Reviews

The Calling by David Gaider

speculativeshelves's review against another edition

3.0

I put off reading this for years because the Deep Roads are by far my least favorite part of Dragon Age: Origins and now after reading this I...still hate the Deep Roads and think it's a slog to both play through AND read about but overall I had a better time with this story than I expected. Similar to how I feel about the first Dragon Age book, The Stolen Throne, this story is nothing groundbreaking but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The connections to both that first book as well as the games are great and I liked delving deeper into the Blight/Darkspawn/Grey Warden lore.

The real highlight of this book is the characters and their relationships - again, nothing groundbreaking and I do wish they had more depth than what is here, but it feels very much like a Dragon Age quest which is really all I need to enjoy these books. Fiona and Duncan were standouts as they're both characters we meet in game but don't learn a lot about. I really enjoyed their backstory and characterizations. Maric is...quite frustrating but somehow also endearing (I also felt this way about him in The Stolen Throne. In terms of completely new characters, I also really loved Kell (and Hafter) and Genevieve a lot too.

As mentioned above the Deep Roads are still a bit of a slog and my favorite parts were the few parts that happened elsewhere both in the Fade (my unpopular Dragon Age: Origins opinion is that I loved that section and I loved it here too) and at the end of the novel (which was a section that had some unexpected plot twists).

Looking forward to finally reading the other Dragon Age novels.

vespers9's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

adriarchetypa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

moonie02's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

zenary's review

2.0

Unsurprisingly, a novel set completely in the Deep Roads was an awful slog.

Also, this book took me nearly 3 months to read. Why do I do this to myself?

brieparis's review against another edition

1.0

Find my full review here: https://mylitfit.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/dragon-age-the-calling-by-david-gaider/

canadiancat's review against another edition

2.0

2.75/5 stars

This novel is better than its predecessor, however, it is still not great.

vizira's review against another edition

3.0

i thought this was wayyy better than The Stolen Throne, and perhaps more importantly, reading this has given me the perfect excuse to replay DAO and Awakening for the 100 time, with all this fun new lore context to keep in mind

wunderbland's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition

2.0

Interesting plot but unlikable characters. You can tell Gaider wasn’t the driving force behind DA’s inclusivity.

CW: death of dog, parental abandonment, SI, sexism, racism, questionable consent