antivancrowe's review against another edition
5.0
Maker, though the darkness comes upon me,
I shall embrace the Light. I shall weather the storm.
I shall endure.
What you have created, no one can tear asunder.
-Chant of Light
Asunder was not my favorite at the get-go. I was excited to read it for multiple reasons: mages and COLE. I love Cole and I wanted to learn more about him. The first half of the book was boring, but I really liked how they tied everything together near the end. It wrapped up nicely and the character growth for Rhys was great.
I feel like this book really enlightens the Mage rebellion and shows depth into the factions(Loyalists, Aequatarians, and Liberalists) that you don't see in the games. It's a must read for that part as a Dragon age Fan.
All in all Gaider delivered some excellent lines and even some light humor in this dark time for the mages.
I shall embrace the Light. I shall weather the storm.
I shall endure.
What you have created, no one can tear asunder.
-Chant of Light
Asunder was not my favorite at the get-go. I was excited to read it for multiple reasons: mages and COLE. I love Cole and I wanted to learn more about him. The first half of the book was boring, but I really liked how they tied everything together near the end. It wrapped up nicely and the character growth for Rhys was great.
I feel like this book really enlightens the Mage rebellion and shows depth into the factions(Loyalists, Aequatarians, and Liberalists) that you don't see in the games. It's a must read for that part as a Dragon age Fan.
All in all Gaider delivered some excellent lines and even some light humor in this dark time for the mages.
ethana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
speculativeshelves's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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.
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.
thesupermassive's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
burs's review
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lemonade_lover's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
greyforest's review
5.0
One of the best pieces of Dragon Age media in my opinion. The Mage vs Templar conflict I believe is a strong narrative, however in the games it felt slightly neutered to me. Whereas this book allows the full concept of that to flourish with great characters, some wholly original to these books, and others faithful reappearances of characters in the games, and even characters that have their first appearance here and then went on to become important characters in the games. I really wish Rhys and Evangeline showed up in person in Inquisition as I loved their characters here. Wynne, Shale, and Leliana were all excellent to see. And the Lord Seeker made a good antagonist. But the star of the book, easily, is Cole. Such an interesting and sympathetic character that is so tragic and dark I can't help but love him. It is also helps that this book is written by the actual lead writer of the games, so every character, every action, every lore-point, every location feels authentic because it genuinely is. Big recommend to Dragon Age fans, I do recommend that you have played Origins and 2 as I think the enjoyment of this greatly depends on knowing the characters that appeared in those two games, as well as seeing the main conflict of this book come to a head in 2. I also think this is easily the best of Gaider's Dragon Age novels. While I enjoyed the fun adventure of the Stolen Throne, and the darkness of the Calling, this was the best of the three.
jnikolova's review
4.0
Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.
*** Actual rating: 3.5 stars ***
I liked this book just slightly less than the previous two, for two main reasons:
To start off, Asunder takes place right after the Kirkwall rebellion, in the White Spire circle tower in Orlais. The tensions between the mages and the templars are already a fact all over Thedas, and the appearance of a serial killer in the White Spire only makes matters worse.
The best part of this book for me was the fact that Wynne and Shale made an appearance. While Shale was only a nice reminder of DA:O, Wynne is likely my favourite healer from all three games. Also, the only one who did not betray my character's trust, so yay Wynne! She'd changed much, but it was nevertheless great to see her again, as, contrarily to other characters from DA:O, she was not referenced in Inquisition.
Among the other characters, it was also interesting to see Cole again, and to get acquainted with some new people. That's not to say, though, that I necessarily liked all of the new people. I felt like Rhys, Evangeline and Adrian rang a bit hollow in comparison to the characters which were introduced in the games and written much better. Rhys, for example, did a lot of things that had an interesting or important outcome, but it was not really clear what his thought process was. Evangeline was more of a generic strong lady stereotype, I couldn't help but imagine a cheaper version of Cassandra when reading about her. Not least of all, I hated Adrian with passion. She was the most infuriating character to read about in any of the books. While I'm all for characters who stand their ground, I felt that she was pointlessly and unreasonably fanatical and contrary. She was literally against everything at any single moment. There was no point to her presence, save for creating tensions for Rhys so that his decisions have more pathos.
On the other hand, I'm not upset that I wasn't crazy for the characters, because the story was still a good/necessary one and added to the overall setting of the world for the events of DAI. Also, while admitting that Gaider is not the best author on the planet, I think I'll miss the additions he makes to Dragon Age, as this is his last book for the time being and I do feel that he's deep enough into the characters for his voice to be one of the most crucial ones for these companion novels.
*** Actual rating: 3.5 stars ***
I liked this book just slightly less than the previous two, for two main reasons:
- I was sorely missing the characters from the first two books.
- I had issues with some of the characters in this one.
To start off, Asunder takes place right after the Kirkwall rebellion, in the White Spire circle tower in Orlais. The tensions between the mages and the templars are already a fact all over Thedas, and the appearance of a serial killer in the White Spire only makes matters worse.
The best part of this book for me was the fact that Wynne and Shale made an appearance. While Shale was only a nice reminder of DA:O, Wynne is likely my favourite healer from all three games. Also, the only one who did not betray my character's trust, so yay Wynne! She'd changed much, but it was nevertheless great to see her again, as, contrarily to other characters from DA:O, she was not referenced in Inquisition.
Among the other characters, it was also interesting to see Cole again, and to get acquainted with some new people. That's not to say, though, that I necessarily liked all of the new people. I felt like Rhys, Evangeline and Adrian rang a bit hollow in comparison to the characters which were introduced in the games and written much better. Rhys, for example, did a lot of things that had an interesting or important outcome, but it was not really clear what his thought process was. Evangeline was more of a generic strong lady stereotype, I couldn't help but imagine a cheaper version of Cassandra when reading about her. Not least of all, I hated Adrian with passion. She was the most infuriating character to read about in any of the books. While I'm all for characters who stand their ground, I felt that she was pointlessly and unreasonably fanatical and contrary. She was literally against everything at any single moment. There was no point to her presence, save for creating tensions for Rhys so that his decisions have more pathos.
On the other hand, I'm not upset that I wasn't crazy for the characters, because the story was still a good/necessary one and added to the overall setting of the world for the events of DAI. Also, while admitting that Gaider is not the best author on the planet, I think I'll miss the additions he makes to Dragon Age, as this is his last book for the time being and I do feel that he's deep enough into the characters for his voice to be one of the most crucial ones for these companion novels.