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[slyborg]

I just finished the book about an hour I ago. I enjoyed it, and it definitely adds to the lore which I love. The Templar/Seeker connection is still a little confusing. Lambert essentially takes command of them and ready to march them off. Would there be other templars who would remain loyal to the Divine/Chantry or does the Seeker's authority override any vows to the Church?

[WhiteKnyght]

This is interesting. I'm on page 177 and it seems that Cole can hear the call of the Old-gods.

I wonder if Cole is somehow infected with the taint. My first suspicion was that he could be the Old-god-baby that Morrigan and the Warden/Alistair/Loghain conceived. But he would barely be ten years old and Cole seems to be older than that. Unless his unnatural circumstances have accelerated his natural growth rate.

[XManRCJ]

Having just beat DAII to get the pro-Templar ending, Cassandra tells Varric that not everyone wants to see war occur when after she realizes Meredeth's madness is the cause of the war, not Hawke or Anders. Meredeth ordered the Rite under the influence of the idol, thus breaking Orsino. So my guess is Cassandra and Leliana's faction of the Seekers are still with the Divine, and realize the Mages have been put in a place, in that of course they'd rebel from. The Warden and The Champion would probably help restore order in the Chantry's eyes in that both of them have worked with both factions.

[Gervaise]

As I understand matters at the end of the book, on both sides there has been a gathering of leaders to make a decision that will essentially be binding on everyone.

Because some First Enchanters have already been killed, the mages decided to let the leaders of the various fraternities cast the vote on behalf of their members. If the decision had been to submit to the Chantry, then the idea was that all would hand themselves in (I rather think this wouldn't have happened and some like Adrian would have just gone rogue on them). Since one Circle had already been anulled in a pre-emptive strike by their templars and it is clear that they are already operating beyond the authority of the Divine, in some ways the mages really have no choice but to fight. However, those opposed to the course are at least allowed a voice in proceedings.

The Lord Seeker calls together the Knight Commanders from the various Circles across Thedas (15 in total). Apparently they agreed unanimously to his proposal to break from Chantry control and raise a templar army to march on the mages. However, it is implied that some may have had private misgivings but were too afraid of him to voice them, so after his removal it is possible that some of these Knight Commanders had second thoughts. The problem the Divine has with bringing templars back on side is that here initiative over the mages is in contradiction of previous chantry propaganda and dogma. Since templars are selected for the fervour of their belief rather than their moral integrity, there is a strong possibility that most of them would regard Justina V as a heretic, just as Lambert did. Even before her actions with regard mages became known it was clear she had enemies, the Orlesian nobility are overheared by Evangeline expressing the wish that her reign should be a short one.

It is interesting that the DA2 codex regarding Justina V mentions about her election and how it was the desire of the previous Divine that she should succeed her but this was not the view of everyone. In the book it is clear that the previous Divine was so decrepit and senile, it is debateable how much she actually wanted Dorothea to succeed her and how much influence Dorothea had over her decisions. I would also question if her death was entirely natural. Divine Justina is presented in a favourable light in the book simply because of her sympathetic stance over the mages but you could regard her in a very different light. After all, if Pharamond's research had not been kept so secret and the proper protections were put in place, may be all the inhabitants of Adamant need not have died. I don't like Lambert and feel he is wrong on many issues but I have to agree with him that the Divine played false with both him and the order of templars and so it is hardly surprising that they do not hold any personal loyalty to her and her office seems corrupted.

[Dave of Canada]

So there's three factions in the war?

Mages are organized (to a certain extent), have their own leader (assuming Fiona is their leader, I haven't read the book), have their own source of power (Blood Magic) and the Divine is sympathetic to their cause.

The Divine-led Chantry which has crumbled but still has the Knight-Vigilant, some Templar, some Seekers and some Mages (assuming loyalists haven't swapped to the Mage side). Most likely has public support of the three.

The Lord-Seeker led Templar which has some internal conflict (some do want to hunt mages, some are more likely to go off and join back the Divine), no leader (Knight-Vigilant is a no-go and the Lambert is dead) and have no lyrium to support their addictions but have the sheer numbers and training.

Hopefully DA3 will allow the protagonist to choose their side in this conflict, would be interesting storming Val Royeaux and kill the Divine to replace her with a Templar / Mage puppet or working with the Divine to try and create some semblance of the past. All while Orlais is falling apart.

