The Stolen Throne

Dragon Age #1

by David Gaider

The thrilling prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, the hit role-playing video game from award-winning developer BioWare!

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

After his mother, the beloved Rebel Queen, is betrayed and murdered by her own faithless lords, young Maric becomes the leader of a rebel army attempting to free his nation from the control of a foreign tyrant.

His countrymen live in fear; his commanders consider him untested; and his only allies are Loghain, a brash young outlaw who saved his life, and Rowan, the beautiful warrior maiden promised to him since birth. Surrounded by spies and traitors, Maric must find a way to not only survive but achieve his ultimate destiny: Ferelden’s freedom and the return of his line to the stolen throne.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Video Games, High Fantasy, Gaming, Audiobook, Dragons

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

David Gaider lives in Edmonton, Alberta, and has worked for video game developer BioWare since 1999. He is the lead writer on the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins role-playing game and has previously worked on such titles as Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Neverwinter Nights.

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 3 out of 5]

The life of Maric Theirin.

When the Rebel Queen is murdered along with her family and supporters, her young son Maric is forced to flee the scene and join a group of rebels in a desperate quest for survival and vengeance to depose the usurper King Meghren. This is he story of prince Maric Theirin, outlaw Loghain Mac Tir and warrior maiden Rowan, in their battle for the freedom of the Kingdom of Ferelden during the occupation by the foreign forces of Orlais.

Based on the “Dragon Age” video game franchise (one of my favorites, if not my most), this novel works as a prequel to the events of Dragon Age 1: Origins, happening thirty years before the Blight and the war that threatened to destroy the whole world of Thedas.

Although interesting from an informative and anecdotal point of view, it’s difficult to objectively read a prequel with Loghain playing as a hero when you know later is one of the worst villains of the game. Also Prince Maric is kind of a whimp. And the ending sucks.

Overall, an excessively long, sporadically entertaining reading, but not recommendable, and especially not for someone not familiarized with the world of Dragon Age.



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PERSONAL NOTE :
[2009] [400p] [Fantasy] [2.5] [Not Recommendable]
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★★★☆☆ 1. The Stolen Throne [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 2. The Calling [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. Asunder
★★★☆☆ 4. The Masked Empire [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 5. Last Flight [2.5]

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La vida de Maric Theirin.

Cuando la Reina Rebelde es asesinada junto a su familia y seguidores, su joven hijo Maric se ve forzado a huir de la escena y unirse a un grupo de rebeldes en una desesperada misión de supervivencia y venganza para deponer al usurpador Rey Meghren. Esta es la historia del Principe Maric Theirin, bandido Loghain Mac Tir y la guerrera Rowan en su lucha por la liberación del reino de Ferelden durante la ocupación de las fuerzas extranjeras de Orlais.

Basado en la franquicia de videojuegos “Dragon Age” (una de mis muy preferidas, si no es que la más), esta novela funciona como precuela a los eventos de Dragon Age 1: Origins, sucediendo treinta años antes de la Ruina y la guerra que amenazó con destruir todo el mundo de Thedas.

Aunque interesante para desde el punto de vista informativo y anecdótico, es difícil leer objetivamente una precuela con Loghain haciendo de héroe cuando sabés que luego va a ser uno de los peores villanos del juego. El Principe Maric es medio patético. Y el final apesta.

En resumen, una excesivamente larga, esporádicamente entretenida lectura, pero no recomendable, y especialmente no para alguien que no está familiarizado con el mundo de Dragon Age.



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NOTA PERSONAL :
[2009] [400p] [Fantasía] [2.5] [No Recomendable]
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[Sean Barrs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine yourself strolling through the woods one day. The weather’s nice, you’ve got nothing but catching your dinner on your mind. Everything’s quite peaceful. You’re poaching with your mates. Suddenly, a young prince comes stumbling through the undergrowth. He’s unarmed, exhausted and being chased by your hated enemy.

What would you do?



Well, you don’t know he’s a prince. So you take him home to your father’s camp. A day or so later you find your land surrounded by an army of enemies. It’s obvious where the blame lies; it is clearly with this stray you’ve just brought in. You’re left with but one choice. You have to flee your land, and run to safety. But, it’s bought with all of your friend’s lives; it is bought with your father’s sacrifice. You’re left protecting this foolish young man. He can’t hunt. He can’t fight. All he can do is talk. So, is it any surprise when you, Loghain, grow bitter and annoyed with such a fool? Is it any surprise, at all, when Loghain turns round at punches his future King in the face and leaves him for dead?

No. It’s not.

The dynamic between these two characters is great. It is forced, awkward and complex. You can really see the situation from both of their point of views. Neither of them wants to be in this place, but they are forced to work together in order to survive. As a result, a mutual respect begins to develop, which slowly, very slowly, begins to develop into friendship. Well, sort of. Only together could the two men reclaim young Prince Maric’s birth right. Only together could they drive their Orlesian enemies from their beloved Ferelden and win back the stolen throne. Friendships like this make fantasy, and it was interesting to see it develop from animosity into something deep and meaningful.

But, who is the real King?



Loghain is clearly the reason why the prince survives, and why their later rebellion survives. Without him there would be no free Ferelden. He saves Maric’s life time and time again. He even contests with his friend for the warrior Queen’s heart. Things do become a little awkward. But, at the route of things, he is a stronger man than Maric. He is more pragmatic and tactful; he knows how to lead and command respect. However, he is also deeply loyal. He shapes his friend, albeit ruthlessly, into a better king. He makes him who he is through his harsh lessons. He teaches him the power of kingship, and the responsibility that comes with his word. Such is the breath of kings. In this we see the real Loghain, and we can truly see why he committed his future actions. Simply put, he is characterised superbly. He made this book what it is. One can hate him and respect him at the same time.

Sure, Maric is completely weak. Morally speaking, he is pure of heart and a little naïve. But he is also very young. He doesn’t quite know how to be a man never mind how to be a king. He is lucky he had his Loghain to shoulder some of the burden. To the outside world he is the embodiment of heroism, courage and kingship, though in reality he is nothing of the sort. Without Loghain he would have achieved very little. Maric evolves into a figure head. Certainly, he has some minor successes. But most of the major ones, if not all, originate from his loyal right hand man who decided to pick him up out of the mud so long ago. It’s a friendship of both hate and love.

This is how I like my fantasy worlds

Nothing is simple. Maric falls in love with a beautiful elven woman. She has obscured motives and cannot be fully trusted. But, more importantly she’s an elf. In this world that is very bad news. Indeed, she is a second class citizen, one a king should not be with. Loghain, naturally, detests the idea. The ending of the romance is never fully delivered. I mean, it finishes, but we will never know how genuine the situation was. His Queen finds out about the affair, and a strange love square develops. It is an awkward situation, one that could never, ever, end well.



Moreover, the detail of this fantasy world is immense. It is not all sunshine and roses. There is racism, oppression and bloody violence. It is utterly dark, and quite unique to see some of these classic elements subverted. There is a complex set of social structures and racial belief. It is varied and superb. I do love it. For those of you that don’t know, this originates form a video game franchise. In all honesty, I didn’t expect this novel to so good. Adaptions like this have a tendency to be really bad, at least in my experience. But, this worked so well. It’s an origin story of a vast fantasy world that I just adore. If you’ve not played the games, you may not enjoy this as much. You may miss some of the detail and the full impact of some of the character’s actions. I still think it’s worth reading regardless for fantasy fans. It’s a dark world, but there is also hope and love to be found in it. This may sound clichéd, but it’s true. The detail that has gone into this is fantastic. It feels like old school dungeons and dragons type fantasy. But, it also has its own originality at the same time as evoking the classic elements that I love.

This was a great read. I will be most definitely reading the rest of the series.

