Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf

A League of Legends: Arcane Novel

By: C. L. Clark

Narrated by: Ellen Thomas

Set in the blockbuster and award-winning universe of League of Legends: Arcane and written by award-winning author C. L. Clark, discover a thrilling epic fantasy novel where Ambessa Medarda truly learns what it means to be a Chosen of the Wolf.

Medarda over all.

Ambessa Medarda: Warrior, general, mother. She is a woman to be feared, and the Medardas are unrivaled in their pursuit of glory. She has led conquests and armies. She has slain legendary beasts. She has made grave sacrifices in her ascent up the ranks. And for this she was rewarded: She entered the realm of death and was granted a vision of herself upon the throne of the vast Noxian empire.

But before she can lead her empire, she must become head of her own clan. Yet the title is contested by her cousin and former confidante, Ta'Fik. He knows the bloody sins of Ambessa's past. And he knows he cannot allow her to rise.

They will fight a war for the very soul of the Medardas.

But the war won't be fought on battlefields alone. Ambessa's daughter, Mel, can deftly break through the walls around anyone's heart, and she'll put her talents to use for her mother. Yet despite Mel's strength, Ambessa sees only a child who lacks her killer instincts. Mel knows she can be the leader Ambessa wants her to be, if only she gives her time.

With her family betraying her, enemies closing in on all sides, and unseen forces moving in the shadows, every day proves more dangerous than the last. But Ambessa will not bow. She will burn the world down to claim her place in it.

©2025 C. L. Clark (P)2025 Hachette Book Group

Things to Acknowledge

I was so happy to know that the book is not only a prequel to the series of Arcane, but also ties up to the music video about Ambessa! The details tied up to the show and music video layed in such satisfying way. I am not a fan of political dramma, but the more I read, the more I got invested into rough family dramma, mostly because I find Ambessa's character intriguing. The only thing I would change though (which is why 4 starts and not 5), is the way book doesn't really hold up to "gasp" moments when it needed to be done. I wish all of the important situations and outcomes we would find out through Ambessas eyes (because knowing about them before her reaction was quite disappointing to be honest). It was quite a big thing that didn't make this book a five star for me, but I can't ignore all of the wonderful things about it. Really happy in general! Would recommend!

Conflicted

good set up and it eneded well enough but the entire middle section felt entirely too muddled and rushed. performance was immaculate though. Ambessa's VA read this wonderfully.

Ambessa was wrong, the audiobook

I was hyped for this book, as an aftermatch of the Arcane series. Didn't expect a prequel, didn't expect this.
I found the book uninteresing. Arcane Ambessa is a cool character and a great antagonist. Here, she is but a fool and a brute without a strategy, suffering defeat after defeat, error after error, almost all of her own doing. I can see that as her character ark, but I did not enjoy following along. Neither the politics of Noxus, wich I didn't care either.

The narrator is great as Ambessa herself, even if the book is written in third person, wich sounds really weird in her voice. The rest of the characters are less impressive to hear, specially the "younger girls", the voices she made are almost painful to hear.