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A review by criticallyours
Asunder by David Gaider
3.0
SPOILERS GALORE
Pros:
-we find out more about Cole's origin, which was the whole point of my purchase! Still leaves some things to mystery, which enriches the choices the Inquisitor must make in Cole's personal quests
-I now know who TF Rhys and Evangeline are
-Shale is ON. POINT.
-We see how Wynne and Leliana (and by extension, Divine Justinia) are involved in the mage rebellion. From my experience in DAI, I had no idea how active they were in its creation.
-the tension between the mages and templars are brought into intense focus from the inside of the Circle, a perspective I haven't seen in such rich detail (even from DA2); it really made me think about the necessity of the Circles, even though I'm usually pro-freedom
Cons:
-much of the time, the characters were either one dimensional or acted out of character
-a lot of the small, intimate moments were swept over in favor of the big picture, which made the story move quickly but made a lot of the interactions between characters shallow or glossed over; Gaider is all about the big picture
-Cole doesn't feel like the same spirit from DAI. This may be due to his later discovery of his powers, but his signature way of speaking and seeing past the surface is absent in this book. I miss it.
-I expected more from Evangeline. After all the moral and physical struggles she confronted in this book while exemplifying the ideal of the Templar Order, in the end it feels like she faded into becoming the 'token girlfriend' in order to highlight the hero's triumph. Kinda like Trinity from the Matrix. I'm gonna have to think more about this. I hope we hear from her again.
All in all, I liked exploring more of Thedas. I will definitely be reading more of these books until DA4 comes out.
Pros:
-we find out more about Cole's origin, which was the whole point of my purchase! Still leaves some things to mystery, which enriches the choices the Inquisitor must make in Cole's personal quests
-I now know who TF Rhys and Evangeline are
-Shale is ON. POINT.
-We see how Wynne and Leliana (and by extension, Divine Justinia) are involved in the mage rebellion. From my experience in DAI, I had no idea how active they were in its creation.
-the tension between the mages and templars are brought into intense focus from the inside of the Circle, a perspective I haven't seen in such rich detail (even from DA2); it really made me think about the necessity of the Circles, even though I'm usually pro-freedom
Cons:
-much of the time, the characters were either one dimensional or acted out of character
-a lot of the small, intimate moments were swept over in favor of the big picture, which made the story move quickly but made a lot of the interactions between characters shallow or glossed over; Gaider is all about the big picture
-Cole doesn't feel like the same spirit from DAI. This may be due to his later discovery of his powers, but his signature way of speaking and seeing past the surface is absent in this book. I miss it.
-I expected more from Evangeline. After all the moral and physical struggles she confronted in this book while exemplifying the ideal of the Templar Order, in the end it feels like she faded into becoming the 'token girlfriend' in order to highlight the hero's triumph. Kinda like Trinity from the Matrix. I'm gonna have to think more about this. I hope we hear from her again.
All in all, I liked exploring more of Thedas. I will definitely be reading more of these books until DA4 comes out.