Title: Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne
Author: David Gaider
Pages: 400

Summary
The prequel to the video game Dragon Age: Origins, this book details the struggles of Prince Maric as he tries to gain back his thrown, overthrowing a puppet king placed there by an invading nation.

Notes
Ok. As a rule, I usually don’t generally read video game books. They’re usually not very good at all. Simple stories, so-so writing…sometimes not even really having to do with the game itself. But I’ve made an exception for this book for three reasons

  1. It’s written by the same guy who wrote the story for the game, so he knows what he’s talking about.
  2. It’s a BioWare game and they know how to tell a story.
  3. It came recommended to me by a friend.

So, with that in mind, I picked it up and was pleasantly surprised at just how good it was. David Gaider knows how to tell a compelling story and how to give each character a voice and personality that shines through. I hope he does more writing in the future. The story was interesting, if a bit simplistic, but that can be forgiven.

My major gripe with this book is with the ending. Judging by the exact page count number (400), I have a feeling Tor books was only willing to publish a 400 page book because right around where the climax of the story should be, the book suddenly ends with the equivalent of “And then they won. The end.” There was not climactic final battle against the usurper, no closure to the various romances…nothing. It just ends.

Still a good book, with lots of background for the characters in the game (in particular it was interesting to see how the character of Loghain developed into how he was portrayed in the game) but the ending left me with a “Wha?” sort of feeling.

Next Book
I’m going to be continuing the video game book journey with the less highly regarded Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn. I’m about 40% of the way through according to my Kindle, and I tend to agree with the general ideas of the reviews. It’s a good story, but very simply written. More on that when I finish.