The Calling (Dragon Age)
by David Gaider
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Book Summary Information
Author: David GaiderEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-10-13
ISBN: 0765324091
Number of pages: 444
Publisher: Tor Books
Book Reviews of The Calling (Dragon Age)
Book Review: A New Hope
Summary: 3 Stars
I've never been so conflicted while reading a book. On the one hand, this is one of the most tedious things I've ever read, but on the other, it's given me a greater understanding of the lore of Dragon Age. And it's made me appreciate the game a lot more, as well. I feel satisfied, frustrated, happy, sad. I love and hate this book.
As a brief intro: THE CALLING is a novel based in the Dragon Age RPG setting created by the fine folks at BioWare. This is also the second novel in a series: a series primarily created to complement the video game. Because this book draws so heavily upon its prequel, and even more so upon the video game, there is almost no chance that someone who isn't a fan could pick up this book and know exactly what is going on. This book occupies a very limited niche.
But onto the story itself. It chronicles the return of the Grey Wardens to Ferelden, after the Orlesians were forced out of the country over a decade ago. We're introduced to a young Duncan (who fans of the game will definitely remember), his commander, and a few others who comprise the group. Their purpose in returning to Ferelden is to ask King Maric's assistance in tracking down one of their order, who was captured in the Deep Roads. Maric agrees to help them out, since it's possible they could put a stop to a Blight in the process. So, the group ventures into the Deep Roads, where they run into darkspawn aplenty, and a few mysteries that will definitely leave fans intrigued.
I would call myself a hardcore fan of the Dragon Age property. The game is one of my favorites, and the world (while derivative in some regards) is well thought out with a rich history to it. I read Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne and liked it. THE CALLING nearly made me rip the book in half, thereby separating the tedious part from the intriguing part.
The first half of the book is bad to the point of hilarity. The setup for everything is so forced that I couldn't believe it was happening. The Grey Wardens need Maric or Loghain to lead them through the Deep Roads. Never mind the fact that it's been fourteen years since they rather hastily made their way through the ruins. The Wardens need them, even if they don't remember anything. They make that resoundingly clear. And Maric actually agrees to this?
Combined with how Duncan - the stoic, noble and steadfast leader from the game - is set up as the book's comedy relief (which I did NOT see coming), that most of the first 200 of the 400 pages of the book are spent retelling events from the last book, and that most of the characters are hardly even provided personality...I was ready to put the book down.
I've said it once and I'll say it again: David Gaider is a great writer. While being the Lead Writer of two games back-to-back, and then writing two novels on top of that, he puts out fine work each time. But the main problem with this book (to me), like the last one, is that he spends far too much time laying on the exposition. The book jumps the story ahead by days at a time, but then goes about recapping those missed days anyway. Backstories are added in at random intervals. And the characters spend many pages thinking about things when the mood is supposed to be tense. All of the recapping, history lessons, and the lengthy internal narrative really broke up the action.
But things really started to pick up in the last half, when there was a little less conversation and a little more action. The book stopped trying to make me privy to all of the innumerable relevant details (most of which I had already known) and just tells the story. Characters begin interacting, the story speeds up from a crawl to a sprint, and the lore is expanded upon massively. I actually had some emotional investment in some of the characters in the end, which I didn't have in the first half.
And the epilogue will have fans of the game grinning, I can almost guarantee it.
So, I think I can safely recommend this book to fans of the game, but that's about it. There are some heartfelt moments, genuine tear-jerking scenes, and some times where the book really captured the spirit of the game. It gets three stars for me, because no book should take 200 pages to hook a reader, but when it finally did, it felt like it was worth the wait.
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