Dragon Age Novels
1. The Stolen Throne- A hugely enjoyable 4.5 stars

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

They howled again, and Loghain raised his voice even further. "Your prince is not here! But when he returns to us, we shall hand to him his stolen throne! Here at the River Dane is where the Dragon Age begins, my friends! Today they will hear us roar!"

The old and strong Kingdom of Ferelden have suffered under the oppression of the Orlesian Empire for almost a century. The relentless conquerors are bent upon destroying the last remnants of resistance and putting the ancient line of Fereldan kings to an end. But when Moira the Rebel Queen is murdered by Imperial assassins, her death sparks the flame of defiance in a new and rising generation…

The Stolen Throne is the story of the background of Ferelden leading up to Dragon Age: Origins. Of the companionship of the youngsters Maric and Loghain, the orphan and the poacher who would go on to become a king and a war hero. Of the tragic love story of Rowan. And of so many of the things making Thedas one of the greatest fantasy settings of recent years.

BioWare are the masters of characterisation, to the extent that I have often found my treasured companions in their games to be far better developed and more interesting characters than most characters in the popularised fantasy books of today. And David Gaider, like Drew Karpyshyn, manages to put that down on paper with the same degree of skill.

It’s hardly a secret that Loghain Mac Tir is one of my favourite video game characters of all time. And ever since I first heard him talk about Maric in the party camp, I wanted to know more about the duo and their quest for the stolen throne and the freedom of their homeland. While this book was hardly a masterpiece, it certainly delivered.

I would strongly recommend this book to all fans of Dragon Age: Origins. And if you have yet to play that masterpiece, I would heartily recommend it as one of the best fantasy games since the creation of Dungeons & Dragons.

[Layla ✷ Praise the sun ✷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Gaider once wrote the following on Bioware's blog about The Stolen Throne:

I decided on a prequel. We had identified years ago that there was an excellent untold story to be found in the Ferelden rebellion against Orlais.
It’s referred to many times in the course of the game, but there was a lot more that could be said about it. It was a great tale. Check one mistress, right?
This was before Drew had even written his (most excellent) Mass Effect prequel, so we thought we were being all innovative and stuff.
Ooo prequel! At any rate, I still thought it was a good idea. I put together an outline that touched on all those world elements to at least a degree and explained in detail what would happen in each chapter and then submitted it.
Surely they wouldn’t like it, right? What are the odds?

(The full blog entry can be read at http://blog.bioware.com/2008/12/10/wr...)

Dear David Gaider,

I did like it.

Not only because this story told us about how Ferelden achieved independence from Orlais and how Maric turned from a somewhat clumsy guy into the impressive king that he later was,
not only because we could see the Dragon Age world including its religion and creatures thirty years before the start of the first game,
but also, and in my case, mainly because of the fantastic insights that it gave into Loghain's character.



Loghain is one of the most thought provoking villains in the history of video games ever imo and after reading The Stolen Throne I understand the reasons behind his betrayals much better.
This book is worth a read for that fact alone.

Recommended to fellow fans of the Dragon Age series.

This was a buddy read with Sorina at Buddies Books and Baubles.

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dragon Age is my favorite video game franchise of all time and this is the worst book I have ever read.
It is bland, shallow, and completely pointless as a source of relevant Dragon Age lore. The characters are pitiful and cartoonish, the world is flat and empty and monotone, the story is weak, and there is no climax to be seen.
Let me go more in depth because I am in the MOOD.

The characters--
Maric is just Alistair but even more of a bumbling idiot, if you can believe it. I am an Alistair fangirl, and Maric is a deplorable dick-for-brain with a bloodthirsty streak who is impossible to root for.

I've heard over the years in r/dragonage that this book makes people have more sympathy for Loghain in Origins. I do not understand this. He is a weirdo with a crap personality at best, and an Incel at worst: creepy and murderous and emotionally nonexistent, but I guess all that's fine because of his trauma (or, rather, his mother’s trauma). If you really think Loghain watching his mother’s assault means it’s OK for him to leave his best friend’s son for dead, I don’t know what to say.

Katriel's arc is incoherent. She is an elven bard who knows nothing about anything, except she knows everything about... the ancient dwarves??? Though she would have no apparent reason to study ancient dwarven societies, there is never an explanation given for that being her area of expertise. She seduces Maric (this takes 0 effort) to get him to keep her around, then “falls for him” and decides to turn on the one to hired her to kill him. This involves her traveling for weeks just to threaten her contractor to his face, because if she'd done the sensible thing and killed him there'd be nobody for Maric to undramatically sneak up on later.
In the end, even though she "knew" she had been followed to Denerim, which implies she "knew" Maric was going to kill her for being a spy, she still went back to him, despite not loving him, in order to be killed. None of her thought processes make sense. I don't know what motivates her. I don't buy her as a real person.

Rowan is hardly a character. She is a jealous sex object in armor—no personality, impossible to care about. When boys make her angry she slaps them and then cries. She decides that she wants to leave Katriel behind in the Deep Roads, but gives no specific reasons why this should be done ("Something is just... off!" You should probably have better reasons than that to kill someone!) and then she is confused that Maric says no, we shouldn't do that.

Sex --
These four make the worst possible crew to follow on an adventure. We are told they are buds but never shown that at any time. Maric and Katriel bang for the first time when his entire midsection is wrapped in bandages to cover fresh open wounds, on the same exact day he was losing consciousness mid-conversation from the pain. This is unfortunately not my first time encountering Sex While Gravely Injured in a novel but it is a thing that I hate. Hate hate hate.
The 4 main characters are literally underground, coated in black soot from head to toe immediately after almost being eaten by giant spiders and they all start revenge fucking each other because they are 14 years old. Maric has fallen in love with Katriel even though he knows nothing about her except that she's hot, and then he is bewildered when his BETROTHED IS BOTHERED BY THIS. My favorite part is when he promises Rowan he will stop sleeping with Katriel because he hadn't known it would upset her, then turns around and makes out with Katriel in that same paragraph.
I also love that this entire messy nonsensical love triangle was apparently all explained to Cailin, who had the mental capacity of a 5 year old at age 12, in a picture book sent to him by Orlais. What. The. Fuck!!!

Treatment of women --
According to this book alone, it is not possible to exist as a woman in Thedas without being sexually assaulted, especially not if there is an opportunity to enrage and motivate a nearby man to start killing people. Rowan blatantly victim-blames Katriel for almost being raped. How dare she be a messenger and also have boobs? If a woman isn't in plate or chantry robes, her boobs are hanging out of a tattered dress. Katriel and/or Rowan cries in just about every chapter and it turns either Maric or Loghain on without fail. Let me just say: If I had read this book before starting the Dragon Age games, I would never have started the Dragon Age games.

The story --
-Loghain's father sacrifices himself at the very beginning, knowing full well he is sending his 18-year-old son out alone into the Wilds blind to "protect" the similarly aged King Maric who lacks self-preservation experience. This makes NO sense. It doesn't make him noble. It would have made more of an impact if he'd escaped with the boys, helped to train them into being battle-ready then sacrificed himself at a later time when he KNEW Maric was worth sacrificing himself for.
-Most of the scenes we get dialogue for are boring and pointless, and times that would have been more interesting to see "up close" are skimmed over like a historical account. It is so, so frustrating.
-Plot holes abound. An entire army is able to hide in and around Gwaren while the enemy hurr-durr's around to grope some boobs for a while. Nobody has any common sense anywhere. The treasonous banns all meet with Maric with no guards because, I guess they're in a chantry and we're supposed to think that makes them safe?
-Going by this book alone, Thedas is a place with some grass, a castle here, an underground tunnel and a sea I guess. Everything is described in the blandest way possible. This guy's in a tent. Now they're underground and there's some runes on something. This guy's twirling his mustache in a castle room that is never described at all. I was BEGGING for adjectives.
-Maric kills Severan by sneaking into his tent alone (after killing his guards, which were presumably outside the tent, so he somehow did this completely silently). There was no reason for him to do this. He had no personal grudge against Severan specifically. It was a huge risk to kill 1 guy who was A MAGE!!! Why would he willingly 1 on 1 a mage when he isn't a templar??? Why did Katriel expect him to do it??? THIS MAKES NO SENSE! Gaider needed something big to happen since he wasn't going to describe the overthrowing of Meghren and this was all he could think of! I cannot fathom any other explanation!
-I guess there was no time to actually end the story because it just cuts to Ailis summing up what WOULD have happened had the story actually built up to a climax (three years of buildup, there was a duel, Meghren got died).