Modifié par Dave of Canada, 31 décembre 2011 - 01:21 .

[WhiteKnyght]

If Cullen succeeded Meredith as Knight-Commander after the Gallows slaughter, I wonder why he would agree to break away from the Chantry.

Breaking away from the Chantry and going on a world-wide mage hunt is like invoking the mother of all annulments. If he believed the Gallows was unnecessary he should see this as plain crazy.

Not to mention, like Gaider said, Cullen's trust has been betrayed twice. First by mages during the Uldred incident, then by Templars when Meredith went mad. And the Lord Seeker is just a bigger and badder version of Meredith, so I would suspect he might side with the Divine.

[Pzykozis]

Dave of Canada wrote...

So there's three factions in the war?

Mages are organized (to a certain extent), have their own leader (assuming Fiona is their leader, I haven't read the book), have their own source of power (Blood Magic) and the Divine is sympathetic to their cause.

The Divine-led Chantry which has crumbled but still has the Knight-Vigilant, some Templar, some Seekers and some Mages (assuming loyalists haven't swapped to the Mage side). Most likely has public support of the three.

The Lord-Seeker led Templar which has some internal conflict (some do want to hunt mages, some are more likely to go off and join back the Divine), no leader (Knight-Vigilant is a no-go and the Lambert is dead) and have no lyrium to support their addictions but have the sheer numbers and training.

Hopefully DA3 will allow the protagonist to choose their side in this conflict, would be interesting storming Val Royeaux and kill the Divine to replace her with a Templar / Mage puppet or working with the Divine to try and create some semblance of the past. All while Orlais is falling apart.

There's no mention that the new now seperated mage "circle" would use blood magic since none of them have used it before, wouldn't suprise me if Fiona allowed such a thing being a warden and understanding of the any means necessary that, that brings (as Duncan and Dryden showed).

Everyone who has left the circles including the loyalists that are in there have signed up to fight, there's a passage where they give their speech about submitting to the chantry but due to the aquetarians vote (being the largest of the fraternaties) all the mages at the reach are commited to war. It sounded by some of the things in that part of the book as though anyone who didn't flee from the now dead circles pretty much died in the rebellion that all the circles took part in (apart from the one that was annulled outright prior to the rebellion).

Also, there's nothing to say Lambert is dead.. of course it makes perfect sense to think he is, but since people have died in sight before and seemingly come back to life *cough*leliana*cough* It's not certain. I do wonder what kind of spirit Cole is though.

It'd be great in DA3 for that, it'd be insane if we ever got a DA4 though.. thats a fairly massive difference in world state... bit bigger than simply getting a letter.

[Dave of Canada]

The mention of blood magic is just a hypothetical, they don't need to rely on lyrium as a source of power and we're undoubtedly going to see blood mages down the line within the group. Whether or not they'll be approved by the Grand Enchanter remains to be scene, though you're correct that Fiona's times with the Wardens might make her more understanding.

The thing about the Loyalists is interesting, though I'd assume not all of the mages are fully devoted to the war (just like not all the Templar are) and might only feel obligated to do so out of peer pressure. If anything happens at the Reach or they have the chance to run, maybe the Knight-Vigilant and the Divine might be willing to tolerate them (I doubt Lambert's faction would, though they might use them as spies).

I doubt we're going to see Lambert again regardless of the circumstances, I doubt they'd just suddenly bring him back. Unless he returns and is forever maimed by being near-death, leaving him in no position to really lead.

And it would be great to have the entire war play out in ME3 (or a portion of it) but we've seen hints that Morrigan will play a role, maybe Flemeth / God Baby plot will rear it's ugly head and change everything even further until it doesn't even matter what happens (which would make me sad, faction conflicts are interesting).

I'd enjoy the ability to "play" the factions, working for the Renegade Templar by spying on the Divine who's making you work on relations with the Mages. Ect. Doubt it'll happen though, lots of work for that.

Modifié par Dave of Canada, 31 décembre 2011 - 02:43 .

[Gervaise]

I think removing Lambert was in order to account for why Cassandra still thinks it possible to avert war at the end of DA2. If Lambert was still still leading the breakaway templar/seekers it is highly unlikely he would listen to Hawke over a compromise even if the latter had been pro-templar.

