It's difficult to separate the Dragon Age books from the Dragon Age video games, nor, do I think, the author intends them to be separate. After all, it feels as though they were written as a promotion of the games, obviously to increase sales and make some more publishing money. However, one of the core tenets of the video game series, and most series developed by BioWare, is that the decisions a player makes have impact on the world, so much so that one player's world will look markedly different from another's. Certain characters might die for me that wouldn't for someone else, etc. This makes writing a book about a variable world difficult, even if you're the lead writer for the series. Gaider had an advantage with his previous two works, The Stole Throne and The Calling because they were set even before the first game. Asunder is set after both games, and so has to attempt to tell a story set after the monumental events of two prodigious adventures.

Fortunately, it takes place in a different country, and while it stars characters from the first game, namely Wynne, Shale, and Leliana, Gaider manages to steer clear of anything too obvious from those prior tales. He alludes to "The Warden" at several times, but never calls the hero of the first Dragon Age by name, and he never mentions Hawke, the second game's protagonist, at all (though he does refer to Anders several times, which makes sense given the mage-centric plot of Asunder). Unfortunately, these moments of reference feel forced and artificial because of their lack of personal meaning.

Thankfully they don't spoil the book entirely. The central theme of Asunder revolves around a clash between the Templars, an order of anti-mage knights who keep the power of spell-casters under control, and the mages themselves. We follow the story of Rhys and Evangeline, a mage and a templar, set on opposite sides of a clash but connected by a mutual attraction and moral code of sorts. Also present is a young man named Cole who is invisible to everyone but Rhys, in a sort of grown up imaginary friend capacity.

The story itself sees these characters, along with some heroes from the first game's story, travelling to a blight-infested area to attempt to defeat a demon. It sounds like a pretty standard tale, but the mages and the demons in the Dragon Age world are unlike any in fantasy, and watching the dynamic of their relationships unfold is interesting.

Unfortunately, by the end of the novel there are too many loose ends and holes to fill, and I found myself annoyed by the lack of closure involved. I can understand leaving some things in the air because in many ways this book feels like a primer for the third game, and indeed a game set in Orlais with a backdrop of mage warfare seems like a great setting, if perhaps not as grave as a darkspawn infested Blight. However, given the origins of the world's lore, and the importance of magic users within it, it might be the best setting possible for what could be the final act in the Dragon Age trilogy.

For fans of the series of games and books, Asunder is actually a pretty good read, and will fuel your desire to go back and replay the prior games (I'm already debating it, despite the slew of new games I have on my plate).