There is honestly no reason for anyone, neither fans nor new players wanting some background before starting, to ever read this. Most worldbuilding has been retconned or is just better explained in the games. Maric and Loghain fought in a rebellion together to kick out Orlais and the “details” of that here are not important. Shale showing up for 1 sentence in a battle (before she could speak) is the only fangirl-y moment, and it isn’t worth it.

[Keiji Miashin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit out front that I am a big Dragon Age fan. I've played and beaten both the main two entries in this video game series as well as the first flash game, and am steadily pecking away at the second. Even now, as I write this, there's a miniature Grey Warden replica sword on my desk that functions as a letter opener.

That said, I was cautiously optimistic to read The Stolen Throne by David Gaider, who was the lead writer for the Dragon Age games and has worked on a few other classic favorites. I was hoping to see his talent and skill in full form in this book, unhindered by the constraints and necessities of writing for a game.

I found quite the opposite actually.

Make no mistake, writing for a game is very different from writing a novel. It's more similar to writing for movies, though it has key differences even from them, but the biggest issue between novel writing and game writing is that crafting a story and characters for a game is far from a one person job. When writing for a game there are many other forces at work, pushing and pulling the final product in various ways. Novel writing is a more private affair, not always a one man job but certainly different from game writing. Unfortunately for Mr. Gaider his work in the gaming industry seems to have hindered, if not outright crippled, his ability to write novels.

The Stolen Throne is a prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, the first game in the series, and it starts off quite well. The book opens on the protagonist, a young princeling named Maric, alone at night and on the run from the men that had just killed his mother, the Rebel Queen to a country lost to outside usurpers. The book's plot follows Maric as he struggles with his new position as Rebel King, the reclamation of his nation, and the conflicts (read: drama) between him and his three companions.

"Show, don't tell." is this books main issue. It has a very strong and well written beginning that pulls the reader right in, but quickly dissolves into telling them the story more than showing it to them. The reader is told that the companion character of Loghain gradually warms up to Maric, but is never actually shown this very crucial piece of development.

And that's within the third chapter of the book. I wouldn't complain about such an omission if things didn't get even worse further on. By the books mid-point an entire span of years is summarized for the reader. Even this wouldn't be so bad except that it is within these years that the characters grow and develop their internal conflicts. It's very difficult for a reader to care about them, the characters that is, as they never saw the formation of these conflicts. Never saw the development and interpersonal actions that lead up to them. Instead we get a 'two characters did this and a love triangle formed.' Except instead of a single sentence the book covers it in a paragraph.

Even after the book is supposedly through with this mid-point time skip, it fails to get back into the rhythm of showing the reader what is happening in the world. One would think that from the title the books main focus would be the difficulty of reclaiming that aforementioned throne. One would be quite fair to assume to see major battles and bloody showdowns.

But no, the reader is quit quickly cheated out of those.

The largest battle in the book, in which the rebel army is nearly destroyed, is entirely covered in pre-battle, post-battle, and other characters talking about said battle. The reader never actually sees it as the main characters quickly flee the scene and the story much rather, understandably in some regards, follows them.

Strangely enough this is the best point in the book. This is the point in which the four main characters are cut off from the rest of the events in the world. They are alone and have to make their way back to the rebels. They're even further cut off when they decide the quickest path are a series of tunnels called The Deep Roads, which play a major role in the world setting.

Why is this the best part in the book? Because the title is a damn liar, that's why. The events occurring in the world are not the main aspect of the story but are, in fact, nothing more than backdrop to the interpersonal drama of the main characters. Everytime the book tries to bring this background activity to the forward it usually fails (with the exception of only two scenes in the later half of the book).

But at the point where the characters are forcibly cut off from these events is when the writing genius that Gaider is espoused for shines through. Here the characters are free to bounce their personas off each other. Abruptly they leap from being dolls moving through a plot to living people, and Gaider's renowned dialogues finally come forward to snap and crackle with the personality that so many people love about the dialogue within the games.

The scenes within the Deep Roads are the best because, and this is merely a personal belief, this is what Gaider is most familiar in working with: characters and dialogue. In game writing all other aspects are usually handled by other portions of the game. The traveling, battling, and long span of time, are all divided out to other people, but the characters, their dialogue, and the conveyance of the story through these were Gaider's domain.

One wishes the characters stayed in the Deep Roads, one also wishes the book were more honest with itself. In the sense that it's a drama between these four and not an epic tale of kings and crowns and battles.

By the end, the book just ends up confused and rushes to wrap itself up. It's greatest climax occurs when the conflicts brewing between Maric and his companions comes to a head after they escape the Deep Roads, but the book still feels it has to finish up with all that throne business.

Throughout the story there were two major antagonists. The book put a lot of effort in building them up. The only scenes that weren't concerned with Maric and his friends where the ones revolving around the usurping king and his mage adviser. There's a group of tertiary villains, consisting of the men that betrayed Maric's mother, as well.

But as dealing with them comes after the climax the book doesn't really know how to do it. Instead of using a chance to build up on the development that Maric might have gone through in this 'falling action' two of those three antagonizing forces are dealt with in scenes that literally summarize to 'Maric shows up and kills them.' The first of those scenes makes a token effort to show this development of his character but as everything had been so summarized up to that point it falls a little flat. The second makes no effort at all, which is a shame as the set up for that scene was a perfect but missed opportunity to explore these developments.

The usurper king doesn't even get the dignity of a scene all his own. He's disposed off in the Epilogue of the book in, again, summary style.

In fact, it's excruciatingly hard to care about any of these 'epic major conflicts' when they are all summarized, never giving the reader a chance at all to become involved and feel emotionally invested. Conversely the wonderfully written scenes of interacting characters that are presented and do capture the reader are constantly crippled by the interruption of these attempts at grandiose fantasy warfare.

Torn between what Gaider wants to write, epic fantasy, and what he's good at writing, intercharacter drama, the book suffers an identity crisis. The drama's good, really good. The fantasy is passable at best. Between the two it balances out to be perfectly average. It simply tries too much with an author that knows what a really good story is, all its constituent parts, but hasn't had the chance to develop all the tools and knowledge on how to bring these things to life.

On top of that it's not nearly quick or short enough to excuse the constant and tedious summarizing and fans of the actual series will not come out knowing any more than they did going in (with the exception of one single character which hardly excuses the rest).

Final score is an average: 3 out of 5.
Recommendations: Fantasy fans and fans of the series. It's a passable book but don't set your expectations high.

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is going to sound really nerdy, but I do love game lore. I love it a lot. Books based on video games aren’t always all that good, but I’m not reading them for the award-winning writing. I pick them up for what they bring to the table in terms of the back story and character development. It’s why I choose to read them in the first place, and not just some brief article on the game’s wiki page.

And I do get pleasantly surprised every once in a while. I just finished reading Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne by David Gaider, which I must say is one of the best video game novels I have ever read. There are parts of it that feel rushed (what I like to call the “primer effect” that plagues so many works of this genre), but despite that I was still quite happy with the depth of the story. I also felt that character development was done surprisingly well — so well that I don’t think I can bring myself to hate Teyrn Loghain anymore. If you enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins and would like a little background information on the events that took place before the game, I would definitely recommend this.

