21 réponses à ce sujet

[Nadja]

After playing Inquisition and all its DLCs, I decided to read The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes. I already knew how Briala, Felassan, Celene, and Gaspard played a role into the plot and about their true motivations and personalities, but I wanted to see it for myself. It has been a fantastic read (Weekes has got a great narrative style) and I enjoyed seeing the foreshadowing and hints at DA:I that he put into it!

 

So now I am super curious to see how the other DA books are. The Last Flight seems to be particularly relevant right now - it deals with Weisshaupt, the Anderfels, Grey Wardens, problems with the darkspawn, griffons, elves as major characters... everything we can expect to see addressed a lot in DA4, considering where the developers want to bring us to next!

 

What I wanted to know is: does The Last Flight use Bioware's canon? The Masked Empire didn't, but I know that Asunder did and that's one of the reasons that stopped me from picking that book. It's a bit hard to continue reading if your full immersion in that world has been broken and you have seen a character you killed or a choice you didn't make being mentioned.

 

I am really interested in The Last Flight after reading the first chapter on the web, but I'd hate to feel my hype die while reading. I know it might be silly, but it's a pet peeve of mine and I'd love to see if there are more hints and interesting elements referencing the future of the series in the novel   (Laidlaw confirmed they do this a lot just a few days ago)

 

And on a different note: what would you like to see in an eventual new DA book? Ameridan's story? A focus on a new character that will likely appear in DA4 like Cole did?

[Mistic]

What I wanted to know is: does The Last Flight use Bioware's canon? The Masked Empire didn't, but I know that Asunder did and that's one of the reasons that stopped me from picking that book. It's a bit hard to continue reading if your full immersion in that world has been broken and you have seen a character you killed or a choice you didn't make being mentioned.

 

Well, every book uses Bioware's canon (as the comics do), but I guess you meant "do characters that could be dead or alive depending on my playthrough appear in the book?". Not in Last Flight, unless I missed something. The names that will be familiar to you are those of Wardens that died centuries ago, and those are canon for everyone, players or not.

[Melbella]

The only thing I recall Last Flight mentioning is a reference to the "new" Warden Commander in Ferelden, but it doesn't say who that is. This sort of conflicts with DAI since if you get a letter from the HoF, s/he still refers to her/himself as the WC of Ferelden. Perhaps there is just an interim WC while the HoF is off on the calling search?

[Abyss108]

Technically all the books use the "canon" - which isn't actually canon, but just a "default" for the writers to use. The only difference is whether anything that could jar your immersion is mentioned in the book. 

 

I can't recall anything being mentioned in Last Flight, and it's a pretty great book, so I say go ahead and buy it! I'd rate it just behind Masked Empire, and much higher than the other 3 novels.

[robertmarilyn]

I enjoyed all the novels and would read more if they were written. 

[Dai Grepher]

I think the only future implication of Last Flight is the griffons and possibly some basis for their being conflict within the Warden ranks.

[Nadja]

Thank you all! I will definitely buy it then.

Yes, I knew about the Bioware canon being used as a "base"! I was just worried characters I killed or choices I didn't make were referenced in this book - I am glad to hear I will definitely enjoy this one. The first chapter already intrigued me a lot.

 

 

I enjoyed all the novels and would read more if they were written. 

 

I would love to hear about a new novel! I think I will catch up with the others for now, but I will wait impatiently for any news about a new DA book. As I said before, it would be amazing to read Ameridan's complete story, there are still so many things we don't know about him and his companions.

[thats1evildude]

Last Flight only references the Mage-Templar and how Wardens are mysteriously disappearing (due to the false Calling, though no one understands why in the book). It flips back and forth between the present and the Fourth Blight and shows why the griffons died out (hint: it was the Wardens' fault).

[Iakus]

After playing Inquisition and all its DLCs, I decided to read The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes. I already knew how Briala, Felassan, Celene, and Gaspard played a role into the plot and about their true motivations and personalities, but I wanted to see it for myself. It has been a fantastic read (Weekes has got a great narrative style) and I enjoyed seeing the foreshadowing and hints at DA:I that he put into it!

 

So now I am super curious to see how the other DA books are. The Last Flight seems to be particularly relevant right now - it deals with Weisshaupt, the Anderfels, Grey Wardens, problems with the darkspawn, griffons, elves as major characters... everything we can expect to see addressed a lot in DA4, considering where the developers want to bring us to next!