I don't think Cullen was opposed to the Anulment of Kirkwall's Circle - he was just willing to show mercy to a couple of mages who surrendered and then objected when Meredith wanted to execute Hawke instead of just imprisoning them. If anything Meredith's madness would only have confirmed his beliefs about the need to control magic. However, there is nothing to say he was made Knight Commander after Meredith's death. If he was disillusioned enough to leave the templar order, he could be anywhere, even back in Ferelden. But it was Meredith who betrayed his trust, not the order as a whole, so he could still have stayed with them, been promoted and supported the Lord Seeker. After all he believed in the templars "divine right" to control mages and that Elthina had no choice but to support the templars against them, so I doubt he would agree with the actions of the Divine. The templars will probably use the same source for their lyrium as Evangeline intended to do, smugglers who have always been ready to supply the templars outside of the Chantry's control.

As for blood magic, naturally there will be mages who will advocate its use, but it was gratifying that in the novel the main players neither resorted to blood magic, nor fell foul of demon possession from desperation - although it does describe the temptation to let it happen that Rhys feels. It was a refreshing change from DA2 where by the end it seemed that every mage of significance (bar Bethany) resorted to blood magic or possession when facing death. What it does emphasise is the real danger of blood magic - the fact that someone can control your mind and then alter your memory so you are not aware of it. Since this is something everyone fears, mage and non mage alike, it is likely that the leading mages are going to be very wary of condoning its use.

[Brockololly]

Dave of Canada wrote...
And it would be great to have the entire war play out in ME3 (or a portion of it) but we've seen hints that Morrigan will play a role, maybe Flemeth / God Baby plot will rear it's ugly head and change everything even further until it doesn't even matter what happens (which would make me sad, faction conflicts are interesting).

(Assuming you mean DA3) I think it could be more interesting if Morrigan/OGB became kind of their own faction in itself, with an adolescent OGB going around as an almost Christ like or Andraste type figure, going across Thedas performing miracles or otherwise converting people back to the worship of the Old Gods. Kind of siphon off support from both the Mages/Templars and everybody else that way.


The more factions at play the better- have it like Alpha Protocol in that regard, with the ability to support and play factions against each other with divergent consequences.

Although, I think its just as likely whatever Morrigan/Flemeth are doing will be something such that they just end up the Big Bad that results in the mages/templars/qunari putting their differences aside to unite and save Thedas or something similarly boring.


Anyway, I just started reading the book yesterday so I'll see how it turns out.

Gervaise wrote...
As for blood magic, naturally there will be  mages who will advocate its use, but it was gratifying that in the novel the main players neither resorted to blood magic...

But doesn't the one mage who tries to kill the Divine in the beginning use blood magic? Granted, I'm only just starting the book, but again, I don't know what the mages hope to accomplish in going about botched assassination attempts in broad daylight using blood magic. That certainly won't endear them to the population at large in supporting reform when the only public displays you see from mages are blood magic crazed idiots/abominations blowing up Chantries like Anders or trying to kill the Divine.

The mages' end goals seem pretty nebulous and non existent- they feel the need to rebel, but what is their endgame? Do they want their own state, like Tevinter? Their own autonomous Circles? Good luck getting support for those when you're openly using blood magic, let alone doesn't Tevinter basically have autonomous Circles run by mages? That worked out great for the average Joe. I just don't see what they're practically hoping to accomplish in starting an open war- if they have some set of demands or specific aims, I'd be curious to know, otherwise its entirely likely the mages will just end up worse off than before. I'll just keep reading I guess.

Modifié par Brockololly, 31 décembre 2011 - 04:37 .

[Dave of Canada]

It's entirely possible they only sought out Hawke to possibly break rank in the armies, Hawke advocating for the Divine's side could lead to the armies losing some amount of followers (especially after everybody not knowing what truly transpired in Kirkwall).

Though this was likely under the assumption that Hawke would possibly assist in their agenda and didn't fully support Lambert or the Mage's agendas, which in that case I wouldn't be surprised if they eliminated them because their influence harms the Divine's agenda (assuming she's not in the back waving the mage faction's flag, though that's unlikely).

The smuggler idea isn't going to work, smugglers can't take the amount necessary to support two armies. They might be able to support the Knight Commanders and maybe other privileged individuals, possibly offering the next lyrium fix to the Templar who succeed in their duties.