[Shii · Rating 4 out of 5]

3½ rounding up to 4 because of the feels!

- It feels good to fight, to stand up to those Orlesian bastards and tell them NO MORE! Your prince is not here! But when he returns to us, we shall hand him his stolen throne! Here at the River Dane is where the Dragon Age begins, my friends! TODAY THEY WILL HEAR US ROAR!

Stolen Throne kicks off from the very beginning giving us a good amount of action. The Rebel Queen Moira has just been set up and murdered, and Prince Maric is on the run for his own life. That’s the moment when a young, distrustful outlaw named Loghain decides to aid this helpless boy escape the hand of the traitors coming after him.

From that point on, this book narrates the many troubles that Maric will need to overcome in order to attempt recovering the throne that he rightfully deserves, now occupied by the Orlessian tyrant Meghren, and the journey from being a useless lad who can’t stay on top of his own horse to being the true leader that the land of Ferelden needs.

This story is fun, action packed, fast paced and little bit romantic when it needs to be. But, of course, as a prequel to the game Dragon Age Origins and settled in the same world, the world building ends up being rather superficial and made mainly as winks to the DAO players.
You’ll get phrases similar to:
-The Chantry is both the religious organization and the responsible of controlling Circles of Magi.
-Bards are not only great assassins but excellent storytellers.
-Casteless dwarves are marked with a tattoo over their faces, and they are one of the few kinds you can see above grown not fearing for the sky to fall upon their heads.
And that’s about how much information you’ll get on those subjects. If you want to know more, go play the games, right?

Character development follows kind of the same pattern. Maric+Loghain is the greatest bromance in the history of fantasy (exaggerating? probably!) but we see little of that or any relationship actually growing. The story is in fact forwarded rapidly through a couple of years at one point, going a little bit against the ‘show, not tell’. Even so, the main characters are all so very likeable: outgoing and funny Maric, grumpy and loyal Loghain, and tough but also sensitive Rowan, the warrior maiden betrothed to Maric.

In the end, this is a not masterfully executed story but mostly a fairly enjoyable one. I would exclusively recommend to DA players and especially to the ones who want to know a little more about Loghain. Next replay, I’ll get sure to spare the life of that bastard.

And about that epilogue...

[Georg · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the official prequel tie-in for the upcoming Bioware RPG Dragon Age: Origins, which I read out of excitement for the game. In short, the novel features a handful of cardboard characters who are being pushed through plot number 17a of the fantasy novel cookbook. There are many tedious sword fights, and amazingly little magic.

The story is about Prince Maric, who is heir to the throne of Ferelden. But currently the evil usurper Meghren sits there, reigning as the extended arm of the Orlaisian emperor. We see Maric bumbling along as the leader of the rebellion, supposedly following his coming-of-age and turning into a worthy future king, yet all along you rather wish that his mentor Loghain takes matters into his capable hands.

The evil Orlaisian oppressors show their evilness by being suitably cruel to the people of Ferelden, lots of mindless slaughter and putting severed heads on spikes. Meghren himself shows up only a few times. That's no loss, he is no more than a choleric nut. There is his court mage by the in-your-face name Severan, who we are supposed to fear most, but he also gets little screen time, and his motives, while clearly spelled out, are just not convincing enough to care about.

The only marginally interesting person is Kathriel, initially a spy in the employ of Severan; yet soon we loose the sense of mystery and danger about her and just know that she will have to fall for Maric. It's the law! And so the box for "dramatic change in attitude in tragic side character" can be checked.

Lots of sword fights and clashes of Orlaisian troops and rebels ensue, but it always feels like just another fight to show that these people really do struggle. Also, we never get a sense of place, distance or time. The rebels move all over the map, it's hard to understand why and how this helps to get rid of the invaders.

More cliches are being ticked off on the checklist: a mysterious, foggy forest with moving trees, a wicked witch with a prophecy, the storywise inconsequential return of dragons (but hey, "Dragon Age" - remember?), long abandoned underground tunnel systems carved by - who else - dwarves and now inhabited by - who else - giant spiders, mages who dispense a fireball or two and command stone golems, and a mentioning of impending doom in the form of darkspawn. The latter will provide the major conflict for the upcoming computer game, as we know from the trailers.

The book really is no more than a guided tour through Ferelden with the implied promise that we will be able to see all these wonderful things with our own eyes in color and 3D once the computer game is out. I had suspected as much, yet had stupidly hoped for more. Here is the thing: even though the novel wasn't enjoyable, it didn't curb my enthusiasm for the game, and I'm still looking forward to it. And I also expect that I will enjoy the sense of deja-vu when I encounter something in the game that has been mentioned in the book. Something good has come of it then.

However, if you do want to read good fantasy that stands on its own, pick up R. Scott Bakkers Prince of Nothing trilogy.

[Cameron Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

What do you get when a video game writer tries his hand at writing a novel? In all honesty, a novel overflowing with horrid plot pacing and unrealistic characterization.

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne serves as a prequel to the video game Dragon Age Origins. The Stolen Throne intrigued me mostly because it was written by David Gaider. Gaider has been a blessing to the video game community for his work on Baldur’s Gate and Knights of the Old Republic. Sadly, Gaider does not understand that writing for video games and writing a novel are to entirely different beasts.

The novel follows the generic plotline of a rebel prince and his compatriots, trying to reclaim his rightful place on the throne. To befit such a generic plot premise, Gaider decided to make the prince as generic as possible. Prince Maric has all of the trappings of a storybook prince: handsome, idealistic and he even gets a mystical sword towards the end of the novel. Maric leads his army through poorly written battles and obstacles. The biggest issue I had with Maric was that he must suffer from some sort of undiagnosed bipolar disease because at the beginning of the novel he is the picture perfect/idealistic prince, but at the end of the novel he turns into a coldblooded murder.

Like Maric, the setting of the Stolen Throne suffers from a disease, Tolkien disease to be exact. The symptoms of Tolkien dieses include long bearded dwarves who live in tunnels, pointed ear elf archers, and a gallant prince with a mystical sword. There is even a segment of the novel when Maric, and his compatriots, travel through a tunnel that is a carbon copy of the Mines of Moria.

There is one saving grace to The Stolen Throne; it comes in the form of the character Loghain. While Maric gets all of the glory, Loghain stands in the shadow and formulates and executes all of the rebel army’s battle plans. If it was not for Loghain being in the book, I would have most likely stopped reading the Stolen Throne, but he held my attention the whole novel with his realistic viewpoint on life.

The Stolen Throne, as a fantasy novel, is a complete mess that will haunt book stores and libraries for years to come. Even as a video game novel, it fails to expand on the story of Dragon Age Origins. I end this review as a sorely disappointed fantasy reader and a jilted gamer.

[elisa (the last living pigeon) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sad Gaider is no longer writing the Dragon Age videogames, but I am thrilled he's not in the book business anymore either. Go David give us nothing!

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dragon Age universe is one of my favorite D&D inspired fantasy settings. It has a direct developer link to Baldur's Gate, which means it's linked to Forgotten Realms, which means it's plugged directly into my childhood. Dragon Age takes itself very seriously despite being game-fiction, which I enjoy a great deal. As a thirty-three-year-old man who reviews video games as well as books, I need to pretend I'm not still the big kid at heart I am. Anyway, to understand this novel I should lend some context.

The Stolen Throne is the first Dragon Age novel, written by series writer David Gaider, and details a lot of the backstory relating to the country of Ferelden. In Dragon Age: Origins, Ferelden was the setting and developed surprisingly well. While mostly fantasy England like 90% of all fantasy video games, it included a lot of little details like the fact the culture is strongly influenced by breeding dogs and not so little ones like the country had just managed to overthrow its pseudo-French neighbors.

