Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

This novel begins the tale of the entire Dragon Age (DA) video game franchise. It takes place prior to the video game, Dragon Age: Origins, in which the gamer plays as the Hero of Fereldan during the Fifth Blight. Some reviews complain of Gaider’s lack of explanation of certain DA lore in the book, such as: What is the Chantry? What are Darkspawn? What is a Blight? And other such critiques. These are fair criticisms if one wants to invite someone into the DA universe who hasn’t played any of the games before, and perhaps never will. However, it may be worth considering who Gaider’s target audience is. Judging from the lack of lore exposition, he is likely writing for the DA audience rather than the wider fantasy community. Does this make DA into a niche series? Sure, but the same can be said of other fantasy series like Fablehaven or The Witcher. With that target audience in mind, then, it would make little sense for Gaider to give lore explanations. The book is long enough as it is (450 in the edition I read), so such pedantry would make it even longer. Although I suppose endnotes or appendices would be a nice addition for optional reading. Overall, I highly recommend this book to DA fans who want to learn more about DA lore vis-à-vis the famed King Maric and his story of how he came to be called “Maric the Savior,” as well as Loghain before his treacherous betrayal.

This is my favorite video game series ever, however that said, this book was honestly not good. The pacing is all over the place and while the relationships seem to develop nicely the first half of the book they just fall apart in the second half. Also the story is never even finished, it just abruptly cuts off and the last few pages are summarized by someone telling a story. Unless you're a hardcore fan and really REALLY want to read the books, I'd say pass on this one. (You don't get any extra knowledge of the game world by reading this book.)

I enjoyed the adventure in this book start to finish. I’m a huge fan of the games and The books make this amazing world even bigger

This is the First of two books witch are pre-Dragon Age Origin. The second book is (The Calling).

I have truly been blown away by this book. The story is fantastic and it made me change my views on one of the main characters in the game loghain. It made me wish i could have played as him or atleast had him in my party longer than at the end. I even replayed game after reading to keep loghain alive because no way i want him dead after reading this book.

I ordered the book to read to pass the time waiting for Awakening to come out. Its a really good book I was really suprised. If you have played the game or plan on playing the game I would recomend reading this book and also The Calling

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne is one of two prequel novels to Bioware's recently released (at the time of writing this review) fantasy role playing game, Dragon Age: Origins. Unlike other novels written in the universe of video games, The Stolen Throne and the 2nd book, "The Calling", are written not by 3rd-party authors but the head of the writing team that penned the story and dialogue of Dragon Age: Origins, David Gaider. This adds an extra level of quality and realism to the universe and the characters within that can sometimes be lost in a 3rd-party authors creative freedom. The Stolen Throne is set ~35 years before the events of the game take place, in a time when the small land of Ferelden is suffering at the hands of a tyrant king. Placed on the thrown by the the Emperor of Orlais, a neighbouring super-power whom invaded and conquered Ferelden 80 years prior, the Usurper rules though fear and oppression, while the true heir, the Rebel Queen and her son are betrayed by those though loyal. While the Queen is killed, her son, Maric, escapes and by chance encounters the young outlaw, Loghain. With Loghain's help, Prince Maric returns to the rebel forces, and to his betrothed, Rowan, a warrioress of great skill. Reluctant as he is, Loghain stays with the rebels, quickly proving himself to be gifted in the ways of combat and tactics, skills that Maric will need if he is to ever reclaim his rightful place as Ferelden's king. An exciting and compelling read, although such a description is often over used in reviews, describes this book perfectly. Not a simple tale of kings, rebels and magic, The Stolen Thone is a powerful story covering love, deception, friendship and the difficulties of being a worthy King. It is a story Gaider brilliantly tells, giving depth and meaning to something that one would only otherwise lean though reading several in-game codex entries. I would strongly recommend anyone who buys Dragon Age: Origins to read both Dragon Age novels. Alternatively, anyone wanting a engaging fantasy novel need not look further than this book, as even without the Dragon Age franchise backing it, The Stolen Throne stand on its own two feet as a top-notch fantasy novel. Quite simply, read this book!

This man is a genius in the videogame character development arena, and his mastery carries over passably well in his first real excursion into the world of print-on-paper. Definitely recommend it for people waiting for Dragon Age, interested in Bioware games in general, or those who want a quick read in a whole new fantasy setting.