 

What I wanted to know is: does The Last Flight use Bioware's canon? The Masked Empire didn't, but I know that Asunder did and that's one of the reasons that stopped me from picking that book. It's a bit hard to continue reading if your full immersion in that world has been broken and you have seen a character you killed or a choice you didn't make being mentioned.

 

I am really interested in The Last Flight after reading the first chapter on the web, but I'd hate to feel my hype die while reading. I know it might be silly, but it's a pet peeve of mine and I'd love to see if there are more hints and interesting elements referencing the future of the series in the novel   (Laidlaw confirmed they do this a lot just a few days ago)

 

And on a different note: what would you like to see in an eventual new DA book? Ameridan's story? A focus on a new character that will likely appear in DA4 like Cole did?

 

Last Flight takes place in two time periods:  The "present day" at Weisshaupt and during the Fourth Blight in Antiva and the Free Marches.  The events during the Fourth Blight are, as far as I know, canon.  The Weisshaupt events don't refer to anything but the mage-templar war causing both mages and templars trying to escape the conflict to join the Wardens, and Wardens mysteriously vanishing.  The events in DAI go unmentioned because at this point no one knows what's going on.

 

As for Asunder, from what I understand, Bioware uses its own canon for storytelling purposes.  It's not "real" canon, just one possible world-state for the purposes of telling this particular story.  If it doesn't mesh up with another world-state, then the events unfolded differently, or perhaps didn't happen at all.  I'd still give it a try even if it doesn't mesh with your own canon.  It's a good story, and tells you a lot about Cole's origins.

[nightscrawl]

Last Flight takes place in two time periods:  The "present day" at Weisshaupt and during the Fourth Blight in Antiva and the Free Marches.  The events during the Fourth Blight are, as far as I know, canon.  The Weisshaupt events don't refer to anything but the mage-templar war causing both mages and templars trying to escape the conflict to join the Wardens, and Wardens mysteriously vanishing.  The events in DAI go unmentioned because at this point no one knows what's going on.
 
As for Asunder, from what I understand, Bioware uses its own canon for storytelling purposes.  It's not "real" canon, just one possible world-state for the purposes of telling this particular story.  If it doesn't mesh up with another world-state, then the events unfolded differently, or perhaps didn't happen at all.  I'd still give it a try even if it doesn't mesh with your own canon.  It's a good story, and tells you a lot about Cole's origins.

See, the problem here is that even plots that rely on a particular canon, like Asunder having Wynne alive, contain canonical bits of information. The stuff with Cole will happen and be reflected in DAI, regardless of what the player's import is. The same can be said of some of the comic bits. Even though the first run of comics depends on a particular canon -- Alistair alive and king -- there are bits of information about Isabela, Varric, the new character Maevaris, that are canonical regardless of the player's own choices.

For those reasons alone the ancillary materials are worth reading.

 

Other than the very minimal presence of Leliana in The Masked Empire, I'm not sure what there is in that novel that would even refer to a player's import, so saying that TME does not use a default canon is not entirely correct if there isn't a reason to reference canonical events. The events all take place outside of the realm of player influence. I tend to feel the same way about Asunder as well, since the only character that has any real impact on that story is Wynne (Shale is rather superfluous -- sorry, Shale). Sure, you could have killed or not recruited Wynne, but I don't personally feel that that is on the same level as, say, the ruler of Ferelden, or the Warden's origin, or Hawke's choice, none of which are referenced in the novels.

[Dorrieb]

I read The Stolen Throne, for my sins. It was, um. Very, very, um. It seemed like the work of someone who had heard of books, but never seen one in person, trying to reproduce the concept from incomplete second hand descriptions. It was as if the five blind men trying to figure out the elephant in the old fable decided to write a book about it instead. It was like a song played by tone-deaf children who were being forced to do it by their parents. It was, frankly, not very good at all. I wouldn't recommend them, based on that one.

[In Exile]

I read The Stolen Throne, for my sins. It was, um. Very, very, um. It seemed like the work of someone who had heard of books, but never seen one in person, trying to reproduce the concept from incomplete second hand descriptions. It was as if the five blind men trying to figure out the elephant in the old fable decided to write a book about it instead. It was like a song played by tone-deaf children who were being forced to do it by their parents. It was, frankly, not very good at all. I wouldn't recommend them, based on that one.

 

This may be one of the best lines I've ever read. Kudos. You win one Internets™.

