Dragon Age: Last Flight

5/5 Love the book series for the added lore. I read the series a little out of order, starting with Tevinter Nights. I noticed maybe two typos, but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed just getting more lore for the world.That being said! I loved the size of the physical book and floppy feel of that first one I read (about 5.5" x 8.2"). Finding the non-mass market versions of this book and the masked empire was annoying.Initially I bought the whole series (Tevinter Nights not included) in the boxed set for the cheaper price. When it arrived I realized it's the mass market version and I should've checked the reviews because it's not listed in any way to indicate its mass market paperback. I think it's somewhat of a normal thing to see Mass Market Paperback as a version when buying books on Amazon, so it was odd that this was an issue.Anyway, mass market really lacks that almost-hold-itself-open floppiness so I returned it. It wasn't cheaper to buy them separately, but I wanted the matching size I liked. Plus, I figured the *much* cheaper (near half the price of buying all of them separate) mass market versions would be exclusively sold in that boxset because they're cheaper for that smaller/mass produced reason. Well, they're not exclusive to it, and overall it feels a bit deceptive.There are duplicate listings for the books. Maybe it's only the masked empire and last flight, which were the ones I had trouble finding the 8" size I wanted. There was no proper way to search for the right version either because the prices of them aren't drastically different and there's no description to indicate one is the mass market and one is not.I'd urge anyone wanting that larger size to double check it, because the duplicate listings share the same reviews. The only difference is the size of the book.If the longest dimension is 6", it's the mass market. If it's 8", then it's the nice floppy size.It was really annoying ordering them separately only to find out three of them were the right size and two of them were the dinky mass market. So I had to return those two and then hunt down the larger size listing; sometimes through the "people also bought" section. In general this was a pretty chaotic experience due to the Amazon listings.I hope this helps anyone looking for the non-mass market paperback versions -insert melting smiley emoji-

The latest book out from Bioware set in the Dragon Age universe, I poured through Last Flight in a single night. Like all of the Dragon Age novels, it's a cut above your typical Dungeons and Dragons fair, and has a lot going for it. Still, I feel the book is somewhat marred by its ending and has somewhat less interesting subject matter than previous volumes. Those who enjoy the setting, however, will adore several revelations about the game world's lore and it is a good fantasy novel. Just not a great one. The premise of Last Flight is a group of mage refugees from the Mage-Templar War, set up in Dragon Age: Asunder, have joined the Grey Wardens to escape the fighting. They are put to work studying the ancient lore of the Grey Wardens and one of them stumbles on a account of the Fourth Blight. Blights, for non-fans of the game, is something akin to a combination of zombie-invasion and Orc attack. This account sheds light on the extinction of the griffon race, the morality of the Grey Wardens, and the dangers of Blood Magic. I'm not a fan of books which don't have anything to say about the real world and I'm pleased to say this book does have a message. It's an analysis of the consequences of an "ends justify the means" mentality. While the protagonist of Dragon Age: Origins can be anything from a bog-standard fantasy hero to a ruthless murderer to Mage Jesus, the Grey Wardens he belongs to have this as their bailiwick. Grey Wardens swear to do anything to stop the Blight, no matter how heinous, and are willing to give their lives to do it. Indeed, every Grey Warden does give their lives to stop the Blight because the source of their powers eventually kills them. A lesser writer would have universally condemned this attitude or puffed it up. Liane Merciel, however, presents ruthlessness' upsides and downsides. We see why the Wardens do what they do and the sometimes disgusting things they need to do. We see them abandon refugees to die, lie to the public, literally prostitute themselves (a male for once), and animal experimentation. None of this is presented as a good thing but sometimes it works. Not always, though. Much like Zombie Apocalypses, the Blight is an excellent way of exploring the extremes of human morality. When faced with a natural disaster meets war situation like the Blight, what are the limits to what a person should be willing to do to survive? The Grey Wardens believe anything is justified and while the book doesn't go into some of the worst things I've seen in such fiction, it touches on enough of them you get the idea how this sort of attitude can blind you to searching for other options. When you assume the ruthless option is the strongest, it tends to make you always go for the ruthless option. This is embodied in the treatment of the griffons. The griffons are gigantic eagle and lion hybrids which are used as flying mounts by the Grey Wardens. They represent the best in the Grey Wardens and are symbols of their higher natures. Despite "only" being animals, the griffons are presented as noble, beautiful, and intelligent beasts. They trust the Grey Wardens and should, theoretically, be treated with respect in return. Instead, the Grey Wardens find a means to make them more effective fighting machines at the cost of the griffons' lives. What follows is a story of exploitation, cruelty, and the consequences of messing with nature's delicate balance. It's a good metaphor with Blood Magic serving as a nice stand-in for both science and industry but sadly gets undercut by its ending. Without spoiling anything, I can't help but feel the story of the griffons' extinction would have been better without the sliver of hope provided at the end. It worked in The Lorax but in real-life, there are no take-backs and the world is diminished every time we let a species go extinct. Letting them stand as a monument to the selfishness of humanity, even in theoretical good-cause, would have made the story more powerful. In conclusion, Last Flight is a book with a lot going for it. It is an interesting premise, gives good insight into what a long-standing Blight is like, shows how Blood Magic works in the setting in greater-detail, and has something to say about morality. The environmental message is neither heavy-handed nor easy-to-miss. I liked the majority of the characters, even though only a couple of them were underdeveloped. In short, I suggest you pick this book up if you like fantasy or Dragon Age in particular. Just don't expect to be blown away.8/10

