The Calling (Dragon Age, #2)

The Calling (Dragon Age #2)

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76  ·  rating details  ·  1,025 ratings  ·  64 reviews
Another thrilling prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, the hit role-playing video game from award-winning developer BioWare!

After two hundred years of exile, King Maric has allowed the legendary Grey Wardens to finally return to Ferelden. When they come, however, they bring dire news: one of their own has escaped into the Deep Roads and aligned himself with their ancient enemy,...more
ebook, 448 pages
Published October 13th 2009 by Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC (first published January 1st 2009)
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David Tyler
My review of the other Dragon Age book I read applies here. Unlike that book, however, this one reads far more like playing one of Bioware's games. A party of adventurers heads off on a quest through locations that are featured in the book and the previous game; there are encounters that add nothing to the plot, but one provides exciting combat scenes and another provides a reminder of why "skip the Fade" is one of the most popular mods for the game. There's a mage in the party and she runs thro...more
Karl
Just as with "The Stolen Throne", my enjoyment of this book was enhanced by my love of the Dragon Age series of video games by Bioware. This book is another prequel story to the games, taking place after "The Stolen Thone", and was an improvement.

The author didn't have any moments of complete failure, as with the ending to book 1, although a few points of canon felt stretched.

(view spoiler)[
If an elf has a child with a human, the baby is human? Since when? What about all the half-elves in Drago
...more
Ashuroa
Let me start out by saying that – despite my low hopes – I enjoyed this second Dragon Age book much more than “The Stolen Throne”.

Why?

Well, it has something that Stolen Throne is lacking – an actual story. Stolen Throne feels like the author tried very hard to somehow connect historical events into something resembling a novel. That almost never works.

Here we have a tight plot that is telling a linear story in a short timeframe – a lot simpler to accomplish and therefore better suited for a… u...more
Kurt
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Hali Sowle
The second book in the tie-in with the rpg Dragon Age:Origins sees King Maric approached by a group of Grey Wardens looking for his help in searching for a Grey Warden that had disappeared in the Deep Roads of the Dwarves. When Grey Wardens reach a certain point in their lives they go to the Deep Roads to die, and to take as many darkspawn as they can with them, but this Grey Warden is different, rthe knows what it will take to start another blight, and his sister, who now heads the Grey Wardens...more
Augusta Li
I enjoyed The Stolen Throne but I absolutely loved this one! A group of Grey Wardens, once exiled from Ferelden, have returned to seek King Maric's assistance in locating a member of their order who is lost in the Deep Roads, the abandoned and Darkspawn infested former home of the great Dwarven kingdom. Maric, believing his intervention could prevent another Blight, agrees to help the Wardens.

A fresh recruit named Duncan is among the party that sets out for the Deep Roads. I liked Duncan in the...more
Brandann
Jan 30, 2011 Brandann rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: gamers, fans of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Awakenings
This book is definitely written for fans of the game Dragon Age: Origins. No doubt, and I doubt that David Gaider would ever say otherwise. It is a good follow-up to Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, which I also enjoyed, as a kind of candy bar, though my brain had a hard time reconciling one of the main characters as a sympathetic and actually decent man. Lots of nice background for something I enjoy, that being a video game I consider well-done.

The book gives more background on characters you mee...more
Don J.
You know, after loving the game Dragon Age:Origins, as well as Gaider's first novel, "The Stolen Throne", I wanted to like this book far more than I actually did. Don't get me wrong, there are some good things at work here: exciting fight scenes, some good humor, and a fine cast of great characters, but where "The Calling" fails is the usual attempting to do too much and accomplishing too little.

Gaider presents us with an in-depth look into the Grey Wardens--the not-so-merry band of heroes who...more
Pete


Regular readers may remember my enthusiasm surrounding the first Dragon Age novel, The Stolen Throne, by David Gaider. I found it to be an entertaining stand-alone fantasy novel and its tie to a video game irrelevant. So it was with great anticipation that I picked up Gaider’s second DA novel, The Calling. I’m sad to say, this second book lived down to the general reputation of books based on games.