In all likelyhood, depending on who's the monarch in Orzammar, we're going to see the Chantry not filling their part of the contract (Why would they need so much lyrium?) and the dwarves (under Bhelen) will break it off, possibly offering support to the side which is willing to offer the most to him and Orzammar. Harrowmont wouldn't do anything.

Blood Magic may be feared but it's powerful, I wouldn't be worried if they'd keep a litany around the camps and have their own section for the blood mages. Their numbers would likely swell if they're unable to get lyrium for their rituals, simply to be used as replacement. Isn't it mentioned that curing the tranquil will require lyrium?

[Dave of Canada]

Brockololly wrote...

(Assuming you mean DA3) I think it could be more interesting if Morrigan/OGB became kind of their own faction in itself, with an adolescent OGB going around as an almost Christ like or Andraste type figure, going across Thedas performing miracles or otherwise converting people back to the worship of the Old Gods. Kind of siphon off support from both the Mages/Templars and everybody else that way.

Would be interesting, no doubt. I'd enjoy seeing Tevinter involved if such a cult was introduced, radicals who believe in returning to the old ways before the introduction of the Chantry and rising their empire to how it was before it's destruction.

Possibly with Corypheus and the like have some involvement.

Considering I don't care much about the Morrigan / OGB plot (sorry ), this is probably the way I'd absolutely love to have it play out and it wouldn't bother me the least.

Although, I think its just as likely whatever Morrigan/Flemeth are doing will be something such that they just end up the Big Bad that results in the mages/templars/qunari putting their differences aside to unite and save Thedas or something similarly boring.

This is how I feel it'll be handled, I have hope otherwise but so far we've seen pretty much nothing redeeming about Flemeth (except she saves both protagonists, though that's simply to manipulate them) and the only thing we know about Morrigan vs Flemeth is that Morrigan is opposing Flemeth (for what? Let's keep them guessing!!!11).

The mages' end goals seem pretty nebulous and non existent- they feel the need to rebel, but what is their endgame?

Ffffrrrrrreeeeeeeddddddoooooommmmmmm!

It's also scaring me how I'm mostly agreeing with you now, Brock.

Modifié par Dave of Canada, 31 décembre 2011 - 04:55 .

[Pzykozis]

Brockololly wrote...

But doesn't the one mage who tries to kill the Divine in the beginning use blood magic? Granted, I'm only just starting the book, but again, I don't know what the mages hope to accomplish in going about botched assassination attempts in broad daylight using blood magic. That certainly won't endear them to the population at large in supporting reform when the only public displays you see from mages are blood magic crazed idiots/abominations blowing up Chantries like Anders or trying to kill the Divine.

The mages' end goals seem pretty nebulous and non existent- they feel the need to rebel, but what is their endgame? Do they want their own state, like Tevinter? Their own autonomous Circles? Good luck getting support for those when you're openly using blood magic, let alone doesn't Tevinter basically have autonomous Circles run by mages? That worked out great for the average Joe. I just don't see what they're practically hoping to accomplish in starting an open war- if they have some set of demands or specific aims, I'd be curious to know, otherwise its entirely likely the mages will just end up worse off than before. I'll just keep reading I guess.

He does aye, but whether or not it was a mage plot or... perhaps a rival within the chantry.. or nobility of orlais (since early on evangeline mentions how the nobility wish to have the Divine's rule cut short) is the question, a random mage couldn't just enter that party.

As for their goals, yeah it seems to be left that way, they didn't really start an open war though.. they were kinda left no choice... it was Lambert that started the war, depending on your interpretation to a certain extent a topic was broached i.e. the mages were talking and the templars reacted with force before an answer was even given, the only thing that's said by Rhys is along the lines of whatever they do they have to try to make things better, including it seemed more actual studying of magic and the various possibilities.. in a way i'm getting a serious renaissance feel from it.

As for faction playing and the like, sounds great but.. it'd be a big shift in how the games have played so far politics and the like has been fairly badly missing in some respects so whilst it'd be welcome I'm too cynical to believe it'll happen, as for morrigan/ogb... seems unlikely for the time being kid would be only 11 by the end of asunder besides its a fairly big handwave to previous choices in origins.. flemeth/morrigan will probably be a big point sometime in the future though, as for why Morrigan is opposing Flemeth.. doesn't Flemeth make the comment about Morrigan not even being sure if she's her daughter or her enemy when Hawke comments on it? Seems like Morrigan is opposing her because she suspects something but doesn't really have any real idea...

