RPGWatch Feature: Book Review - The Stolen Throne

We can't play the game yet but we can read the book. Prime Junta casts an acerbic eye over David Gaider's first outing as an author - Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne. Here's a snip:

-- So, Mr. Gaider, let's hear about this book project of yours. Fantasy, yes?

-- Yes! Dark fantasy! You know, magic, swords, princes, monsters, witches, dwarves, elves… but dark! And gritty! And, you know, mature! Also, it's pronounced "GUY-der."

-- Sorry, Mr. GUY-der.

-- It's OK, I get that all the time.

-- So, dark fantasy. What's the story about?

-- It's called The Stolen Throne, and it's about a rightful prince who wants to regain his ancestral throne from an evil foreign usurper who has… stolen it. In a kingdom called Ferelden. His name is Maric, and he's the son of the Rebel Queen, Moira.

-- Tell me about this prince. What's he like?

-- He's blond, and handsome, and has an infectious charm, and terribly courageous, he's very good with a sword, and he wouldn't think twice to sacrifice his life for his people, but his people love him so much they won't let him.

Read it all here.
More information.

After reading this, I would have bought the book had it been locally available…oh, well. I'll see how excited I am closer to release.

Same here. I checked for this book at the biggest English book store around Taiwan and it's not here yet.

I'll still pick this up when it gets here.

I'm wondering. Why is high fantasy so taboo? I really don't mind elvish elves or dwarvish dwarves My only question would be are they written well? Do they have plausable motivation for their actions? One cliche I don't like is the evily evil bad guy who is bad just because…..or wants to destroy the world just because……
I hope that there is a little more to the book than that.

It sounds like a good book to read before I play the game. I hope I get to read it before.

Elves and gritty, huh? I always thought that they were mutually exclusive.

Why does the thread title say "Stone" Throne?

I think the page of mockery was unnecessarily long, it was funny for about a quarter of it's length. Then it's like "oh yeah, it's not all THAT bad.. I guess. At least he's trying".

Whatever. I hope next time you just write a rant, it's far easier to endure than your attempt at humor.

I'll give it a whirl, ordering it now.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Why does the thread title say "Stone" Throne?

I think Dhruin just made a typo!!

Nice review, Prime J. I got a chortle out of it. Not even mildly interested in reading the book, though. My tolerance for elvish spies and naive and trusting Chosen Ones is pretty much limited to games, where they work pretty well. I think it's cool for Mr. Gaider that he did it, though. It's something a lot of people will enjoy.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
I think the page of mockery was unnecessarily long, it was funny for about a quarter of it's length. Then it's like "oh yeah, it's not all THAT bad.. I guess. At least he's trying".

Whatever. I hope next time you just write a rant, it's far easier to endure than your attempt at humor.

I'll give it a whirl, ordering it now.

I just read the conclusion because he said the article contained spoilers (yes I'm hypoallogenic to that stuff). Was it really that bad? From the bits I read PJ didn't seem that bad.

Originally Posted by skavenhorde
I'm wondering. Why is high fantasy so taboo? I really don't mind elvish elves or dwarvish dwarves My only question would be are they written well? Do they have plausable motivation for their actions? One cliche I don't like is the evily evil bad guy who is bad just because…..or wants to destroy the world just because……
I hope that there is a little more to the book than that.

It sounds like a good book to read before I play the game. I hope I get to read it before.

High fantasy isn't taboo. With literature, especially sci-fi and fantasy, the question isn't whether the author is stealing or not. Of course he is. The question is, what he does with the stuff he's stolen. A clever thief will rearrange it in new and interesting ways, perhaps incorporate some genuinely new stuff, give them surprising twists, and, perhaps, put in real characters with psychological depth, conflicting loyalties, conflicting emotions, and what not, making the fantastic setting more of a backdrop to the eternal drama of the human condition. Or whatever.

A less clever thief will simply rearrange the stuff and produce something that's pretty much more of whatever he started out by stealing. In that case, the remaining questions are about style, feel, atmosphere, technical skill, and what not.

In The Stolen Throne's case, my impression was that Mr. Gaider is not a particularly clever thief. However, he isn't an evil thief. He's genuinely enthusiastic about what he's doing, he's clearly crafted it with a great deal of loving care, and a lot of that enthusiasm and love does carry across in the book. It doesn't read like a potboiler, marketing tool, or cynically calculated thing to mindfuck with us. It reads like something a very bright, talented, enthusiastic, innocent teenager could have written, and as such, as I said in the review, it's very hard to dislike.

