Reviews

Asunder by David Gaider

Only show reviews with written explanations

dboyd22's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

hillybean82's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I wanted to like this more because some characters from Origins and Inquisition were in it. Unfortunately though, I found my attention wandering a lot when getting through the book. I found that I wasn’t super interested in the plot. The plot seemed to get bogged down with a lot of the mage and Templar politics which I understand to a degree but… meh

thexwalrus's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

ANDERS DID NOTHING WRONG.

a really great lead-in to the story of inquisition, and a lovely peek in at wynne and shale from origins. there were some moments that felt very alistair-y from rhys, but overall this was pretty good! however, i'm a huge cole enjoyer (he's my favorite character from inquisition) so that 100% colored my opinion of the overall story. i read this for cole content and i got cole content.

this scratched the dragon age itch during a time when i didn't have a lot of free time to start another playthrough and for that alone i appreciate it so much.

erynelle's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

+Good for a video game add-on book, but I think it could’ve been better written.
- Gaider used the “character loses consciousness-fade to black” transition trope like 4-5 times so it got old after a while.
- During some more character-heavy scenes, Gaider relies on pronouns too much rather than names and it can get confusing on who exactly is speaking or reacting

emilyystroup's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Such a good book, really deepens the understanding of the characters across all three Dragon Age games! I loved Cole’s character development as we see him come to terms with being a spirit, and seeing a darker side of Wynne really helped flesh her character out from the “grandmotherly” vibe we get from her in Origins! Really enjoyed reading this.

speculativeshelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Had such a great time with this and it's my favorite of the Dragon Age tie-in novels by far. It has an engaging plot, I loved all of the POV characters, and I appreciated the layers this book added to events in the games. Since the first two Dragon Age books were prequels, the connections to the games were less direct - to the point that you could probably even read those without playing the games. This one feels less able to stand on it's own as knowledge from the games is what makes this reading experience much more enjoyable - which isn't necessarily a flaw, I'm not sure why someone would want to pick up these books if they had not played the games.

This story takes place after the events of Dragon Age II and references events that happen there as well as many references and characters from Dragon Age: Origins). Cole from Inquisition also plays a major role in this novel but it won't spoil anything from that game. In fact, I'm jealous of Dragon Age fans who read this before playing Inquisition as it makes certain things more clear - I suspect the same will be said when I get around to The Masked Empire. For readers of the other Dragon Age books, a character from The Calling returns in this as well, though not as a major character.

I appreciated the added insight into the post-DAII/pre-DA:I state of the Mage/Templar conflict, the references to the Fifth Blight (as well as seeing Wynne, Shale, and Leliana) made my DA:O loving heart extremely happy, and I adored the expansion of Cole's character. I also loved Rhys and Evangeline and am a bit bummed we didn't get to see them in Inquisition outside of a small War Table mission but it's better than nothing. I adored their relationship with Cole.