Modifié par Pzykozis, 31 décembre 2011 - 07:08 .

[Dave of Canada]

OGB's age doesn't have to matter, he's being raised by Morrigan and that's probably going to mature the child's personality enough that he'd be able to be a very serious character. I'm imagining something like Mordred from BBC's Merlin.

Modifié par Dave of Canada, 31 décembre 2011 - 07:03 .

[Gervaise]

The templars must have pretty big stores of lyrium that they could take with them. Many templars come from noble families and so probably have access to funds to support the purchase of lyrium from legitimate and non-legitimate sources. Once the dwarves get wind of what is going on, they will probably be happy enough to deal direct with the templars since they have no loyalty to the Chantry. The templars are at liberty to move about at will and can therefore more easily access lyrium wherever it becomes available. There is also the possibility that regional chantries may actually support the templar stance and be willing to supply them - certainly the ordinary population would approve - fear of mages is very great and will be even more pronounced when they realise they are no longer locked up in the Circles.

The disadvantage the mages have is that they have no easy access to funds, the majority of the leadership are pinned down in a rather remote location and they are unlikely to have much in the way of reserve supplies to call on. Even the Lord Seeker acknowledged that he might not need to fight them at all, simply starve them out.

I rather wonder what happened to the ordinary mages throughout Thedas when word came through of what happened at the White Spire. At least one Circle was anulled but even at the others I would imagine there was considerable bloodshed on both sides when they attempted to leave. How would large numbers succeed in travelling to Andoral's Reach? I would guess very few would attempt it but would rather find their own localised refuge. So as I see it, there are the First Enchanters and various senior mages who have gathered in one location and numerous pockets of other mages spread all over the place. What happens to young mages in their communities is anyone's guess but unless they are the offspring of mage parents who can advise and train them and help protect them, I would imagine the outlook is not good, at least in the short term.

[Dave of Canada]

Mages aren't completely disadvantaged in the financing, though. They've got access to the funding which the Lucrosians gathered and stored, though that funding is pretty much halted and not steady after the rebellion is in effect. In addition to this, the removal of the Tranquil (assuming they try and cure all tranquil) essentially removes their secondary source of income.

Mages could finance their requirements through capabilities, though. Issuing mages to go around healing and the like could serve it's purpose, especially since nobles would have lost their pocket healer mages. Though once again, this isn't steady at all and requires far too many on other people who happen to hate you.

And no idea about the mages leaving the Circles, I can't imagine the mages walking out the door without eliminating almost all the Templar or the Templar allowing them to leave. Either they eliminated all the Templar presence or rushed past the door to leave, either one would probably have caused significant bloodshed (the second one less so).

If A was done. they likely took all resources available at that tower.
If B was done, the Templar will likely take all the resources available at that tower.

Whether these resources include lyrium only depends on if the Chantry keeps it all in the tower itself risking abuse from both the mages and the templar or keep it sealed in the capital city which said Circle responds to, which seems logical as lyrium isn't used in the mage's every day-to-day life.

[Heimdall]

Dave of Canada wrote...
And no idea about the mages leaving the Circles, I can't imagine the mages walking out the door without eliminating almost all the Templar or the Templar allowing them to leave. Either they eliminated all the Templar presence or rushed past the door to leave, either one would probably have caused significant bloodshed (the second one less so).

Well, in the book the escape sort of turned into a mad dash for the exit chucking fireballs behind them as they went.

The mages neither (fully) eliminated the Templars nor managed to bring much with them besides whatever they could grab.  I imagine plenty of the circles ended up like that.

[Dave of Canada]

I realized what I wrote made no sense in the quote (repeated and changed something, lulz).

However, it's true that it most likely ended up to be the case. Maybe one or two Circles managed to pull off the odds, depends how many resort to blood magic / demons and how many Templar / Mages are stationed there. Fighting in close-quarters against magic resistant sword wielding men and women probably doesn't end well.