The chief villain of Origins, after the Blight, was the character of Teryn (Duke) Loghain. This is not a spoiler since anyone who looks at Loghain knows he's going to be the villain almost instantly. The thing is, while he remains your antagonist, the game hints he's more tragically misguided than evil. You even have the option of sparing his life and recruiting him as a party member, allowing him to redeem himself for his crimes.

The Stolen Throne is both Loghain and Ferelden's story. Ironically, Loghain plays less a role than Prince Maric. Maric is the lawful heir of Ferelden's throne (and father to series' favorite Alistair) who has never sat upon it due to the fact the Orlesians (the aforementioned faux-French) have ruled over his kingdom for a couple of decades. His mother, the Rebel Queen, is a legend for her resistance to Orlais but Maric is more or less a pathetic disappointment.

Then the Rebel Queen dies.

Poor Maric ends up in charge and it's up to a clever peasant boy named Loghain to help him become a man. The book has some very fun female characters like Rowan the Warrior Noble and Katriel the Elven Bard/Double Agent. Katriel is more or less Leliana (from Origins) with pointy ears so I was automatically inclined to like her best out of the characters in the book. Can they take back Ferelden from the Orlesians? Well, since Ferelden is an independent nation by the time of the games, yes, but how they do it is a winding twisty path.

Part of what makes this story so appealing is it works entirely on its own. If you've never played any of the Dragon Age games, you can still enjoy this story on its own merits. Everything you need to know about the franchise is included in this volume and it has a satisfying narrative arc for everyone. Some characters will live, some will die, and others will have an unhappily ever after. How all this happens is quite entertaining to read.

I also like the book's relatively modest stakes. Countless fantasy stories have the fate of the world resting on the shoulders of our heroes. Here, the fate of a single kingdom is on the line and it's not from monsters but their fellow human beings. The Orlesians are a brutal and repressive ruling class but not cartoonishly so. Or, if they're incredibly evil then it's because real-life regimes tend to be that way to conquered territories. You can't really outdo history in that regard.

I found myself caring about the heroes and their personal lives, too, which I almost never do in fiction. The fact the romance story arcs aren't preordained to end in the way they traditionally do in these things is a nice change of pace. People get their heart broken, class stands in the way of true love, and sometimes what's broken can't be repaired. Which is, frankly, more true-to-life than most of us would like to admit.

The book lives and dies on what I consider to be its authenticity. The world feels like it could have happened on some parallel Earth. Questions of morality, economic exploitation, racism, feelings of inadequacy, and cultural posturing all help ground the piece. It's really-really good and, in my opinion, not just a good game novel but a good novel period. Non-franchise fans could pick this up as an introduction to the setting.

Buy it.

10/10

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is very hard to write an objective review about a story that had engrossed you even before you read the novel. The Stolen Throne was written as a prequel to BioWare Dragon Age: Origins. To people who love the games it almost functions as a manual - containing all the information necessary to understand the relationship between Loghain and Maric. To others - I believe it is not detailed enough. Here we have a book which functions as an introduction to the world of Ferelden - crowded with Elven clans (the Dalish for example), dwarves (the Legion of the Dead) with Darkspawn... They are all thrown together, their origin vague, unexplained. Therefore I believe that the could could be fascinating only to people who have played the game. Otherwise it is too much. Gaider did not really try to explain the origin of the races, their relationship and he even managed to throw in a dragon in the end. Why the dragon? What is the Chantry? Why didn't he explain their religion? (To me the story of Andraste and the Maker was always a fascinating one). There is simply too much information thrown together in 400 pages - at least for people who have not played the game. Gaider - elaborate!
Another thing that bothered me - where is the editor? Maker's breath! Has he been eaten by the dragons? There are so many mistakes in the book. As to the style of writing - it is free flowing, simple, I had no difficulties following the plot. The characters are realistic but the relationship amongst them is not. The love story between Loghain and Rowan is quite unmotivated and even though I love Maric, I feel sympathy for Loghain who is quite often treated as his puppet.
All in all, I would recommend this book to people who love the games, they will not be blow away, at least by this first book. For others, first play the game and fall in love with the characters as I did ;)

[Mari Landgrebe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unless you've played and pretty much loved Dragon Age: Origins, the video game this book is a prequel to, then don't read it. The writing is rather subpar, even so far as finding "Qnueen" instead of Queen. Seriously? I spent much of this book skimming past all the extra descriptives. There was a lot of telling and not nearly enough showing, which overall kept me on the surface of the story.

There was a lot lacking in this book, starting with character and relationship development. I laughed when the relationship between Katriel and Maric began, it was so sudden and... childish. And I scoffed in disbelief when Rowan and Loghain seemed to take it all in such stride, until the very end of the book. The narrative was never able to keep to one character, switching between paragraphs so as to explain what everyone was feeling instead of showing us through the eyes of one character. Not to say I don't mind several narratives, just make it clear who's in control in each section, and stick with that character.

This is not to say that the concept of the story is not a good one, it was just handled poorly by an author who did not yet have the skills to do it justice. I am frankly surprised that it was published in the state it was, and want to question the editors that was on this project, if indeed there was any editor involved at all. A ghostwriter would have also not gone amiss here.

Overall, I liked this story for it's concept, but would be remiss to recommend it to anyone other than Dragon Age fans. I hope that Gaider can forgive me such harshness, for his work on the Dragon Age games is exemplary.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried, I really tried. I love dragon age and its world, but when the writing is more tell than show it's very hard to keep going. Especially hard when you know a better book could be taking your time. David Gaider is great at writing video games, but novels not so much.

[Augusta Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I have to say I'm retarded for Dragon Age and I'm sure it had influenced my opinion of this book. I was so happy to get to be in Ferelden again!

The premise of The Stolen Throne is the story of how King Maric, father of Cailin and grand-father of Alistair (your fellow Grey Warden in DAO), drives the tyrannical Orlesian invaders from Ferelden and takes back his ancestral throne. He's assisted, reluctantly at first, by Loghain, who you'll know well if you played Origins. Both Maric and Loghain are young men, and in many ways very different from the characters they later become. Together with a small band of rebels, they are waging a seemingly-impossible battle to free their people from the oppression of Orlesian occupation.

Maric flees after his mother, the Rebel Queen, is betrayed and murdered by her supposed allies. At the beginning of the story, Maric is little more than a boy. He lacks battle and leadership experience and has no self-confidence. Loghain, leader of a group of outlaws, is conversely already hardened and much more practical. The friendship between them develops slowly and is often tested to its limits. My favorite part of the book was seeing the growth of the characters as they experienced both victories and tragedies, and seeing their relationship grow from animosity to mutual respect and loyalty. As a leader, Maric must make some very hard decisions and sometimes sacrifice people. He's a good man that is haunted by some of his choices. Still he retains his charm and optimism. His sense of humor is very reminiscent of Alistair.

Much like Origins, The Stolen Throne is full of political intrigue, betrayal, and a lack of understanding between the different nationalities and races that often leads to tragedy. There is a sense that both Maric and Loghain are sincerely trying to make the decisions they feel are right, though the consequences of their choices often go terribly wrong. Even in its fantasy setting, I found this aspect of the novel to be very realistic. Even the best intentions sometimes go horribly awry.

I did have some criticisms of the book. There's a significant portion toward the middle where the rebels fight battle after battle after battle, and it's summarized similar to a history book and gets a little dull. Also, the author seemed compelled to throw in every Dragon Age character class, location, race, and monster, and the descriptions and explanations of them slowed the action considerably at times. The end is very rushed, and the last, legendary battle isn't even shown. I was very disappointed by that. However, there's plenty of action, romance, intrigue and brilliant character development to make The Stolen Throne an enjoyable read, especially if you love the Dragon Age universe. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase any future Dragon Age novels by Mr. Gaider.

