A review by mdilu
The Calling by David Gaider

5.0

First of all, I've played through all of the Dragon Age games and I loved each one so much that I had to get my hands on as much lore as I possibly could. I read The Stolen Throne and really liked it, but this novel I gave a full five stars. It gave me what I wanted, which was more of the backstory for the whole franchise. I didn't know things about darkspawn or the Blight as I do now. The characters, to me, were compelling and I really loved Duncan.

For me, it had a perfect crescendo throughout the book. The pace was right. Gaider gives the perspective of more than a few different characters, which I really liked for this type of novel as it gave me an angle as to what was each of their motivations. It allowed me to feel a multitude of emotions for each character. That's magic. The story as a whole was great. It leads perfectly into DA:O, which was the intent. The climactic points throughout the book were very good.

Honestly, there were no parts that I disliked.

I'm positive that I am biased, as I've already played the DA games, but truly Gaider is the godfather of the story behind Dragon Age.