MORE SO IF THOSE DAMN TEMPLAR ASSASSINS MADE IT INTO THE LORE. /gameplayanger

Modifié par Dave of Canada, 31 décembre 2011 - 10:11 .

[Dave of Canada]

Also curious if Evangeline is dead if you killed Wynne in Origins.

[Nerevar-as]

I´m not certain how templar magic resistance works in the lore. Can they resist elemental school spells just because a fireball is cast with magic? That could make a huge difference in any fight, both at a distance and close quarters.

[Pzykozis]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Also curious if Evangeline is dead if you killed Wynne in Origins.

You could kill Wynne? Aww what a missed chance. Well I guess it depends on how important Evangeline will be to the story, she could easily have just not died fighting Lambert or something if Wynne is dead, well considering Wynnes importance in those events it seems like it'd be hard to believe the rebellion would even happen if she were, things were bad anyway but her mission was the reason for the conclave no conclave no fallout..

As for my personal guess I'd assume she's still alive, being the only Templar within the mage rebellion would make her pretty prominant surely.. not to mention she was Knight-Captain and stuff... seems like she'd be a big name but depends on how the story goes I guess.

@Never-ar Doesn't seem they're immune really Adrian nearly cooked Evangeline a couple of times. Whch to be honest is something I'm somewhat pleased by, fire is fire surely... you might be able to unravel magic but how does magic resistance stop you getting set on fire.. never made much sense to me in other games / settings.

Modifié par Pzykozis, 31 décembre 2011 - 11:25 .

[bluebullets]

How do you think ths will affect the future? I beleve that the demon possessed cole in the dungeons? Or perhaps it was a spirt of justice or empathy? He seemed to know damn well what he was at the end.. Was he just playing innocent to rhys? t didn't seem so.
Even so, doubt david gader would center a book around cole and show him at the end killing the lord seeker if he planned on not having hm appear in the future?

Do you think that cole will appear in DA3? What do you think his impact will be?

I have a problem wth the fact that the archetect seems irrelevant now.. t was a HUGE problem, now its non-existant.


How do you think the story in da3 wll be handled? There are only a few possible outcomes.. 1) enforced crcles 2)mages wn 3) templars win
Do you think the story will center around that? If so, somebody has to win.. Will the MC impact that? Will we personally choose?
It seems as though that would be hard to write due to da4.. Do you think that boware will just decide which clan wns the war than make your MC another hawke in da3 that doesn't really do much?

I think it would be cool as hell to see the hero of fereldan and leliana reunite in this conflct in da3, and have the warden involved in it, even if it is jut in a heresay way and you never SEE him

And what of flemeth? morrigan? the old god baby?
Ugh.. so many unanswered, or forgotten lose ends

[Jarlof Seoul]

Brockololly wrote...

I think it could be more interesting if Morrigan/OGB became kind of their own faction in itself, with an adolescent OGB going around as an almost Christ like or Andraste type figure, going across Thedas performing miracles or otherwise converting people back to the worship of the Old Gods. Kind of siphon off support from both the Mages/Templars and everybody else that way.


The more factions at play the better- have it like Alpha Protocol in that regard, with the ability to support and play factions against each other with divergent consequences.

I hear you Brock. Hope for a strong DA3 too.

[Jarlof Seoul]

Here is my review of Asunder:

DA: Asunder is probably the more nuanced of the three Dragon Age books thus far. I had a more difficult time putting it down and I enjoyed the most. A major inherent reason is because the book is a sequel to the current Dragon Age chronology, as it is set after the events of Dragon Age II. One strength of the book is Gaider’s strong characterization of the protagonists, some of the major characters, and what was by far the most lovable-to-hate villain in the Dragon Age franchise thus far. The ending was the most climactic of the three Dragon Age novels released to date. It also gives the sense of build up to events and characters that I hope will be part of the Dragon Age III story tapestry. One negative aspect of the book is the presence of some graphic violence and immersion into the disturbing point of view of a major character who is essentially a serial killer. In the end, these elements are more palatable given the plot developments. The struggles of one of the protagonists to understand the motives of the killer seemed weak. On the other hand the author’s apparent intent to portray moral tension gives a complexity to said protagonist, ultimately making the character more human. Gaider does an excellent job with the evolution of another protagonist, a Templar whose perspectives and beliefs are challenged as the story develops. So while Dragon Age has some disturbing themes, it is a Dragon Age story, a fictional setting that is officially dark fantasy geared to mature audiences. On the other hand, the strength of Dragon Age is its intensity that retains the elements of good fantasy stories we grew up with and played through. Dragon Age also provides the extra juice for those of us past childhood and perhaps of an age to have families of our own… the Atari via Baldur’s Gate generation that will still look for a good fantasy story and RPG. Dragon Age: Asunder is a welcome taste of Dragon Age awaiting Dragon Age III, best appreciated by Dragon Age fans and players familiar with the setting. Asunders is a good read and a welcome addition to the best fantasy franchise since D&D’s Forgotten Realms.

