I like Gaspard as a character, he's very well done. He is very racist, and for that my characters wouldn't get along with him, as well for the fact he is a warmonger which is something I disapprove of, but by the end of the book I kind of liked him. Still not sure if I would've liked him as a person though >_>
It's like I like Vivienne, as a character, she was written well after all, but I wouldn't get along with her for the life of me, she's a.. well, a b*tch.
Also, the game did Briala injustice, she's so cute in the book >3<
Will never love Gaspard, nor let the racist bastard live. He has "Chevalier honor" only when it suits him, and just has the biggest ego ever, wanting to make war and spread filthy colonialism whenever he can. Will never not love Briala, nor try to let her better the conditions of elves the best way she can. And the best and safest way for her to do that, is to rule with Celene.
The game did injustice to both Briala and Gaspard. In the game, Gaspard's just a warmongering thug (and a rather stupid one at that), and Briala comes across as... simply cold, a bit too ruthless.
I understand you needed blackmail material for Briala, but it leads me to wonder whether her character changed so drastically since TME (i.e. she started to sell out), or whether it was a goof on the writers' part. In the book she's really passionate about helping the elves, her intentions are genuinely very noble ones, but she also doesn't apologise for Celene's inaction either - seeing it as the worst of two options - and eventually lets go when Celene is no better than Gaspard (in fact, probably worse). I think in future I'll probably just let her rule.
As for Gaspard, couldn't really stand him in the game - I think on my first playthrough I hadn't long completed Origins, so there was a teeny tiny Loghain voice at the back of my head going 'I TOLD YOU SO, I TOLD YOU ORLESIANS WERE TRASH'. And in the game, Gaspard is, indeed, trash - he sees power as his birthright, and is like a child whose toy has been stolen from them. He's intent on expanding Orlais like in the glory years aka. sending in Chevaliers in to destroy people's homes and torment the locals. Yay, colonialism. In real life, medieval knights and soldiers caused all sorts of trouble when not at war - they acted like bandits, and would murder and rape common people. Gaspard is an interesting reflection of that. It's just in the book you see that he's a) actually intelligent, and 
has some kind of sense of honour. I finished the book with an odd respect for him... if still, hating the fact that he's incredibly racist and thinks invading other countries makes for good sport. I wish they'd got across some of the more admirable qualities without apologising for his politics or his demeanour.
Celene is just vile. I don't think the book made too many apologies for her. I think she attempts to use scholarly cultural pursuits - theatre, universities, balls, banquets - as a social good, presenting herself as some kind of reformer, forgetting that culture is often pretty useless to people who have no bread and coin. (This is not to say that peasants and working people don't have poetry, art, songs, etc. of their own - on the contrary, it's a pretty rich tradition - but it's hardly the way to make their social standing better). She seems like a "decent" enough peacetime ruler, but in the event of a crisis (and there have been several), she's been pretty ineffective, pretending things are going as normal - I think one of your companions spells it out well, she lead Orlais to this point.
This just makes me wish the 'save Orlais' arc was more detailed and we'd gotten to know the parties involved a bit more. I know the exalted plains served as a bit of a prelude, introducing the impact of the war, but I'd like to have visited Halamshiral proper - I'd like to have seen the burnt down quarter of the city, and spoken to the elves who recount the uprising. Definitely don't think the game capitalised enough on the book.
Retour en haut
Ashe is awesome 
I know its been many years but...Daaayum.
Which is a shame, I kind of hoped Briala's eluvian network would, er, go somewhere plotwise? :\
