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    The Stolen Throne
    Unavailable
    The Stolen Throne
    Unavailable
    The Stolen Throne
    Ebook444 pages7 hours

    The Stolen Throne

    By David Gaider

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The thrilling prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, the hit role-playing video game from award-winning developer BioWare! When his mother, the beloved Rebel Queen, is betrayed and brutally murdered before his eyes, young Maric becomes the leader of a rebel army, fighting for the freedom of his cruelly repressed nation.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTitan Books
    Release dateMar 1, 2010
    ISBN9781848569485
    Unavailable
    The Stolen Throne
    Author

    David Gaider

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

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    Reviews for The Stolen Throne

    4/5

    13 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is the first of two prequels to the wonderful dark fantasy role-playing video game "Dragon Age," and I loved every minute of it. Since I played the game before discovering this book, I was already familiar with the world and some of the characters, and even with some of the events that had to happen, as they are the historical setting for the game. This added to my enjoyment of the book, but I still think that someone unfamiliar with the game would enjoy this - it's a good introduction to this world and it's people, and has a good story, overall. (Some SPOILERISH comments ahead, but nothing too explicit)Ferelden is being occupied by nearby Orlais, and is suffering under the rule of a sadistic despot. The the Rebel Army, under the rightful queen, Moira, have been living on the run, trying to raise support to take Ferelden back from the invaders. When Moira is betrayed and killed, her young and naive son, Maric, is forced to take up the rebel cause in spite of being ill-prepared for the responsibility. Together with Rowan, the woman to whom he has been betrothed since childhood, and Loghain, the son of an outlaw leader, Maric works to stay alive and liberate Ferelden. There are battles and sword-righting and elves and dwarves and darkspawn (the DA equivalent of Tolkien's orcs), and plenty of adventure. What I loved best about this book is the character development. Certainly, my views are colored by the knowledge I have about these people from having played the game. I especially enjoyed gaining more insight into Loghain, and seeing how these events shaped him into the person he becomes decades later during the period of the game. Someone who has only played the game might find this difficult to believe, but I absolutely adore Loghain after reading this book; he is one of my three favorite characters in the entire Dragon Age canon (the other two being Duncan and Alistair). I was also deeply moved by the way the book ended, and the decisions that were made - for the good of Ferelden, not so much for the people involved. Heartbreaking (and again, goes a long way in helping understand some of the dynamics that take place during the game). But oh how I wish things could have been different for Maric, Rowan and Loghain, all of whom I'd come to like, and care about, very much. I would recommend this book (as well as its follow-up, "The Calling" - which I'm reading right now) to anyone who enjoys high fantasy. And if you're a fan of the "Dragon Age" game and haven't read this, GO GET A COPY RIGHT NOW! :)
    • 4/5
      A nice prequal to the games. A bit lengthy without much detail but it does expand on the political situation of Fereldan. It does a nice job of providing more character development and history not found in the games. Thank you Gaider!
    • 4/5
      Couldn't wait to pick this book when it was announced. A good before a game book that is grounded in good work and beautifully written. I can't wait for the game to come out... Come on October 20th, come fast !
    • 3/5
      Given that this book is a spin off from a computer game my expectations were very low. Maybe because of this I found the book to be surprisingly good. The writing is nothing special but good enough to tell the story. The story is, again, nothing special but managed to maintain my interest for long enough to finish the book (however it does take a while to get going). David Gaider sets up a few very predictable plot twists but then either avoids them or put enough of a spin on them to get away with it. The biggest weakness is the lead character, Maric. Maric is supposed to fairly weak man who gains a legendary status due to a combination of good fortune and good friends. This bit is handed ok. However he is also supposed to be very charming and this failed to come across in the writing. For those looking for background information to better appreciate either the computer game or the pen and paper rpg of Dragon Age then this a good place to start
    • 3/5
      Ah, 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.
    • 2/5
      I didn't really have high standards for this book. I was expecting the clunky prose. I was unsurprised that Maric pretty much sounded and acted like a more sheltered Alistair. All that was fine by me. What I wasn't expecting was the rampant sexism and high levels of "bad things happening to women so that men can feel sad about it." I tolerated the occasional "wow, this rape victim I just rescued has great tits!" with only moderate eye-rolling, but when Maric killing the woman he loved in a fit of rage was made all about how bad he feels about it and Rowan and Loghain reassuring him that he's not a bad person, I was pretty much done caring about the remaining main characters or what happened to them. Mind you, I think Maric's evolution over the course of the book is supposed to be him becoming a better king and warrior at the expense of some of his humanity and compassion, but I also think it was supposed to be done in such a way that the reader would still be sympathetic toward him by the end, and I wasn't. And combined with Loghain's recurring angst over soldiers raping and murdering his mother and the fact that in the epilogue Rowan is dead so that Maric and Loghain can reconcile with each other and, again, feel sad, it was really straining my manpain tolerance.

      Dragon Age, as a franchise, is usually better about this than most mainstream video games (and their assorted tie-ins), so I was surprised and disappointed. I guess Gaider minus the rest of the writing team is not actually great about female characters; who knew.
    • 5/5
      The Dragon Age games are probably my favorites, so when I saw there were some books about Thedas, I grabbed them to get more backstory on my loved (and unloved) characters. I truly wasn't expecting much, but these are such great fantasy stories. The writing is terrific, and The Stolen Throne has all the best elements of what one looks for in a fantasy book.Prince Maric is lost in the woods, having watched his mother, the Rebel Queen, killed before his eyes. Loghain is a hunter who comes across the young man and brings him back to the camp where he lives. The land is in disruption due to a neighboring country, Orlais, conquering Thedas. When Loghain's father realizes Maric is now the true king of Thedas, he tasks Loghain with bringing him to safety. It's the start of a lifelong friendship.If you've played DA Origins, you know that Loghain is one of the antagonists, and I had little sympathy for him in-game. However, this book changed my whole view of him. He supports Maric wholeheartedly, even when he knows Maric is being an idiot and despite being in love with Rowan, Maric's fiancee since childhood. Every one of these characters is painted in shades of gray. Maric is handsome, loyal, and brave, but also blind and weak. Loghain is a commoner who proves himself with tactics and courage but also suffers from knowing he can never have Rowan. And Rowan is a woman warrior, true to her duty but knowing Loghain is the man for her while devoted to Maric. It's a King Mark/Tristan/Iseult situation complicated by an elven spy who seduces a willing Maric all set against a smaller country at war with their conquerors. Even if you never play the Dragon Age games (which you totally should), this is a book well worth reading. It has all the best elements of a good fantasy novel with great characters, epic deeds, and tragedies.