Customer Reviews

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Wow. What a surprise.

This is a prequel novel to the upcoming video game Dragon Age: Origins, by Bioware. I was reading it more to `get in the mood' for the game than anything, and I had very low expectations, to be honest. And I was blown away.

I'm giving it 4 stars, and that is judging it against all fantasy, not against "pre-generated world" fantasy (novels based on games, movies, tv series, etc). Within that sub-genre it's a 5 star book, easily.

As the story begins, a cruel usurper sits on the throne of Ferelden, and the Rebel Queen has been betrayed and murdered. The only member left of the royal family is young Maric, a charming but slightly inept princeling, now on the run for his life. He soon teams up with a young commoner named Loghain, and the two set off to reunite with the rebel army, and begin the daunting challenge of trying to push the usurper from his ill-gained throne.

There's a bit of game-ness to the book here and there as character classes are mentioned, but it isn't very intrusive and if you didn't know it was a game-prequel novel, you might not even notice it.

The story has everything you could ask for in a fantasy. A noble, seemingly impossible quest, great battles, characters who feel very real, and who interact in ways that also feel very human. A smattering of magic and strange creatures. Joy and pain, victory and defeat. All written with genuine emotion.

A nice change of pace is the way elves are handled, and particularly elves, who are definitely second class citizens in this world, scraping by working as servants and living in squalid quarters of most cities.

All in all, a very, very enjoyable read, and a very 'self-contained' novel. You aren't left with a cliff-hanger ending that is going to require you to play the game or read another novel. You can download a sample chapter from http://dragonage.bioware.com/noveltst.ht...

I hope the author, David Gaider, focuses on more novel writing, and less game writing. I'd love to read more from him!

I've been a fan of Bioware for a while, and have been interestedly watching the slow progress of Dragon Age since it was first announced. Naturally, I was intrigued by the news that a prequel would be coming out in book form. (Luckily its release date was not postponed... Silly EA.) I didn't expect high art; I just hoped for an interesting story and a glimpse at the world I'll encounter when I play the game. Thankfully it was, for the most part, an interesting story. It kept me reading, anyway. And the glimpse of the world was, while not enrapturing, not revolting either, so I am content to continue anticipating the game's release as before.

There are moments and even decent stretches of Dragon Age where David Gaider's talent as a writer comes out. There are even a few scenes that might send shivers down your spine. But in the end the book is seriously flawed for reasons that can be all traced to a single source: this is an epic story jammed into a single 400 page book.

The result is that we are treated to long narrations meant to summarize the passage of significant time. Long narrations that take the place of real character development, which leads to character actions and decisions that are not set up by the story. I don't want to spoil things too much, but I think all you need to know is that the epic battle, the one that decides the whole story, is only related to the reader in a brief reference after the fact.

Mr. Gaider has skill, but hopefully next time (and another Dragon Age book has already been announced) he delivers a story that fits the scope of a single volume.

I took a chance and ordered this because I'm a huge fan of Dragon Age: Origins. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I was bit apprehensive because style is often a sticking point with me. I love, love, love the DA games and I'd hoped to expand my knowledge of DA lore, but I found the prose so distracting that I couldn't focus on the story.

For example, one sentence reads, "Marc slammed his fist down on the table, hard." Well -- is there any other way to slam one's fist on a table? The author also uses the same phrases over and over, "snorted derisively" being one of many examples. And characters are either calm or in a rage; there's no in between. They're either grinning, scowling, or frowning, and they often switch expressions without warning. Lastly, it feels as if the words go on and on but precious little happens. It seems that a lot of effort is spent explaining unimportant details.

To summarize, if you're like me and often wish that you could just shut off this cursed part of your brain and enjoy the damned story, you might want to skip this book and read a synopsis instead. I would guess that no editor was involved in the project, which is a shame -- I think that a good editor could have done wonders for it. God knows that the brains at Bioware create great stories; they just could have used some help in putting out a book of them.

I'm really going to try to finish "The Stolen Throne" because I want to know what happens. If I can't, I might still check out "The Calling," which gets better reviews.

FOR FERELDEN !!!!!!

Five stars

The Stolen Throne (book), The Calling (book), The game (Dragon age origin RPG) are each independently enjoyable. I have personally found that the two novels and the game each feed into and enhance the enjoyment of the other two. The novels are exceptionally well written and can be enjoyed independent of each other or the game. I will not get into the actual storyline, what I will say is that with a comfortable chair and an open mind either book would be difficult to put down. The stories will take you to a wonderful land of fantasy full of triumphs, disappointments, love and betrayals, it is easy to visualize and hear the characters as you read the book. And the characters if brought into a modern-day setting could easily remind you of so many people that you have met, seen, or know about.