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is so hard to find good fantasy. So many stories are chock full of stereotypes and so quickly forgotten. Although I like the genre, I tend to approach it with caution because when it's good it's great but when it's bad it runs the gamut from mediocre regurgitation to some of the silliest nonsense you'll ever see. Thank goodness for David Gaider.

The author has excellent story credits behind him, so you would expect him to produce a tale of quality, and for my money he didn't let me down. I will say that the story felt like it skimmed at times - it covers quite a large period of time, and sometimes Gaider resorts to summarising events in between in a way that just make me flip on my suspension of disbelief switch and mentally fill in the gaps. Also I can't ignore just Alistair-esque Maric was - naive, bit of a duffer about kingship at first, on the run with limited aid - but, heck, they're family and since I liked Alistair I'm not complaining. The book's strengths were undoubtedly its characterisations. Whilst I didn't think we got as in depth or detailed a picture as we could have with a longer book, Gaider carefully tailors what page space he has to tell us or infer all we need to know about the characters; and they come across as empathetic. Yes, even Loghain. The antagonist was slightly underdone and came off prhaps a little too 'villain', but I put that down to space constraints; there were small hints of a bigger exprience going on that explained his backstory more.

I wouldn't call it an earth-shattering story, but it's solid stuff, and genuinely enjoyable. Good addition to the games.

8 out of 10

[Rinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muuuuuch better than I thought it would be, having read some of Bioware's Mass Effect books. A little slow in places but eh, it was nice to get a good background story on some of the characters.

The only thing is, I'm now conflicted over how I feel about Loghain Mac Tir. Meeting this determined, decent young man after meeting the older version in-game, I'm all:



And seeing as I let Alistair behead him at the end of Dragon Age: Origins, I now feel very... strange. He had so much potential!

(And Maric... oh Maric. You ruined all the feels.)

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 2019: This book is definitely a four star read. It's a great prequel to the franchise and does a wonderful job setting up the world. I'd recommend it to fans of the games. I can't wait to actually read the sequel this time around.

Feb 2015: I think I'm giving this four stars instead of three because I love Dragon Age. This book is a prequel to the first Dragon Age game and the reason I picked it up. I feel like my hopes for it were too high, but I enjoyed it as it was a fairly quick for me once I sat down to read it.

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A dragon had taken to the air... From a distance it seemed almost small, gliding slowly in the air with the snowcapped mountain range behind it... The Chantry had taken it as an omen. The Divine in Val Royeaux had declared the next age was to be called the Dragon Age."


Buddy read with Layla at Buddies Books and Baubles!

First thing first: this was so much better than I expect it to be. In fact, it was great. And not just as a book that is based on a video game. It was a really good fantasy book. It was written like a fantasy book should be written. It wasn't just chopped together for the fans of the video game. It was developed and it was well thought out.

For those who don't know the storyline of the game, the game starts with King Cailan being betrayed on the battlefield by his father's oldest friend, Loghain Mac Tir. Loghain then sets himself on the thrones and the player's job as the protagonist is to bring Loghain down (among other extremely important things). Well, this book tells the story of Cailan's father, Maric, and how he won his throne back with the help of his best friend, Loghain.




More than being great because of the plot, the book was great because of the characters. It was great because you understood the characters; their fears, their thoughts, their actions and most importantly you understand their motivations for the things they did in the video game. Which is what a book based on a video game should all be about. By the end of the novel I completely understood why Loghain would betray his friend's son in the future, why he would claim his throne for himself, and even better, I even started to sympathize with him a bit. Don't get me wrong, I still want to punch him in the eye, but ultimately I also felt for him.

Also, Queen Rowan was just a badass but my heart hurt for her at the same time. In fact, my heart broke for all three of them: Maric, Rowan and Loghain.

If you take nothing else from this, at least take away the great characters that were presented in this novel.

[Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was useful with regard to learning some of the history and lore of DA, but the writing was atrocious. Like totally ridiculous. All telling and little showing. Out of place phrases. And convoluted sentence structure. This book could have done with massive editing. Sometimes the characters behaved in completely unrealistic unnatural ways and made childish decisions. I'm conflicted about this book. The I formation was good and thus it served it's purpose for me, but the poor writing zapped all the juice.

[Karolina Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

It might be the anticipation of the new game after a decade long wait, but I had a lot of fun reading this book. It managed to capture the spirit of the games. It gave the in-game character of Loghain more depth and put his actions from Origins in a new, even sadder, light.

“The Chantry had taken it as an omen. The Divine in Val Royeaux had declared the next age was to be called the “Dragon Age”. Of all things.”

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me well will know that I’ve an insatiable appetite for lore. They’ll also know that I’m an incorrigible addict when it comes to fantasy that involves dragons, elves and magic. So needless to say, now that I’ve fallen into the black hole that is BioWare’s Dragon Age franchise, there is no hope for this Middle-earth veteran.

My main motivation for picking up The Stolen Throne *was* for the lore, as well as the backstory for characters and events. When you’re looking at a setting that’s so magnificently portrayed in the gaming environment, as well as an environment that has spawned so much fan-created artistic and literary content, you’re really onto something special. At least for the fans, that is.

Which is why The Stolen Throne was great. The story is simple. Prince Maric’s on the run after his mother, the queen, is murdered thanks to the treachery of her subjects. The Fereldan kingdom is ruled by an usurper placed on the throne by the neighbouring Empire of Orlesia, and Maric faces a bitter struggle before he can take his rightful place as ruler and gain vengeance. Helping him are his betrothed, Rowan, and his loyal and best friend Loghain, who stand by him through all his battles.

For those who played through Dragon Age: Origins, Maric is Alistair’s grandfather, so it’s a nice touch to see this little slice of history brought to life, and especially getting an idea of the socio-political setting for the magnificent world of Thedas.

But…

Yes. You knew there was going to be a but, didn’t you…

The execution of this novel didn’t blow me away. While I appreciated the content, its delivery could have been better, and this is where I am not afraid to say that a savvy content editor would have been able to poke and prod the author to give a little more. The plot itself is fine – and suitably unpredictable. I certainly did not expect a diversion down into the [spoiler] where the inevitable [spoilers] were encountered. And oh, look, cool loot! I sometimes felt that character's’ motivations could have been given a bit more voema. The dialogue could have been a bit more complex. The environment could have been gifted with more sensual experience. Lots of could haves… If the characters are in a forest, I want to smell the leaf mould, feel the coolness of the air… That sort of thing. I wanted to be struck by the sheer magnificence of the setting the way I am when I play through Dragon Age: Inquisition.

So, yeah, it fell a little flat for me.

Overall, this one hovers a little between three and four stars for me. There were times when my heart quickened (because I had my favourite characters, like Rowan and Katriel, who are both strong women with agency in a hostile environment). But there were often times when I felt the prose didn’t live up to its potential. Will I go on to reading others in the series. Yes. Because I’m a sucker for canon and I’m a total geek hoping to be able to map out details for when I’m playing the game or writing fics. So, this is one for the die-hard fans.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve recently finished two playthroughs of Dragon Age: Origins and in both, my Warden permitted the same fate for Loghain Mac Tir. It was the fate deserving of his crime, but I never could appreciate the reasoning given for that crime as there seemed to be much more to Loghain. Hence my need to read the books that precede the game.

I had the same desire with Mass Effect’s books in reference to Saren and The Illusive Man, but was disappointed that Drew Karphsyn’s writing was not as spectacular as his ideas.

