane before being approached to write Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, and it's a recipe for the rare tie-in novel that feels like an essential part of the mythos rather than a cash grab.
To celebrate the release of Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, C.L. Clark stopped by the site to answer some questions about how this project came to life, and how it differed from her original works like Magic of the Lost. There are light spoilers for Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf below, but don't worry, we don't get into any of the nitty-gritty plot details. For that, you'll have to check out the book yourself!
DANIEL ROMAN for Winter Is Coming: This collaboration between you and Riot games for Ambessa feels like a match made in heaven. Can you walk us through how you came into contact with them and came on board to do this novel?
C.L. CLARK: The simplest way to say it is, Riot already has a collaboration with Orbit for publishing their tie-in books (check out Ruination by Anthony Reynolds, the first of their big books). And I’m one of Orbit’s authors! When Riot started musing about who might be a good fit to tell Ambessa’s story, my name was one of them.
WIC: I assume there are some notable differences to working on a tie-in book like this to your original stories. What was your reaction to taking on this project, and was your process different at all for this book than Magic of the Lost?
CLC: At first, I was a bit trepidatious, shall we say. I’d heard a lot of horror stories about doing IP work, from super tight crunch deadlines to zero-creative control. There are also some business reasons an author might not want to write IP (we don’t own any of the material, and thus can’t profit from movies made of the work, for example, and royalties are generally lower than our usual original work, if we earn them at all on an IP project).
However, I adored the Arcane series and Ambessa was one of the coolest characters. I don’t know if I would have said yes if it was anyone else. I felt a deep connection the moment she swaggered onscreen; she reminded me of one of my own characters, The Jackal from The Unbroken. I couldn’t wait to know more about her. So…when they asked me to write that “more”...it was a perfect match for me, too.
It was pretty different from my process with MotL. Though I’d already been outlining my work, I’d always held a bit of generosity for exploring where the story wanted to go, occasionally—okay, often—deviating from outlines in search of the sharper interest. I didn’t have that luxury with Ambessa. With an IP project, especially a property as big as Riot’s, there were too many pieces. The book had to be in alignment with not only the game lore and player expectations and the TV show, but any other internal workings Riot could project into the future. Like the Ambessa music video for “Blood, Sweat & Tears”!!
All of that meant we worked on an outline together—they had a general idea of what story they wanted to tell and I got to expand it in my own way. The outline went back and forth a few times between me, my editors, and The Powers That Be, and when it was approved, I got to work. The hardest part of the process I would say was the research I had to do. The Runeterra world is big! And I’ve never played League of Legends, so favorite characters, play styles, settings—I didn’t know any of that. I truly came to the desk just as an Arcane fan—the rest was catch up.
The deadline crunch was tough, I won’t lie, but it wasn’t as bad as others I’ve heard. For obvious reasons, they wanted it to come out near the release of Arcane: Season 2.
WIC: There are some pretty important moments and lore reveals for characters like Ambessa and Mel in this book. How much direction did you have to work with from Riot for those sorts of lore-heavy moments?
CLC: The lore-heavy moments were pretty much instructed. Obviously, we had the repeat scene of Ambessa and Mel with the young woman in the throne room (from Arcane: Season 1). But information we get about Mel’s parentage and magic were given as well.
WIC: Ambessa is a villain in Arcane, but she’s got layers. Were there any aspects of her character that you thought were especially important to emphasize in Chosen of the Wolf?
CLC: One thing I love, which I think is pretty evident in all of my work, is that I like my villains to be people who just do morally questionable things. It doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings of warmth or affection, it doesn’t mean they don’t doubt. All along, I knew Ambessa was supposed to prize family above all—it was instructed, but it was also pretty clear in Season 1. But I was most interested in keeping her a villain. I wanted to show her worst tendencies and I wanted to watch her justify them. Over and again, she makes these choices without apologizing for them—but the moments of doubt and then doubling down! I loved those moments.
Most of all, I wanted to make sure she remained someone that Mel would never want to be, but that one day she could understand.
