Short reviews

Dragon Age: Asunder by David Gaider.

This one takes place between the end of Dragon Age 2 and the beginning of Inquisition. Someone is killing mages at the White Spire in Val Royeaux, and the mages - bending and nearly breaking under increasing pressure from the templars - are ready to start a revolution.

Rhys - a spirit mage - finds himself under scrutiny for the murders, and goes on a journey to the far reaches of Thedas to prove his innocence.

Meanwhile, the White Spire has its own ghost that so far, only Rhys can see.

I actually enjoyed Asunder a lot. It filled in the backstory for one of the companions in Inquisition (Cole) and also a lot of the details of the ongoing mage-templar conflict. It’s readable and fast-paced, and fills in a lot of questions about the game itself.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

I really, really loved the premise for this one. The library of Alexandria was never destroyed - but knowledge and books are something that are doled out very carefully. The Great Library controls all knowledge and in a world where owning books is forbidden, is the one power that no one can gainsay.

Jess Brightwell comes from a family of book smugglers. When he’s granted a place at the Great Library for study, he finds out exactly what it controls - and how.

There are very cool steampunk elements to it, and also bits and pieces of ephemera that describe different things - for example one of them describes how Guttenberg’s press was never allowed to see the light of day, which all add to the overall richness of the book.

I read this in a couple of sittings, I think, and really enjoyed all of it. Jess himself was well-rounded and fun to read, the central romance wasn’t cheesy and frustrating, and the supporting players were also really well rounded. I’m excited for book 2.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

In Fangirl, Rowell created Cather, a writer of fan-fiction who’s favourite series is about a young mage called Simon Snow. Now, Simon Snow and his adversarial room-mate Baz, have their own story told in Carry On.

I enjoyed Fangirl but Carry On. My gosh. Carry On is just a basket of kittens, honestly. It’s so cute that I kind of want to bare my teeth at it and hiss a little bit. It’s Simon and Baz’s last year at school, as Simon’s supposed destiny as the Chosen One who will fight the Humdrum is about to come to a head … (I just made a DUN DUN DUN noise in my head).

Carry On is feather-light, kitten-cute and so much fun to read, I almost wish there was a whole series.