A lot of things went wrong here. My guess is that Gaider was under a lot of pressure to get the bo...more
Kelly
As a fan of this world, I found this book utterly compelling. Ferelden is threatened by the possibility of a blight and we find out more about what the witch of the wilds tells Maric in the first novel, The Stolen Throne. In addition, we gain more insight into Loghain's manic obsession with Orlay (not that he didn't have reason before...) and see his relationship with Maric further erode. We learn about a particular baby that has special meaning for players of the game and most importantly, we l...more
John
This book is an excellent follow up to The Stolen Throne and again follows King Maric's exploits as he joins a group of grey wardens as they delve into the deep roads in an effort to prevent a blight from happening. Taking place fourteen years after Maric's reclaiming of the throne he has matured significantly and has been unhappy with the path his life has taken in recent years. A younger Duncan is also present in this book which gives greater insight into how he became the skilled grey warden...more
Zelda of Arel
Jan 04, 2011 Zelda of Arel is currently reading it  ·  review of another edition
So far so good. The new characters seem interesting and as before, we still don't know on page 60 their whole stories. It does have Maric in it, for which I'm glad, as I prefer him to Loghain. It also has another familiar face, Duncan, they Grey Warden who recruits my character in the game. Here he is a yound lad, just barely went through the Joining himself. I'm in Orzammar now in my latest replay of the game and it is interesting how one of the characters actually mentions Duncan going into th...more
Bethany
Oops, I read the two DA novels backwards. The Calling is AFTER The Stolen Throne.

This one is ok. I liked that it felt so much like the game (the Deep Roads, boss fights, sad backstory in the Fade), but unlike the game something about the writing never quite clicked with me. I would really give it two and a half stars: one for being Dragon Age, one for being tolerable enough to finish, and half a star for making me care enough about the flat Maric character to read the previous book.

Really the m...more
Jamie
It probably shouldn't have been surprising that this book read sometimes like a video game. As a huge fan of the games, I would find it difficult not to enjoy anything set in the Dragon Age universe, but there were still times I wished the plot were a little more complex. If I wanted to be privy to every class ability used by every character in combat, I would just load the game up. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the backstory provided by the book. This glimpse into the lives of Duncan and Maric, a...more
Pants
I’ll start off by saying I’m a big fan of Dragon Age: Origins. I’ve played the game more times than I can remember (mostly as an elven rogue because I love antagonizing shems), and yes, that is Morrigan in my profile image. The point is I’m fond of this world and even fonder of its characters, so I picked up The Calling with a bit of apprehension. This was my first experience with a video game novel and I didn’t know what to expect, but the more I read, the more I realized I had nothing to worry...more
Heather Scott
Gosh. I really expected to like this one a lot more than I did, especially since I loved the first one so much.

It started out decent, but at some point it began to feel like I was just reading the game with different characters in place of my DA:O posse. Especially the parts with the fade, as after my third playthrough, it was the only part of the game I didn't like going through again. Not only that, but I had a difficult time reconciling the Duncan from the game with the one here. Sure, he's y...more
Pedro
The first book of Dragon Age took a bit of time to captivate. This one I was already on the looking for a probably slower start, before the action settled.
Overall it was a good reading, especially for those who have played the game, since he tells the story of what happened before.
I will not say it was one of the best written fantasy books you can read, but serves the reader. Based on that I only recommend it, this or any other of the series, to those who like the game.
Jeff Iverson
After finishing this second Dragon Age book by David Gaider I feel that he is getting better as a writer over time. I thought he did a nice job focusing on the here and now as opposed to a story over a period of years. I also feel that his character development within the stories is getting better. From these first two books there could be some interesting side stories. Also knowing that the stories will lead in to the Dragon Age Origins video game in some regards is also neat to know.
Wendy B
Story-wise, this wasn't as good as its predecessor, with a somewhat shaky plot pushed a long by the questionable motivations of the characters. Fortunately, it was the characters that made me want to read these books in the first place in order to learn more about them, and Gaider again delivers, with the focus, this time, on Maric and Duncan. He adds a load of depth to both characters, making me love them all the more and feel for them and those that come after.