If you have played the game prior to reading the novels my bet is that you will want to replay the game. If you have read the novels prior to playing the game you will find yourself anticipating and appreciating the interaction with the various characters. If you do not intend to play the game that's all right too -The Calling (Dragon Age) because it is a wonderful standalone novel.

The storyline could easily carry six, eight, maybe even 10 additional books and if they were as well written as these two I would both recommend and purchase all of them.

My only complaint is that I would like more David Gaider/Dragon age novels.

For a start I have to say that I read the book after finishing the game and that made me have greater expectations of it. If I was in the mood of reading a book based on/inspired by a game then I would have found this book was Great, now I find it Good.

The language used is fine, not too much not too little.
The main plot is, well, a classic fantasy plot with all the clichés you can ask.
The characters are... my big disappointment. The one I loved most at the game was that most of the characters where gray. The Good guys weren't that good and the Bad guys had some good in them, too. In the Stolen Throne you had to do with mono-dimensional characters. What saved the day was the very last part of the book where we saw a twist in the main characters, but it felt as though it was forced to become like that, it wasn't natural.

Overall, this is a good book and I do recommend it to anyone enjoying fantasy. It's fun to read, you learn about the world and the history (which is nice because they have created a great world) but it, really, could have been a great book if it tried to leave the safe path as the game did.

Books like this present a tremendous opportunity to allow the gaming faithful of Bioware's lore-rich I.P.'s to feel closer to the company's stories. I picked up this book after falling in love with Dragon Age: Origins. Its story, the characters, and its push to make your experience feel unique and personal pretty much ensured that I would be throwing more money in Bioware's direction. So, here we are.

But did DRAGON AGE's Lead Writer, David Gaider, succeed in making me believe that THE STOLEN THRONE was an extension of the game I just played? Well...kinda.

Taking place many decades before Duncan inducts you into the Grey Wardens, THE STOLEN THRONE recounts the Ferelden uprising against its enemy occupants, by way of a rebellion led by Alistair's father, Prince Maric. It takes you through the various clashes of the two armies, as well as the constant political head-butting Maric must endure as question about his competence as a leader comes into question.

But those who played DRAGON AGE will likely be more interested in the friendship that is struck between young Maric and Loghain, the man who would later betray the throne. It begins as a bond of necessity in the wake of enemy armies closing in to cut down Maric as the last true heir to the throne, but it slowly evolves into a true connection that quite literally comes to shape the very future of the country they're attempting to save.

It is a bit surreal to read about some of the characters that later resurface in the video game, since as the Grey Warden, you will literally hold their lives in your hands. This almost made it feel like it was working up to YOUR story at times, but it only gets a little close and doesn't seal the deal. This story, in the end, actually feels very separate from whatever shenanigans you get into later in DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS, but that didn't really detract from the read...other things did.

Just like Bioware's other Lead Writer, Drew Karpyshyn, David Gaider's prose has a habit of diving into chapters of expository monologues. This, as I've said before, does not make sense to me. These are writers who have had awards thrown at them for their dialogue; why they insist on keeping their characters quiet for extended lengths of time is beyond me. What made DRAGON AGE great were those moments where the characters really bared their souls, but there isn't much of that to be found here (until maybe the last 100 pages or so).

There was just battle after battle, which made me yearn for a story of a smaller scale in this universe, where the characters could have more room to breathe. Not every story in the fantasy genre has to be about kings and massive battles to be successful.

Despite all of this, I did have a great time reading this book, and it certainly didn't put me off enough to discourage me from reading its sequel (though it does make me wary). It's by far the best book to have come from Bioware's writers. The ending is satisfying, though it ends rather abruptly. The characters are well-conceived and fleshed out, but those who have played DRAGON AGE will already have an idea of how this story unfolds.

But I'm still waiting for a book from Bioware that allows its readers to invest just as much emotion into its story and characters as they're able to do with their video games. A story that's interesting in its own right, but feels as though when it comes to an end, your story begins.

I found that I had to push myself to finish this book, which is never a good sign. The protagonist is unlikeable and an idiot, which kept me from feeling much interest in his failures or successes, and some things don't make sense when they happen or they occur too fast to be believable. Very cliche in parts also which take a lot away from the book.

My biggest gripe however is how poorly this book ties in with the game. I read this first, then played the game, and had a really hard time believing the game's version of Loghain because it was soooo different than the book. It seemed as though the stories were just not meshed well at all. And besides a few locations, there is almost no other overlap between the book and game, which left the "prequel" notion kind of lacking as well.

This is a great book and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Dragon Age games. The story is about good king Maric and Loghain and their adventures in kicking out the Orlesians.

This book is very well written and it explains a good bit of the video game as well. I read it cover to cover as well as The Calling. Must read!