This book.... this book was a chore.I'm so sad to say that because I love the DA series, but I felt this book was just uninteresting. Perhaps it was because I read it post DA:I, and I needed more material that was happening post that game and this book is set before the events of DA:I... I also didn't feel any connection to the character Vayla, or Isseya. I would've liked to have read more from Garahel's perspective, or seen something more happen with Vayla and Caronel that was implied but rushed in the chapters that appear in. There was this big hot mess of action that was squashed into the final chapter that just didn't have the impact I felt it could have because we didn't really know too much about the characters to actually care what happens - I know the plot focus isn't on the characters themselves but on something else, but I guess that's what it's missing for me. The first two books were amazing because of the characters, the third just as much, and even the fourth has this. The fifth book lacks in this in my opinion, especially with both the narrators.

I'm writing this review before the release date of Inquisition, and chances are you're probably scrolling down here to see if this book is a necessity before the games release as the game will massively spoil the book (Like Asunder, or The Masked Empire).I'll straight up say it- you probably DON'T need to read this book before Inquisition. However I have a feeling the ending may crop up in in-game rumours or a codex somewhere. So the ending is likely to be spoilt- and it will not have the same impact.As for the book itself, I have not heard of Liane Merciel before, however I have sudden interest in her works after reading this. She went into the world of Thedas well, both in "modern" times (9:41-42) and during the years of the Fourth Blight. I've spent far too long looking at the lore of Thedas and I couldn't find anything that was really obviously Wrong (Anyone whose played ME3 and watched Paragon Lost surely knows how bad some things can get), except maybe using the word "church" instead of "Chantry". Which is extremely minor.I personally found it quite short, taking me less than a week to get through even though I only really read it during my bus journeys to and from work. However it manages to have two clear defined plotlines, with unique characters in both. I found the directions the plots took emotional, with some happy-tears very nearly falling out at the end (Which, for me, IS crying at something).For those who get right into their characters heads while playing the game, Last Flight adds some interesting descriptions for the workings of Magic that you will not get in game. It adds to what I had previously gathered from Asunder as well. It also just generally explains some history you won't get in a similar format in-game. Theres reading a codex entry/ wiki page that explains the facts, and slipping into a characters mind while reading a book.Oh, and theres Griffon riders, giving us an insight into the Wardens at their "full" glory ;). Worth it for that alone.

I have read and loved all the Dragon Age and Mass Effect books, all except this one. Oh god, this drags on. And I felt pure unadulterated hatred for so many of the characters, especially one of the main characters. The actions many of them take are, at best, misguided and at worst downright evil. Why did this book have to happen? It's bad enough that over three quarters of it is self-harm inducingly depressing, but on top of that it's such hard work to drag yourself through that towards the end you have war fatigue. A very disappointing addition to the DA series.

This was a really good book. Set not long after Dragon Age 2 this book tell the story of Valya a Mage who has sort refuge at Weisshaupt, the home of the Grey Wardens. The story then begins to be told past tense after Valya discovers a diary belonging to another Mage called Isseya who live 400 hundred years ago. It recounts her time fighting and the actions she took during the Forth Blight.I look forward to seeing how this book fits into Dragon Age 3 if at all.The fifth Dragon age book, I would recommend it to any Dragon Age Fan.

This combines an account of the fourth blight with an external perspective of the situation we'll be facing in inquisition. The characters are well developed over the course of the story and there's a hell of a good ending, I can't wait to see where they go with it.