I also like Gaider's grasp of bat...more
Leilani
As much as I liked "The Stolen Throne," I just couldn't get into this one. It had some interesting parts, but it felt like it lagged until about 3/4 in, at which point it rushed me through to the end. The characters weren't as fleshed out as they were in the first one, either, so I just didn't get as attached to any of them - they were superficial, two-dimensional creatures that flitted in and out of life.

On a good note, though, it was rather nice to have more details about the beginnings of th...more
Feyfire
I continue to thoroughly enjoy David Gaider's Dragon Age series (I've played the game multiple times now, so I think I'm a little biased!) and this book was no disappointment. The journey continues with King Maric and it was steady throughout the entire book. I loved the coverage of Duncan as well! The only thing that I didn't enjoy about the book was that it ended. :(
Googie
Excellent second novel for Mr. Gaider lead write for the Dragon Age: Origins video game. Again, you don't have to be familiar with the game to truly enjoy the novel. If you are, it really opens up a lot of the story line in the game. I loved the ending, too. Story of King Maric who leads a group of Grey Wardens into the Deep Roads in search of a fellow Warden who is capable of revealing the location of the Old Gods to the Darkspawn and thus unleashing the Blight upon the world once again. The Gr...more
Hesper
Edging dangerously close to 2.5, actually, and I only remember this one better than other one because the token hot elf wasn't so keen on martyring herself for plot purposes.

Yay, for not stuffing Fiona in a refrigerator next to Katriel.

What is this talk of refrigerators? This.
Ranko Trifković
Much better than 'Stolen Throne'... main story is not so spectacular, it's a typical adventure, but the characters are very good and between them they spin tragic story of love, memories, betrayal, duty. You wouldn't expect this kind of book to go deep, but actually it raises question of our motives, our goals, and why do we do things we do...
Daniel Hernandez
The book was pretty good all except the ending... I felt a lot of the characters started to fall apart and started doing things that were out of charterers... it just wasn't believable to me what they were doing. Other then that little snag its actually a pretty good book, but I have to give it 3 stars just because it seemed so rush to end and they bent the characters around to much at the end.
T
Perhaps my obsession with the games has gone too far if I'm actually reading the tie-in novels, but I am and I liked this one. I wanted more backstory and detail about the world and I got it. Although I'm kind of like "Really? :/" about the reveal at the end.
Jennifer
Definitely a book for Dragon Age fans only.
Game tie in books are usually a bit sub standard when it comes to the writers ability but I believe Gaider could be a "proper writer" if he wanted to be.
This book made me enjoy the while Dragon Age: Origins and Awakening experience all the more, and the ending was surprisingly fitting to my choices throughout the game.
Very enjoyable book.
Oh, the Goodreads description is for the wrong book, it's for The Stolen Throne, this book is set after that one.
Gina
If you liked the game you will probably like this book as well.
But if you aren't interested in the game(s) then there are most likely a lot better books for you to read.

I for one liked this one more than the first book "The Stolen Throne".

The story of "The Calling" revolves around Maric and a group of Gray Wardens, including Duncan.

I really liked Marics character development.
However, after playing the game it was a little hard to get used to Duncans character, because he behaves a lot different...more
Jane Higginson
wow! what an amazing story! It took me a little to get into the story at first but once I got half way through i really got hooked and didnt want to put the book down, the last few chapters I love theres still so much going on lots of action but also lots of different emotions in there, its an amazing read :)
Shawn Sines
The Calling continues the expanded fiction surrounding Dragon Age: Origins, again taking the time to flesh out the King of Fareldon and the interesting relationship between the kingdom itself and the order in a non-blight situation. Many of the pieces introduced within continue from "The Stolen Throne" without this being a direct "sequel" tale. There are also nice callbacks for fans of the game with questions answered like - what are half-elves like? Where did the Architect from Awakenings come...more
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David Gaider lives in Edmonton, Alberta, and has worked for video game developer BioWare since 1999. He is the lead writer on the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins role-playing game and has previously worked on such titles as Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Neverwinter Nights.
More about David Gaider...
The Stolen Throne (Dragon Age, #1) Asunder (Dragon Age, #3) Dragon Age: The Silent Grove Dragon Age Volume 2: Those Who Speak Dragon Age: The Silent Grove #1

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