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A review by samhain
Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2 by Ben Gelinas
5.0
The first volume felt like they simply organized the codex and, don't get me wrong, it was nice. I like when knowledge is neat and easy to access. But it still felt like a cheap way to capitalize on the games' success. It came short, especially when compared to other extended universe books. The World of Thedas, vol.2 is the exact opposite of its big brother.
Bringing more lore to the table, this volume also takes its art a lot more seriously, and it's nice to see the artists finally getting the respect they deserve. Thedas has more substance thanks to the space given to the concept art of landscapes, fashion styles, architecture, etc. Great additions are the painting styles from different cultures, and mentions of in-universe artists. Where the first volume made it look like the art and texts were scrambled together at the last minute, this one has obviously been crafted thoughtfully, with a clear final look in mind. It's still nowhere near A World of Ice and Fire's level of mixing art and lore, but it's way cooler than I thought it'd be.
Contrary to a lot of people, I feel like the excerpts from The Chant of Light were a smart addition. It gives material to the theory lovers among us, adds considerable chunks of lore that make the world feels tangible, and makes for very smooth transitions between the "sorted by game" sections. I've seen a lot of negative comments about these pages, but it's a detail that says a lot about the actual planning that went into this book (again, as opposed to vol. 1). They took this seriously, and it shows.
As someone who loves character-driven stories, it was amazing to get so many details about our beloved companions. I'm also impressed and appreciative of how they've dealt with the OCs. I like that Bioware has its own canon for the comics and books, but in a compendium it makes more sense to remain vague. Plus, it works in-universe too, since the technology doesn't allow for proper informations to be relayed all over Thedas. I'm sure that between the Shaperate and the return of the Eluvian network, scholars and future archeologists will be able to write the truth down at some point. But as of 9:45-9:46 (Tevinter Nights timeline), details about the game events being blurry for most people sounds about right.
All in all, I think that the extended-universe publications done while David Gaider was still working with Bioware felt like the DM of a tabletop RPG had tried to turn their notes and sessions into stories adapted to the litterature medium. Everything that has been published under Darrah, and especially Patrick Weekes' books/lore excerpts, have felt like a proper extended universe. The quality of the publications has skyrocketed, and I can only hope we get a volume 3 someday.
Bringing more lore to the table, this volume also takes its art a lot more seriously, and it's nice to see the artists finally getting the respect they deserve. Thedas has more substance thanks to the space given to the concept art of landscapes, fashion styles, architecture, etc. Great additions are the painting styles from different cultures, and mentions of in-universe artists. Where the first volume made it look like the art and texts were scrambled together at the last minute, this one has obviously been crafted thoughtfully, with a clear final look in mind. It's still nowhere near A World of Ice and Fire's level of mixing art and lore, but it's way cooler than I thought it'd be.
Contrary to a lot of people, I feel like the excerpts from The Chant of Light were a smart addition. It gives material to the theory lovers among us, adds considerable chunks of lore that make the world feels tangible, and makes for very smooth transitions between the "sorted by game" sections. I've seen a lot of negative comments about these pages, but it's a detail that says a lot about the actual planning that went into this book (again, as opposed to vol. 1). They took this seriously, and it shows.
As someone who loves character-driven stories, it was amazing to get so many details about our beloved companions. I'm also impressed and appreciative of how they've dealt with the OCs. I like that Bioware has its own canon for the comics and books, but in a compendium it makes more sense to remain vague. Plus, it works in-universe too, since the technology doesn't allow for proper informations to be relayed all over Thedas. I'm sure that between the Shaperate and the return of the Eluvian network, scholars and future archeologists will be able to write the truth down at some point. But as of 9:45-9:46 (Tevinter Nights timeline), details about the game events being blurry for most people sounds about right.
All in all, I think that the extended-universe publications done while David Gaider was still working with Bioware felt like the DM of a tabletop RPG had tried to turn their notes and sessions into stories adapted to the litterature medium. Everything that has been published under Darrah, and especially Patrick Weekes' books/lore excerpts, have felt like a proper extended universe. The quality of the publications has skyrocketed, and I can only hope we get a volume 3 someday.