(Consider this post an alternative review of the title, if you didn't like my attempt at humor.)

Oh, and: the pictures are from the 1982 TV series Ivanhoe. Stuff like this constitutes "fair use," but I think it would be nice to mention the source with the article. Dhruin?

[ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084157/ ]

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
(Consider this post an alternative review of the title, if you didn't like my attempt at humor.)[ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084157/ ]

I liked it. I just didn't want to read the spoilers even though you said they're painfully obvious or given away as soon as the character is introduced.

But the conclusion was witty and I got a chuckle out of the use of imagery.

Anyways, thanks for the alternative review Keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Why does the thread title say "Stone" Throne?

Where? [OK…I covered my tracks. Thanks for the correction.]

Originally Posted by Prime Junta

Oh, and: the pictures are from the 1982 TV series Ivanhoe. Stuff like this constitutes "fair use," but I think it would be nice to mention the source with the article. Dhruin?

[ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084157/ ]

Done.

About stealing, I think the primary distinction - to me - isn't so much what you do with the theft, but rather whether the author is conscious of the theft.

Not something easily tested, and as such PJs measuring pin is better.

But in my mind, that's the key to whether something derivative is good or bad. If the author is fully aware that he's stealing, then it's a sure-fire sign of having little to no talent or passion for the work.

If the author is unaware, then whatever he puts down on the page comes from within, and as such is truer art. It doesn't have to be great, but it's art - and I like art

Won't read the review just yet, since I'm reading the actual book right now. I'll wait untill I'm actually done with the book.

My impression is: So far, so good. I think it's significantly above what you can expect from someone who has never had a book published before.

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
It reads like something a very bright, talented, enthusiastic, innocent teenager could have written, and as such, as I said in the review, it's very hard to dislike.

I get the feeling that your review mostly said "there, there, it was a nice try, kid." Unfortunately, though, GUYder isn't a teenager--and to write like one at the age of forty plus (more? I've no idea how old he is, can't be arsed to wiki it up) is really not something to be proud of. Teenagers have the excuse of, well, being teenage. GUYder should know better.

That or he just knows his target audience. People who are pleased with Biowarian writing in general aren't going to be very hard to please; teenage crap will do just fine. Come to think of it, there's probably a huge overlap between the fanbases of Eragon and Bioware games.

.. And? It's impossible to actually enjoy BioWare games, Eragon *and* Game of Thrones?

There is no right or wrong as far as taste goes. I enjoy quite a few books and games that have very little in common, or have very different styles. I certainly consider Game of Thrones considerably better than most fantasy books, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy other books.

However, comparing Stolen Throne to Game of Thrones is redicilous, as Martins is possibly the best fantasy author alive.

I didn't mean anything I didn't actually say in the review, Essaliad. I quite enjoyed the book, warts and all, for the reasons I stated -- but it's hard to take it entirely seriously, for the reasons also stated. Mr. Gaider isn't a literary genius, but he's not a pretentious bore either.

I don't think you'd care much for it, though.

Originally Posted by Maylander
There is no right or wrong as far as taste goes.

There is such a thing as terrible taste, however. Sorry.

However, comparing Stolen Throne to Game of Thrones is redicilous, as Martins is possibly the best fantasy author alive.

No, he really isn't. I enjoy ASoIaF as much as anyone, but he's very very far from "the best fantasy author alive." Even many of his fans will admit the same. Of course, if you compare him to GUYder and Paolini… but that doesn't say a lot.

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
I don't think you'd care much for it, though.

It sounds like the kind of book whose only reason to exist is to be mocked and used as an example as to why fantasy readers can't have nice things, yes.

Originally Posted by Essaliad
There is such a thing as terrible taste, however. Sorry.

Not objectively speaking, sorry.

Originally Posted by Essaliad
It sounds like the kind of book whose only reason to exist is to be mocked and used as an example as to why fantasy readers can't have nice things, yes.

Nah, I think that's more of a secondary function. I believe its primary reason to exist is to flesh out the background and setting to DA: Origins, and in this function it succeeds quite well.