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[pudi0072000]

I've asked several other people about this. I have the Kindle PC version of The Calling, and in it, it says that Cailan is 5 and Rowan has been dead 3 years during that time. But it seems that in the printed version, Maric says he’s 9 and Rowan is gone for 2 years.


This is from Chapter 4, locations 1,623 - 50 (Apparently it’s page 93 for printed editions.)


"Don't you have a young son?" [Fiona] asked.

"Cailan. He is five years old, yes."

"Isn't he without a mother? Perhaps we hear it wrong in Orlais, but my understanding is that the Queen of Ferelden is dead."

He was silent for a long minute, and noticed none of the others offered to change the subject or intervene. Perhaps they wondered the same thing. The thought of Cailan touched a painful place inside him. Like a coward, he'd left Loghain to tell the boy that his father was gone. Cailan would never have understood. His mother had disappeared, and now his father, too? If Maric had gone to tell him, however, he would never have come at all.

"She is," he admitted quietly. "Three years now."


Based on Maric's musings, I cannot imagine Cailan as nine. I understand that all children are different, but I would think by nine he would start to understand that Rowan is dead. For a five year old, it’s easier for him to understand that she’s just gone. Or maybe it has something to do with Maric's lack of parenting? (Wouldn’t his governess/nanny/whatever explain it to him, though?)


So now I’m interested what Cailan’s age is supposed to be, if anyone in the know would be so kind?



Edited for formatting

Modifié par pudi0072000, 08 février 2010 - 01:17 .

[David Gaider]

Oy.

Honestly, I've avoided responding about this before because it's the one thing that still bugs me.

"The Calling" was edited really quickly. Unfortunately I noticed the mistake in the dates when we'd already moved into the proofing process, and apparently that meant that there was more than one version of the manuscript in the editors' hands. I don't know how it works, but I imagine that's responsible for the changes not all migrating into the final version (and apparently the version the OP has uses something different, as well, which is awesome).

Cailan is supposed to be five years old in "the Calling". Rowan died two years before. He is twelve in the epilogue for "the Stolen Throne".

The blame is really mine for not noticing until the last minute and then frantically trying to slip two sets of changes in. So I've resigned myself that the original dates (even though I don't think they're consistent throughout the published version) will simply have to stand. I suppose it's a niggling detail, though I still do bang my head on the desk every time someone brings it up. But that's what you get for writing so quickly I guess.

Sorry for the confusion.

[David Gaider]

leonia42 wrote...
Hey, Mr. Gaider, I know you have answered this before but I cannot find it.. which version of Duncan's parentage is correct, The Calling or the Codex in-game? Just curious.

The Calling is. The Codex was pulled from legacy info -- which is how a number of inaccuracies creep in, since we have so many hands on the data and the info changed so much over the five years of development. In fact, that's responsible for the initial date problems in the book. I didn't realize I was working from a legacy timeline until too late.

Now, thankfully, we have editors whose job it is to keep all that stuff in our wiki straight. Which is nice.

[David Gaider]

twincast wrote...
Your honesty is appreciated as always, but, you know, the DA books wouldn't be the first novels to have corrections (or new covers re:TST) in subsequent editions and the codex could be fixed with an update.

Insofar as the book goes, I have no idea if another edition is planned. I don't think they would put out an edition just to change this, however. Codex fixes would be nice, but are more complicated than simply changing a line of scripting -- localization costs when changing any text in the final game make it more prohibitive than you'd think (we wouldn't just be changing the English version, after all).

Like I said before, DA has my full support - aside from the comic that is. Speaking of which, AFAIK there hasn't been any news since its initial announcement. Is it still happening?

As far as I know. Why wouldn't it be?

[David Gaider]

emynii wrote...
9:00 - Start of the Dragon Age
9:02 - Death of Meghren,
9:03 - Maric Crowned King (Age 24)
9:05 - Cailan Born
9:08 - Queen Rowan Dies
9:10 - The Calling (Cailan age 5, Maric age 31)
9:25 - Maric Dissapears (Age 46), Cailan takes throne (Age 20)
9:30 - Modern Dragon Age Game

I'm gun-shy of confirming any timeline at this point, and I don't have my notes from the novel on hand -- but at a glance this doesn't look too far off.

[David Gaider]

twincast wrote...
Well, Awakening should be big enough to squeeze some corrections in - theoretically, at least. Depends on how tight the schedule is, I suppose.

Not sure what you mean. Awakening doesn't alter anything in Origins, insofar as I'm aware.

[David Gaider]

emynii wrote...
Which version of Alistair's recruitment is correct? The story that he tells in game or the one on the website about the tournament?

Maybe I'm missing something. How are they different?

[David Gaider]

spirit-dog wrote...
Alistair tells you that he was recruited because Duncan saw how unhappy he was in the templars. In the offical wiki, there is a story about a tournament and Dunca recruited him because he was plucky.  There is also no mention in the version on the wiki about the Reveared Mother being upset at his recruitment forcing Duncan to use the Right of Conscription.

Err... as mentioned, there's nothing contradictory. Duncan clearly went to the tournament knowing who Alistair was. And the story didn't mention the Revered Mother being upset because her being upset did not equal her blowing a fuse when it happened but rather seething about it afterwards. Do I seriously have to explain this?