Despite my issues with David Gaider now, I was very pleased with this book. Gaider’s writing encompasses a lot of emotion, even in a character that seems limited to only a few. Barely 50 pages in, I already respected Loghain and even liked him, despite his harsh demeanor. Appreciation for King Maric was to be expected once it was established that he was much like his son, Alistair, in personality. But it was Loghain that I was interested in and the book did not let me down -- though it also means I am heartbroken over Loghain's ultimate fate.

[Sara Portela · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

I cannot with this book. I'm sobbing. SOBBING.
I'm not stupid, I knew this book was going to be tragic, because as a prequel to a game I must have played at least half a dozen times, I knew the events that happen in this book, and more.
But still, the intricate details of how Maric, Rowan and Loghain got the stolen throne back is... tragic as fuck (and if anything, it would made me hate Loghain more than I did).

Excellent EXCELLENT book. Recommend, but also recommend you play Dragon Age Origins first, and also DO IT because those games are great.

[eun_loml · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Stolen Throne is a shallow expirience that does nothing for the well established world of Thedas. I would not reccomend it to anyone, not even fans of this series, as it adds nothing to the series. Let me explain why since I made an account just for this.


The Characters
Lets start with Maric. He is such a bland character. He is Alistair if you took all the loveable aspects out of him. He is just a massive idiot. The book tries to paint him as this charismatic young leader who is kind to everyone and always tries to do the right thing, but most of the time he is an immature bumbling horny idiot. Also his development is non-existent??? He litteraly goes from 0 to 100 in like a day. Like out of nowhere he is a pragmatic blood thirsty king? He just becomes diet Loghain for like basically no reason.

People claim that this book adds a lot to Loghain's character and makes you really understand and sympathise with him. It does not. Honestly he just a massive dick. He is like a redditor's ideal man, he's cold to everyone, murders in cold blood, he is a huge smartass and honestly a bit of an incel type of dude. He is the type of person guys on reddit think is cool but everyone else thinks they are an asshole. Honestly if anything this book makes me dislike him even more than I already did. How is watching his mother get raped any kind of excuse or even motivation to let Cailin die or sell elven citizens as slaves???

Rowan is not like other girls. She's a strong warrior woman. She fights and she doesn't need no man. She doesn't cry. Except she cries like every other chapter and some man has to comfort her. She is such a shallow attempt at a strong woman character. The writing of women in this book is just overall horrible tbh. She is horrible to Katriel because she is jealous, like she doesn't have to besties with the girl but come on, she is so petty to her from the very start when she just got sexually assaulted!

Katriel is so fucking boring oh my god. She is such a weird character too. Like one moment she knows nothing and can't fight because she's too weak, but the other moment she is dwarven history expert (because that's definitely what Orlesian bards need to know!) and is killing soldiers to save Maric. Also her not killing the mage that hired her but leaving detailed instructions for Maric on how to do so is so nonensical. Like she was right there! None of her actions make sense they are so contradictory. I also could not tell you a single personality trait she has?


The Relationships
The romances in this book were the most infuriating part for me. Up until Maric and Loghain reunited with Rowan and the rebels I thought the book was perfectly fine. Honestly cut out the relationship bullshit and this book would be so much better. If Maric and Rowan just got together it would have been so much more tolerable to me, like their chemistry was fine and it would have gotten rid of the clusterfuck that is the love triangles and relationship drama this book has.

Loghain and Rowan are such a two dimensional romance. No chemistry. Like litteraly just going through the motions of a typical enemies to lovers but with 0 actual feeling behind it. I could not tell you what on earth Loghain likes about Rowan, apart from her being hot and not like other girls, and Rowan does not like him until the ending but even then it is debatable. All their scenes from the beginning had me rolling my eyes. Like when they meet and Loghain is told Maric and Rowan are betrothed and he looks down and gets like sad?? They've barely talked what is he sad about. The whole romance should have ended there. And the sparring scene was so cliche, which would be fine but like I said there isn't any actual substance to the whole thing.

Katriel and Maric make the other two look like a beautiful love story. Maric is actually such an ass. He saves his betrothed, risking his life and the whole operation going wrong, only to fuck this elf chick he met like a day ago and talked to for 10 seconds. Also when they meet Maric's literal thoughts are 'wow I get why people like elven prostitutes'. WHAT?????? Sometimes I don't believe he sees her as an equal. He calls her a creature at some point???? So anyway they bang and then after a time skip (which are frequent but we'll get to that) he is apparently in love with her. Like by the time the whole deep roads section happens they've spent probably a solid two months togehter or something. The book isn't clear with it's timeline honestly. Maric is surprised when Rowan, let me reiterate his BETROTHED, is upset that he is fucking the elf girl he met not that long ago. Nonetheless it is ok because he is such a nice guy he says he will stop fucking her. Except he then proceeds to fuck her as soon as Rowan leaves. Katriel also tells him that he doesn't really know her, but he's thinks that's not really important and proceeds to fuck her. Wow true love. The fac that Maric genuinely thinks he loved her is so astounding to me. She is like a summer fling. Not even that tbh. One of the most annoying things is when Maric tells Loghain why he loves Katriel. He basically says he loves her because she sees this idealised version of him, while Rowan sees like all the real things about him????
I realise it sounds like I'm some kind of Maric x Rowan shipper, but I'm really not it's just that I'm so against the other two that this seemed like the better option.

As far as friendships go there is no substance. The main trio are all tell no show. There is barely any moments where their close friendship is displayed, virtually no banter.


The Writing
The writing is amateurish and I'm by no means a literary expert as it is probably evident from this review/rant. The book is riddled with time skips and they are so abrupt and disrupt the story completely. You are just about to get invested but boom mid chapter time skip. The POVs are also a mess. There is so many cuts between them because writing internal monologue is the only way David Gaider can express the characters emotions or thoughts. The author also spends the time on the most boring and useless things rather than the actual interesting events.


The Story
The story is shallow and repetitive. Maric/rebels is/are in trouble. Oh no. They miraculously pull through. Yay. Rinse and repeat. Every story beat litteraly goes through this same formula there is barely any variation. The characters feel like they have little impact as well to be honest maybe except Loghain and his genius intellect and Katriels convinent bursts of knowledge. I can't even be bothered to rant about this because it is so empty it's not worth my effort. Oh also the story cuts off at the most anti climactic point and the rest is a random recap from a random character from the beginning??? Also you're telling me Orlesians gave little Cailin a written version of events which included his parents' petty romantic drama??? Like that is embarassing.


This book is so bad it actually made me mad. I had to put it down several times because I just couldn't read it any longer. In fact my only motivation for finishing this book was so that I could write a bad review. Don't waste your time on this.

[MasterSal · Rating 2 out of 5]

So it turns out that the second time is the charm - or basically the read-along I was a part of, was so much fun that it made me look more favourably on the book. Is the book worth reading if you’re not a fan of Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) - not really. But as a fan - I did have fun because it kind of made me it made me want to play the game again. Anything that does that is a win in my mind.

In terms of the book itself - it was fine (I mean - not really - it was so ridiculous in parts that I was thoroughly entertained). If I rated it based on meta-enjoyment I would probably bump it up to 3 stars but I know it’s not really because of the book but my fellow reading-buddies.

Nonetheless, the book was better this time around because I knew what kind of tone to expect - this made me amused because I was expecting some things not to work and to shake my head a lot. For meeting my expectations this time around I am upping the rating to 2.5 stars because of the enjoyment.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 2020:
I’ve sat on this review for a week now, trying to figure out what I thought about this book and how I would rate it. Since I am so conflicted this is my brief summary:

*if you are NOT a Dragon Age fan* - this is a one star read. I didn’t like the book generally. The plot is cliched and the characters are thin. There is some weak writing here that made this book drag more than it needed to.

*if you ARE a Dragon Age fan* - this is a 2 star read - i.e. it’s ok. The weak writing is counterbalanced by being back in the world and some guest appearances which reminded me of Dragon Age Origins (DAO), which remains a favourite for me.

