Mostly very good. I felt there were too many threads left open and I really disliked how things played out in the final chapter. So now I need to read the next book to find out what happens. ( )

Unsurprisingly, a novel set completely in the Deep Roads was an awful slog.

Also, this book took me nearly 3 months to read. Why do I do this to myself? ( )

Man, I went back and forth on this. On the one hand, its poorly-done tie-in genre fiction. It isn't going to be 5-star material. On the other hand, it is so much better than the first book.

The characters in this are far more complex than what we see in Stolen Throne. The action is more interesting (and only a small portion of the text). The Calling looks at more interesting places, organizations, and problems than Stolen Throne does.

But it is what it is. The prose is still simple and redundant. If you show me a character is injured, limping, and grimacing, you do not need to go further and tell me they are in pain. There were swaths of story that felt like filler (such as the Fade section). ( )

Every DA fan (or fantasy fan) should read this book. This is the story of how King Maric accompanies a group of Gray Wardens into the Deep Roads to find a Warden captured by the darkspawn. A young Duncan and a later leader of the rebel mages Fiona are part of the group.
This is a dark story with good explanations of the blight and the terror in traveling the Deep Roads. Maric is in despair after the death of Rowan, his queen, so sneaking off and leaving the kingdom in the hands of Loghain and his young son Cailen into the Deep Roads again seems like the answer to his despair despite the dangers. It's great writing with all the best elements of a good fantasy story. I heartily recommend this book. ( )

i thought this was wayyy better than The Stolen Throne, and perhaps more importantly, reading this has given me the perfect excuse to replay DAO and Awakening for the 100 time, with all this fun new lore context to keep in mind ( )