[ME3EndingH8er]

I've been very fortunate in that all my characters are alive so - for the moment - my canon aligns perfectly with everything that's brought up at least in the the books. You should read all the books if you're a big DA fan, i loved them all, probably ranking them:
Masked Empire 
Stolen Throne 
Last Flight 
The Calling 
Asunder - i enjoyed it but i found it rather slow at the start and hard to get into

They give a whole new perspective to the games when you play them knowing what you do having read the books. I'd have been lost in Inquisition had i not read Asunder and Masked Empire (though that's more a fault with the game than anything else). 
But The Stolen throne and The Calling make replaying Origins and Awakening very interesting. They turned me from a Loghain executor to someone who couldn't bare to see him die. And The Calling gives some very good insight into the Architects history.

And i'm looking forward to seeing how Last Flight - which, to answer your question has more or less no references to events of prior games other that the Mage-Templar war which happens in everyone's canon - plays into DA4, 

[straykat]

I read The Stolen Throne, for my sins. It was, um. Very, very, um. It seemed like the work of someone who had heard of books, but never seen one in person, trying to reproduce the concept from incomplete second hand descriptions. It was as if the five blind men trying to figure out the elephant in the old fable decided to write a book about it instead. It was like a song played by tone-deaf children who were being forced to do it by their parents. It was, frankly, not very good at all. I wouldn't recommend them, based on that one.

 

That made me laugh, but I don't think it's all that bad. Loghain's still cool.

[Nadja]

I knew about Cole's story, so I didn't go read Asunder before starting DA:I. I admit the words of a friend - who told me Asunder mentioned the ruler of Ferelden and many other canonical bits - as well as Gaider's writing style stopped me from picking it. I didn't know Wynne was the only canon part mentioned that could jar with the player's playthroughs, so I have no idea what that friend read and where she found all those other references. Perhaps she saw them in Fade.

 

At this point, I guess I will try to read it just to see how poor Cole suffered and see for myself his adventures with Rhys and Evangeline. As for the other books, I read good things about the "Maric's era" ones, especially about how Loghain was described there. Those will be the next ones on my list then.

 

I guess I need to be more "flexible" about this and not let Bioware's own playground stop me from enjoying and imagining my own

[vertigomez]

I read The Stolen Throne, for my sins. It was, um. Very, very, um. It seemed like the work of someone who had heard of books, but never seen one in person, trying to reproduce the concept from incomplete second hand descriptions. It was as if the five blind men trying to figure out the elephant in the old fable decided to write a book about it instead. It was like a song played by tone-deaf children who were being forced to do it by their parents. It was, frankly, not very good at all. I wouldn't recommend them, based on that one.

Yeah, The Stolen Throne wasn't great. I'd say The Masked Empire, Asunder, and Last Flight are the best so far. The Calling was... okay. Better if you like Grey Wardens. And there's a Kung Fu dwarf, so.

I'm a big fan of... ancillary media, I guess? Helps one get one's Dragon Age fix in between games.

[Iakus]

I knew about Cole's story, so I didn't go read Asunder before starting DA:I. I admit the words of a friend - who told me Asunder mentioned the ruler of Ferelden and many other canonical bits - as well as Gaider's writing style stopped me from picking it. I didn't know Wynne was the only canon part mentioned that could jar with the player's playthroughs, so I have no idea what that friend read and where she found all those other references. Perhaps she saw them in Fade.

 

At this point, I guess I will try to read it just to see how poor Cole suffered and see for myself his adventures with Rhys and Evangeline. As for the other books, I read good things about the "Maric's era" ones, especially about how Loghain was described there. Those will be the next ones on my list then.

 

I guess I need to be more "flexible" about this and not let Bioware's own playground stop me from enjoying and imagining my own

There is one other detail that could jar with a player's canon

 

Spoiler

Shale is alive as well

[Mulsanne Blue]

Anyone know the status of the book/plans for the book that David Gaider was supposed to write? Is it canceled now that he is gone or is Patrick Weekes taking it over?

[thats1evildude]

I think he's given up on books.

[Vespasian 91]

I would love to read about the Long Night of the Second Blight or Ameridan's story ,or jut about anything to do with kal sharok.

[Sah291]

I didn't find Asunder immersion breaking.

It assumes Wynne, Leliana and Shale are all still alive, and all knew/traveled with the Warden in the past... But there is nothing describing who the Warden was, or who Hawke was, and what ending choices were canon.

So I guess if you killed or didn't like those three characters, then you wouldn't like it. But if you didn't, or if that isn't a big deal to you, that is really the extent of the canon plot points.

I thought it was a good read. Gave a lot of insight into where they were going with DA2 and the mage/templar conflict. Plus Cole, and Fiona.

[Dorrieb]

I think he's given up on books.

Then he deserves our thanks