Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

By: David Gaider

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

After his mother, the beloved Rebel Queen, is betrayed and murdered by her own faithless lords, young Maric becomes the leader of a rebel army attempting to free his nation from the control of a foreign tyrant. His countrymen live in fear; his commanders consider him untested; and his only allies are Loghain, a brash young outlaw who saved his life, and Rowan, the beautiful warrior maiden promised to him since birth.

Surrounded by spies and traitors, Maric must find a way to not only survive but achieve his ultimate destiny: Ferelden’s freedom and the return of his line to the stolen throne.

©2009 Electronic Arts, Inc. (P)2010 Tantor

Worth your time!

The story is good, if a bit predictable. if you enjoy the world of Dragon Age, check it out!

Love the Dragon Age World

I loved the narrator. Great voice acting. I'm a very big fan of Dragon Age. My favourite is Dragon Age Origins RPG game.

This is great!

A wonderful book! I was hooked from the beginning! anyone who have played the Dragon Age games, this is a must read! The performance from Stephen Hoye was excellent!

Fantastic!

Amazing story! Gave me so much insight into the lore and backstory of Loghain. ❤

narrator voice could be hard to get around at times

should gave more stars best book out of last 6 or 7 books not mad at it or too regretful

Really good fantasy.

Even if this book had been completely detached from the Dragon Age IP, I would think it was great. Completely stands on its own as some good slightly dark fantasy.

The background information is worth a listen!

Having played Dragon Age: Origins before listening to the audiobook I was looking for information not contained with the game. The audiobook supplied that information and more. Whilst listening to the audiobook I would get flashes of gameplay which the audiobook referenced especially the trek within the Deep Roads.

A great book and I'm looking forward to the second audiobook.

A few issues, but it's worth it

This is a great story! There are some bits where the writing could have been better, but it's certainly nowhere near bad. He fell into a few very common traps like constantly mentioning Loghain's icy blue eyes, but it was still generally well-written, in my opinion. There were also parts of the romance subplot that felt... odd and poorly timed? But overall, I loved it.

It was really interesting to see the backstory, both of the characters and the war for Ferelden. Seeing the Orlesian king's rule over the country? *low whistle* It was nice to gain a new appreciation for Loghain and to get a good look Maric and Rowan, who we hear precious little about in the games.

I feel that I could still have an appreciation of the book without having played the games, however. I obviously can't know this for certain, but the book was enjoyable and did not expect you to know details about the lore. It could stand on its own (which makes sense since it was released first) and is a nice introduction to the series. I wish I'd had the chance to read it before playing the games.

----Narration----
A fan of the games will find a few things to make them twitch in the narration but nothing that seems particularly wrong to someone who's reading these words without prior knowledge. Lothering, Dalish, and thaig are all said incorrectly but in ways that are logical enough that only my obsession with the game made me twitch. Also, a particular character's voice is comically incorrectly portrayed but only to people who have heard the game's voice actor. To a random reader, it makes perfect sense to express the voice that way. These books were released before the game came out anyway, so I don't know when they were recorded. Either way, it is nitpicking and nothing more.

Overall, though my initial impression of the narration was judgmental (not of the pronunciation - it just seemed boring at first), I quickly came to love it (especially after bumping up the speed). I liked the way the characters were differentiated and the pacing of tension and battles. Very well preformed, I think, without becoming distracting. (My typical reading speed was usually either 1.3 or ~1.6-1.8, depending on the level of action)

Great book and narrator

The Dragon Age world is one of my favorite fantasy worlds. this is a must listen for anyone who feels the same.

Great for those who want to know more about Thedas

I am really into the dragon age games, and this story does shed some light on Lohgain's past. One annoying thing, Stephen Hoye does not pronounce some of the names locations and other items the same way they do in the games. Overall I would recommend this story to anyone who likes the games.