Dragon Age Bookcover
I was crowned a king in a womb
“I Rule” ~ Tarot
~*~
The recipe for your everyday fantasy meal is easy enough. The main ingredients are jack-of-all-trades humans, noble elves, thickheaded dwarves, swords and magic. Add some orcs, undead or goblins, spice it with a quest to find an artifact that will save the world. Now stir. Congratulations. You have just brewed what could very well be one of the many, many fantasy books out there.
However, some people actually add their own flavour to the world of fantasy, and these dishes are worth a try for sure.
To make a short story long, let me explain something. There are not many videogame developers I’d buy from blindly. Bioware is one of the very few. There has not been a single game made by them that hasn’t succeeded in knocking me off my feet. I even loved Mass Effect, despite its flaws and despite the fact that I don’t like SciFi. At all.
Naturally, I am more than a bit excited about the upcoming game “Dragon Age: Origins”. Bioware is renowned for intense stories, grand plots, and most importantly perhaps for creating worlds with huge backgrounds, worlds you can easily belive in, worlds that are filled with characters who feel insanely real. Romance, Action, Suspense, Doubt, Decisions, and so much more await when Bioware calls to roleplayers. And we always answer, do we not?
It has become some sort of trend for videogames to to be served with novels, especially those that contain prequels or serve to bridge the time and space between two parts of a gaming series. After Mass Effect it really was no surprise to see a Dragon Age novel popping up. The question is – does the novel live up to the expectations that are attached to the videogame?
The Stolen Throne, written by DA’s lead writer David Gaider, tells a story that takes place one human generation before the game itself and within the boundaries of mere 400 pages. The book wastes no time to throw you into the middle of a mad chase through dark and dangerous woods. You are looking through the eyes of Maric, rightful heir to Ferelden’s throne, who’s mother is the infamous Rebel Queen, the one woman in charge of the army determined to tear the throne out of the usurper’s hands. Also, she has just been betrayed and killed.
Life in Ferelden certainy does not resemble your everyday peaceful medieval fantasy setting. It’s dark and bloody and harsh. The usurper is a bored and cruel man, sent to Ferelden as punishment for his wicked ways by the Orlesian Emperor. Ferelden says thank you – and could you please discard your unwanted tyrants somewhere else next time around? The bottom of the ocean would have seemed like a good idea, but no, the Empire also wants to crush Ferelden, and so the country is stuck with wicked King Meghren for the time being. The only hope for the honest people who still remember the old times is Moira the Rebel Queen along with her army. They have to be on the run from the false king and on the same time fight back against him. Yes, it was bound to fail at some point or other, and it looks like it has. With the Rebel Queen dead and her apparently quite useless son on the run from his mother’s murderers, things are not looking all that bright indeed.
Maric stumbles across silent and able Loghain, who ends up having to take care of the prince, even though he’d much rather butcher him for being such a pain in the ass. And I can’t really blame him. The book starts out with Maric being 18, but despite being raised as part of the rebel army, he is a prince of the naive and annoying sort. He has his brighter moments, mind you, but on the overall he is charming and daring and blue-eyed and… well… not all that smart, apparently.
Loghain on the other hand could not be more different. Having witnessed his mother being raped and killed, forced to live as an outlaw and constantly fighting for his life, he is a broken and tragic character. Despite his obvious flaws I couldn’t help but sympathize with him. Apart from that, Loghain is also a very capable fighter both with sword and bow, and Maric truly could not have survived without him. Together they make it back to the Rebel Army, where Maric is reunited with Rowan, his betrothed and a general in the rebel army. Now, here’s the problem: Rowan has a crush on Maric, wheras he sees her as something between best friend and sister, and Loghain just has to fall in love with Rowan. It is not mentioned until much later in the book, but the average reader will pick it up right away from the way the man reacts to the news of his love interest having been promised to Maric as a child. The very first meeting of the three screams love triangle, and we can surely note down that David Gaider is not a fan of subtlety.
The story follows Maric, Loghain, Rowan and the rebel army as they fight for their lives and their land. There are giant leaps as far as time is concerned. I found myself wishing some of the battles roughly summed up had been described in more detail, but on the other hand I’m glad when a book does not get caught up in itself. David Gaider has a story to tell, and he does not wish to get distracted from that goal, something which is not necessarily bad. Always keep in mind though that it can get difficult to keep attached to characters when you just miss out on three years of their lives.
As the story progresses we get to learn more and more about the world in which Dragon Age takes place. And finally I’m getting back to my introduction: This is not your typical fantasy world. This is Dark Fantasy, where humans are the ruling race, elves are worthless slaves, magic is frowned upon generally, dwarves have a strict and cruel society based on castes and the enemy is no green-skinned orc but every vice you can name. It’s close to life with its racism and the way humankind is its own worst enemy, but that also serves to enhance the flaws that can be found in The Stolen Throne.
The whole story is very predictable, and I’m not talkign about the kind-of-sort-of-maybe-predictable, but the wide-open-window-predictable. While the background of the story itself may not be all that stereotypical, the characters are very much so in some aspects. They are virtually indestructible, Loghain is a tad bit overpowered and Gaider loses himself in some repetitions. Also, Katriel. Oh dear. Katriel. The spy, the betrayer, who falls in love with the prince. And her being a betrayer is not even disguised towards the reader. Maric, of course, is blind to her false play, and she acts like the most annoying damsel in distress around him. However, in the end she comes around – when it is much too late and she has already condemned hundreds of men to a cruel death, as well as almost destroying the rebellion. Yeah. But, I like the idea of bards presented here, who are not only storytellers and musicians, but trained assassins and spys. However, these flaws do not destroy the good foundation this book rests upon, and I’d suggest turning a tiny blind eye on them, because there is quite enough good quality to be found here.
The ending of the book is surprisingly bittersweet and makes up for quite a few of the flaws I mentioned. It is emotional and it shows that sometimes you don’t have to be happy but you have to do what needs to be done. The words “For the greater good” come to mind, but they don’t live up to the beautiful ending Gaider has written for his story. It is that kind of emotional intensity and human portrayal that draws me towards Bioware time and time again and that, in the end, made this book more special than any break with fantasy stereotypes could ever have. There is no happily ever after to this tale – on the contrary, personal happiness is sacrificed time and time again in order to do what is right. It was a great ride with small dents on the track, but you can forgive The Stolen Throne its flaws easily. Fast paced, dark with touches of light and humour, sometimes a bit over the top but always countering that with those very intense moments between human beings, I’d recommend The Stolen Throne to anyone who is waiting for Dragon Age: Origins and to anyone who wants an easy read, that somehow still manages to touch you deeply. Just to give you a glimpse of the depth I’m speaking about I’ll sum up the lesson Maric learns towards the end: Being a good king does not always mean being a good man.
4 out of 5 crowns for Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne.
