Audiobook14 hours
Dragon Age: The Calling
Written by David Gaider
Narrated by Stephen Hoye
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
After two hundred years of exile, King Maric has allowed the legendary Grey Wardens to finally return to Ferelden. When they come, however, they bring dire news: one of their own has escaped into the Deep Roads and aligned himself with their ancient enemy, the monstrous darkspawn.
The Grey Wardens need Maric's help, and he reluctantly agrees to lead them into the passages he traveled through many years before, chasing after a deadly secret that will threaten to destroy not only the Grey Wardens but also the kingdom above.
The Grey Wardens need Maric's help, and he reluctantly agrees to lead them into the passages he traveled through many years before, chasing after a deadly secret that will threaten to destroy not only the Grey Wardens but also the kingdom above.
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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Titles in the series (5)
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Age: The Calling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Age: Asunder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Age: Last Flight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Age: The Masked Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Dragon Age
Rating: 3.601769936283186 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
113 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The second of two prequels to the "Dragon Age: Origins" video game. This one tells the story of a trip taken by King Maric, accompanied by Grey Wardens (including a very young Duncan) into the Deep Roads. We also meet the Architect for the first time. I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as "The Stolen Throne" (mostly because there isn't much Loghain), but I did enjoy the lore. I'd definitely recommend for a fan of the video games, but probably not as a stand-alone fantasy novel (unless you read TST and enjoyed it without knowing about the games. Then, this might be fun, too).
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I 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. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Couldn'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 !
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A 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!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ah, 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Calling is both a sequel to The Stolen Throne and a prequel to the video game Dragon Age Origins, but only Stolen Throne is a necessary read, if that.
It is a better written book than its predecessor, but at the same time, it's is less enjoyable. Not to say it is bad, I enjoyed it a lot, I want to read more adventures about King Maric. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Given 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
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Every DA fan (or fantasy fan) should read this book. This is the story of how King Maric accompanies a group of Gray Wardens into the Deep Roads to find a Warden captured by the darkspawn. A young Duncan and a later leader of the rebel mages Fiona are part of the group. This is a dark story with good explanations of the blight and the terror in traveling the Deep Roads. Maric is in despair after the death of Rowan, his queen, so sneaking off and leaving the kingdom in the hands of Loghain and his young son Cailen into the Deep Roads again seems like the answer to his despair despite the dangers. It's great writing with all the best elements of a good fantasy story. I heartily recommend this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5i thought this was wayyy better than The Stolen Throne, and perhaps more importantly, reading this has given me the perfect excuse to replay DAO and Awakening for the 100 time, with all this fun new lore context to keep in mind