As you may have guessed, I am a fan of the game (which is the only reason I read this book. It is also the reason I BOUGHT all the books in the series so I am kicking myself a little). Being at home (sort of working - but not really being too productive), I’ve been playing through the games so decided that immersing myself in the extended universe was a good idea.

I acknowledge that the world is not the most original - it feels a lot like old timey sword-and-sorcery fantasy. Think Conan mixed with Lord of the Rings. This works well in the game as the player feels at home and can focus on the game play. In book form, which has a lot more scope to tell a more complicated story than a game, the universe feels derivative than familiar.

I am reminded of sword and sorcery fantasy like Terry Brooks which also had a familiar world (elves, dwarfs, evil demons, magic etc.). Comparatively those books work much better as the plot covers a relatively short timeframe and the action is fast, unlike here.

It took a long time to get through the book - everytime I decided to give up, some cameo by a game character was made and I kept at it. This is part of the issue - this book is a prequel to DAO and suffers from the problem of prequels. Gamers will know how the story will end as that is already part of the game lore and non-gamers will not care about who these characters are. There is an unnecessary focus on three characters and, since one of the main characters is a woman, an even more unnecessary love triangle.

This love triangle and the focus on it instead of the wider macro-plot to free the kingdom finally made me give up on the book. The rebels are trying to free the kingdom and more time is spent on their romance issues than building up the villain, which was a shame as it would have been good to see the court politics get some time.

The book also covers a couple of years where the transition is done through transition chapters. It felt like Dragon Age 2 cutscenes where the narrator catches us up on what happened to our characters over the years. It was painful to read.

In the end, this was a weak book and only recommended for fans of the game. The adaptation from the game medium is not done well. A lot of the wider context of the game; sound, visuals context, player choice are lost when you move into a book, which means that the plot and writing need to be concomitantly stronger. Here it fell short.

I finished the book but I objectively don’t think it is good. The fan in me made me give this 2 stars……



And also because I do want to give the other books at some point.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.

Prior to the Dragon Age series, which I'm currently reading, I had read only one book which was part of a video game lore and that was one of the Halo books. In all honesty, I hated that one.

So, what brought me to reading Dragon Age? Pretty simple: I recently finished playing the Dragon Age game trilogy and my life seemed empty without them. You know that feeling, when you're done with a book, a TV show, a series of movies... or games, and you don't know what to do with your life anymore? I had a similar experience upon finishing The Witcher games, however I had already read the books by that point, so there was nothing else I could get my hands on.

Luckily, I have a little bit more of Dragon Age that I can read before I'm done with the world - the five tie-in novels, as well as a bunch of graphic novels.

If you're not familiar with Dragon Age, let me tell you - it's great. I had a bit of a rough start with the first game, because I was playing it on my laptop, which is honestly not suitable for gaming, and it all seemed a bit too difficult and foreign. Three games in, however, I've grown to love the world of Thedas, which is so very expansive and intricate (something I had trouble imagining, considering the fact that the games came before the novels and it seemed all but impossible to me that they'd be able to build such a world only through games), and full of amazing characters and hilarious party banter.

Back to The Stolen Throne, off the bat - don't expect Shakespearean writing. The author, David Gaider, is one of the authors of the games, so you can imagine that restricts the writing quite a lot. On the other hand, the book is pretty fun all the same.

In my opinion, if one has never played the game, it might be a bit difficult to fully grasp the setting of the book, and, in all honesty, you should probably not read the book before the games, simply because certain events and Easter eggs would be totally meaningless to you.

If you have played the games, though, I would imagine that, like me, you'd appreciate having another piece of the world presented to you.

Alistair is one of the funniest characters in my opinion, be it on his own, with his juvenile humor, or through the jabs others, namely Morrigan, aim at him. I was very excited to finally read more about his father, Maric, and Loghain, who, in their presence or absence, both have huge roles in Dragon Age: Origins. I found both characters very interesting to read about, Maric, because he was until now completely unknown to me in person, and Loghain, because he was so contradictory to his game-self that I was fascinated following through his gradual evolution to the Loghain of Origins. That being said, I did have some trouble reconciling the two versions of the character and it seems to me that the change was very drastic and, to a degree, unwarranted. I admit I didn't pay that much attention to the nuances of the dialogue in Origins when it comes to Loghain, because I was not aware of his backstory at the time. I plan on replaying the game, hopefully soon, and I'm hoping that it'd be easier to spot something of the old Loghain in the new one.

Extra: Here's some Alistair for you.



In case you don't know (you most likely don't): I love cheese.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you enjoyed the Dragon Age series of games, this is an acceptable read. It provides a back story to the kingdom of Feredlen, and little more. There were a few good moments, and I did think a bit about a couple of the characters after concluding the book, but overall I can't recommend it to anyone who isn't just thirsting for more Dragon Age story.

As the lead writer for Origins, the Stolen Throne reads just like the game. I can see Maric choosing the 'witty' dialogue choice throughout the book. He sounds just like Alistair with his self-deprecating humor (whom I always thought sounded a bit like Ricky Gervais in style). Likewise, Loghain consistently chooses the 'severe' dialogue choice.

The writing could use some polish, and Gaider could learn a few more metaphors and expressions outside what he wrote into the games. Maric does evolve as a character, much like Alistair is 'hardened' in the game. Loghain is barely likable enough to tolerate through the book, though one wonders why Maric does. Maric's elven lover tries to evolve as a character, but doesn't seem to quite make it. The remainder of the cast experiences change by being skewered by a sword, or remains a static prop.

For fantasy, it isn't very fantastic. It's pretty mundane medieval with a sprinkling of elves and dwarves. A couple of wizards show up to fight and provide fingerprint services. One dragon makes a brief metaphorical appearance. And one scene with dark spawn. And there's a magic sword. That's the sum of fantasy.

For the Dragon Age fans: Not much in world creation. A few towns are introduced, and some background nobility are introduced and then summarily killed off. There's some side discussion of Orlesian culture. There's an obligatory walk through the Deep Roads.

And in the tradition of Tolkien, there's absolutely no scale to the Kingdom of Ferelden. Some times it takes a month to travel across, other times it can be traversed in an afternoon. Why can't the customary map ever have a bar scale?

As a fan of the Dragon Age series, and all the encyclopedic information revealed through the games, I had high hopes for this read. However, except for a scene or two, it was largely forgettable. It felt rushed, especially at the end, and a lot of story telling opportunities and possible plot twists were missed or not fully explored.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5

“Sometimes that which is most precious can be found where you would least expect to.”

Wow. I remember liking it, but I don't remember it being so tragic. Gaider, damn you, were the games not enough?!
But I'm obviously joking, it seemed fitting if a bit (or a lot) sad. The book itself is quite gripping, every time I sat down and read a bit it inspired me to get to know the world better, even if I've played the games multiple times by now.

I love the characters in here, I especially loved their development. And even though I usually don't enjoy angst, I did in this one. I thought it was very nicely done and shown. And I enjoyed the complicated relationships between our characters, plus there were things I've forgotten, so I was surprised on several occasions. Because of all this, Maric, Loghain and Rowan change a lot, do all kinds of wrong things, but they also do the right thing ultimately. And I love how, knowing the story from DAO you can just see how things with Loghain went south. Like, you can see he's a hard man and I assume he didn't like Cailan very much, being in love with Rowan and being apart from her. You can also see his hatred towards Orlesians. I hope we'll see him and others in the next book.

The story might not be the most original one (but I can't say the games are more original), but it's a good, solid story. Yes, a lot of tropes we all know. But we also love them! I think the books should be read by the fans of the games, but I also feel like this book might make you wanna play a game if you haven't? Idk, I'm biased here, I already love the games. But at least give it a try!