WIC: We also get to spend a lot of time with Ambessa’s family in this book, especially her children, Mel and Kino. Mel is someone Arcane viewers are very familiar with, but this is an earlier period of her life — and we never even meet the actual Kino in the series. Can you talk a little bit about how you approached bringing those characters to life on the page?
CLC: I really loved writing Mel and Kino’s interactions together. I had the benefit of seeing a Season 2 screener before I got to work on Ambessa, so I had bits of personality that I could riff off of. Also, I have two little brothers and a sister, so I’m no stranger to sibling banter or navigating around each child’s relationship with the parental units. But knowing what I knew about Kino’s future, I wanted to make sure people would miss him.
WIC: You mention in your acknowledgements for Ambessa that you had some extra help from Riot with the prologue, including a walk through of the “Blood Sweat & Tears” music video, which covers those events. What was that process like?
CLC: It was pretty awesome, honestly. From my understanding, the music video team was working concurrently, and so as I outlined the novel, including the prologue, I was given the update of what they’d gotten so far: after being wounded in battle, Ambessa would arrive at Volrachnun (think of it like a Noxian Valhalla). I wrote that prologue and sent it in. I’m not sure if the music video team worked from my draft or not, but later on in the process, I got to see some storyboarded versions and then later iterations so that I could make the prologue better match the video. And then there was the music—ugh! It was so good! I only wish I could have listened to it constantly throughout the writing process. However, they did give me the playlist that the music team was using as inspiration. A cool bit of synergy there.
WiC: Ellen Thomas, the voice actor who portrays Ambessa in Arcane, is narrating the audiobook for this novel. How much did you get to coordinate with her on that, and what was it like hearing her narration?
CLC: I didn’t work with her directly on this at all, unfortunately. I also haven’t heard her narration yet.
WiC: Since you wrote this backstory for Ambessa and have obviously spent a lot of time with the character, I have to ask: how did you feel about how her story ended in Arcane season 2?
CLC: I don’t think it could have ended any other way. It was a satisfying conclusion to her own arc, and an important character shift for Mel’s.
WiC: One very interesting character I didn’t expect to see in this book is Rell. She’s someone League of Legends players will be familiar with, but who didn’t feature in Arcane. Can you talk about the decision to include her in this book and how you handled her development?
CLC: Rell is another character who was already set, the decisions over my head. I was given a bit of information about her based on the game and some known lore, with a little bit of freedom to explore her relationship with Ambessa. It was great to consider her as a bit of a foil for Mel, since Rell has more…wolf-like attributes. They both have very different reactions to Ambessa’s teachings, and it was fun to explore how different young women would react to those consequences.
WiC: I have to sneak in one question at least about your other series, Magic of the Lost. Book 3, The Sovereign, is coming out later this year, right? Any teases you want to drop for fans who are waiting on that book about what they can expect?
CLC: Ah, yes. My other morally questionable children. The Sovereign is indeed coming out this year, September 30! I planted a lot of seeds in the first two books that will sprout in this final book. Some of my favorite things fans can look forward to… Best friend reunions! New pet birds! More questionable choices! Touraine and Sabine go dancing, and Luca has a sword fight! Or two. Or more…
If someone hasn’t read the Magic of the Lost and liked Ambessa, they’ll probably find more to love in The Unbroken, et al.
WiC: Last question! Do you think you’ll write in the League of Legends universe again, and if so, are there any characters or locations you’d particularly like to tackle?
CLC: Another book? Probably not. They know where to find me, though, if something interesting comes up. But I know what people have been asking me—would I write Sevika? I mean, I love her and I bet she’s got a badass backstory with no small amount of tragedy. How else do you become a crime boss’s sidekick turned revolutionary? Currently, there are no plans for that.
WiC: Thank you so much for taking the time do this interview! I’m so excited for you and Ambessa, and can't wait for Arcane fans to sink their teeth into it.
CLC: Thanks for having me. Hope everyone enjoys!
Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf is out now, wherever books are sold. If you enjoy it and want to read more from C.L. Clark, she has two other books coming out later this year: The Sovereign, the third and final novel in her Magic of the Lost series, and Fate's Bane, a standalone fantasy novella. Both release on September 30.
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