Book Review – Dragon Age: Last Flight by Laine Merciel

Dragon Age: Last Flight is yet another book set in the world of the Dragon Age video games. Using a nested narrative, it provides an engaging look into the history of Thedas without becoming too much like reading a giant codex.

I will start right off the bat by saying that this is, hands down, the best of the Dragon Age novels that I’ve read so far. I’ve read both The Calling and Asunder, and Last Flight comes in as most entertaining and engaging, by far. It is also, strangely enough, the only one that was not written by a member of the Dragon Age writing team.

Now it’s hard to really pinpoint exactly why that matters, but I can’t shake the feeling that it somehow does. Maybe because Liane Merciel seems to primarily be a novelist by trade, and is maybe a little more skilled with pacing for such a work? One of my only “bones to pick” with the other two that I’ve read so far was pacing – specifically action scenes that dragged on just far too long for the written word (but would probably be AWESOME and of perfect length if executed visually – say like a boss battle or a cut scene in a video game) – and there was no issue with that what so ever in this one. Merciel provides just enough action to keep it interesting, and writes the scenes in a way that the reader can easily visualize things without going overboard on choreography.

Last Flight is also unique in its content. This one is more about exploring the history of Thedas and the Grey Wardens than providing any sort of additional background for already existing characters, which I think was a smart move. So often I have trouble reading franchise books like this because the characters that you have come to know and love just don’t quite ring true in the hands of another writer. And that was one of the big reasons that I liked the other two Dragon Age books I’ve read. They’re written by the lead writer for the series. He knows the characters, and so the characters I’ve come to know and love never seem… off.

So I think choosing to focus on new characters instead of already established ones was a very good move considering they switched up authors. Instead, the plot spends most of its narrative actually going back in time, putting the reader in the middle of the fourth blight and exploring the really rather grey morality of the Wardens in a much more effective way than any of the games yet have. It gives opportunity to not only expand the world, but allow the author enough freedom within it so that nothing feels forced.

In summary: My favorite Dragon Age novel yet, but don’t expect to see any familiar faces in it.

Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Would recommend to: Dragon Age and fantasy fans.