[WhiteKnyght]

I just finished the book.

Epic novel Gaider. I know you're stalking this thread. Here's my opinions on what I saw.

Cole: Had to start here first, he's your baby and he is a very interesting character. Personally, I think he's comparable to Wynne or Anders. The real Cole died, we learn this in the end. I think that his dead body was resurrected by a Demon of Despair, considering that the only people who could see him normally were people in despair; excluding Spirit Mediums like Wynne and Rhys, and anybody who has been affected by the Litany of Adralla. Which would sense because Rhys couldn't sense the demon any more than he could sense the Spirit of Faith inside Wynne. And I believe that the real Cole did have conscious control, but the darkness he felt enveloping him was the demon taking over, like Justice/Vengeance did with Anders.

Wynne: Great job with the character. Even though she was normally written by Sheryl Chee, you handled her character very well. Her sacrifice in the end was touching. Although I have a hard time picturing her wearing anything but red. xD

Shale: What can I say about a seven foot stone behemoth who always makes quips? Here's hoping she's in DA3.

Rhys: Cool dude. Hard to believe he's almost 40. From his attitude I would put him at half that. Shame we don't get a real visual, for some reason I cant stop picturing the Awakening version of Anders. Similar funny personality, although he's a lot less selfish. His times spent with Cole remind me of a parent and child, perhaps even a little bit of a brotherly relationship mixed in.

Evangeline: Same as Rhys, she needs a visual depiction. Character is an amazing display of character development. Starts off as uptight and dedicated, but over the course of the novel comes to realize that her duty isn't to be a bigot or a zealot, but to do what's right, even if it means straying from tradition and popular opinion. That said, it's gonna be sad imagining her hitting up the Carta for lyrium doses like a junkie. Perhaps you should write in a cure for lyrium addiction. lol

Adrian: Reminds me more of Anders in DAII. Desperate for the freedom of the mages, and willing to go to any length to see that goal realized. While I don't entirely disagree with her killing Pharamond, he was begging for a mercy killing after all. I think she was wrong to frame Rhys for it. Throwing your best friend under a bus for your own goals is not cool. lol

Fiona: A bit surprising to see that the petite, mouthy elven warden from The Calling has grown up to be the Grand Enchanter of the entire Circle of Magi. What surprised me even more is that she was the first person I know of in DA to drop the F Bomb, and about the Divine of all people. lol Also if she is Alistair's mother, I hope it becomes established fact later on. And I hope she still has Warden interests at heart. After all, what's the use bickering about Mage/Templar issues if the Darkspawn come and destroy everything?

Leliana: Ah, Leliana. Poetry in motion. It's only a shame my Circle Mage couldn't be there with her to kick ass and lay Wynne's ashes to rest.

Lambert: A-Hole!!!!! That's about the best I can describe the guy. Meredith at least was more straightforward and had the excuse of being manipulated by a darker force. I hope Demon-Cole mutilated him in every way possible. Also if that big nosed lackey of his is in DA3, please give us the option to kill him, for the sake of satisfaction if nothing else. lol

Overall: Best one yet D-Gai. This one only took me a few days to finish while your last two I was reading off and on for months. I should have ordered it sooner but I was weary of the Christmas rush and ended up waiting till the 26th. It's a shame I didn't get it before writing my story for the contest. There are some technical details that could have been improved, but oh well. Don't keep us waiting so long for Book #4.


Also, this is unrelated to my review, but I feel it should be said. There needs to be a place on these message boards for discussions about the novels released by Bioware writers. Cramping them into single topics in the game boards is . . . well, cramped.

Modifié par The Grey Nayr, 01 janvier 2012 - 03:35 .