![]() Cover of the original edition of Dragon Age: Last Flight | |
Author | Liane Merciel |
---|---|
Illustrator | Stefano Martino, Andres Ponce, German Ponce, Alvaro Sarraseca (deluxe edition) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Dragon Age |
Genre | Fantasy |
Publisher | Tor Books (NA) Titan Books (UK) Dark Horse Books (deluxe edition) |
Publication date | September 16, 2014 September 17, 2019 (deluxe edition) |
Media type | Original - Print (Paperback) Deluxe Edition - Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 304 272 (deluxe edition) |
ISBN | 978-1-466-83134-6 |
OCLC | 1466831340 |
Dragon Age: Last Flight is a fantasy novel released on September 16, 2014 and written by Liane Merciel. The novel is set in Thedas, the setting for the role-playing video game franchise Dragon Age . The novel is centered on two characters: a young elven mage named Valya who is recently recruited into the Grey Wardens and rediscovers the last of the griffons, once serving as steeds for the Wardens and was thought to be extinct after their kind died off at the end of the Fourth Blight; and her predecessor who lived during the Fourth Flight, an elven mage named Isseya who practiced blood mage and was the sister of the hero Garahel who slew the Archdemon Andoral to end the Fourth Blight.
Movies Games and Tech ran a promotion in November 2014, to celebrate the release of Last Flight by giving away three copies of the book. [1] A deluxe edition was released by Dark Horse Books in September 2019, featuring new illustrations by Stefano Martino, Andres Ponce, German Ponce and Alvaro Sarraseca.
In the year 9:41 Dragon Age, the elven mage Valya and a group of mages from the Circle of Magi in Hossberg join the Grey Wardens at Weisshaupt for safety from the ongoing Mage-Templar War. With rebel templars rampaging through Thedas and rebel mages assembling a terrifying army at Andoral's Reach, the Wardens are the only safe harbor for both neutral mages and templars seeking to flee the conflict. Upon reaching Weisshaupt, Valya is tasked to search the fortress' library for accounts of Wardens abandoning their posts and behaving unusually, as well as records of talking Darkspawn, beginning with the Fourth Blight. From these instructions, Valya locates a lyrium-laced war map inscribed with Elvish, which leads her to a hidden journal detailing the last days of the elven blood mage Warden Isseya and her brother, the legendary hero Garahel who ended the Fourth Blight.
As she reads Isseya's first-hand account of the battles during the Exalted Age, the journal reveals that during the Wardens' struggle to defend and evacuate Antiva City, as well as secure the assistance of the Free Marches in ending the Fourth Blight, Isseya was tasked by the First Warden to put the Wardens' griffons through a Joining ritual. This ritual ultimately led to the creatures' corruption. As Garahel and the Wardens attempt, along with the dwarven Warden-Commander of Antiva, Turab, to secure Antiva City and also make diplomatic ties with Starkhaven's ruling family, the Vaels, Isseya also begins to regret condemning the griffons to madness and death. In secret she contrives a way to remove the taint from griffon hatchlings and contain it within herself, sacrificing herself by accelerating the taint within her body. This effort becomes particularly poignant after her brother falls slaying the archdemon Andoral during the Battle of Ayesleigh, along with the deaths of many of the mature griffons and their Warden riders in the final battle of the Fourth Blight.
Isseya manages to purge the taint from a clutch of eggs obtained from Amadis Vael's griffon. Amadis was Garahel's lover and the eggs of her griffon, Smoke, were sired by Garahel's griffon, Crookytail. Convinced the Wardens of her era are not fit stewards of the griffons and hoping those of the future will be, Isseya uses magic to hide the eggs in suspended animation in a remote location that would later become home to a statue of Andraste, the "Red Bride." Isseya hid her journal away somewhere in Weisshaupt and left with her griffon, Revas on one last flight.
Driven by her research to find this treasure in the present day, Valya then travels with a small group of companions to the site and is able to reanimate the eggs. They hatch, one chick in particular looking identical to Garahel's Crookytail. The hatchlings appear to be free of the taint, bringing Valya hope that they will rise again.
Nate Hohl from GameCrate claimed that Last Flight is essential for fans of the Dragon Age series, but noted that it is "not a perfect story" and the mileage the reader get out of the novel is contingent on their interest and/or familiarity with Dragon Age lore. He scored Last Flight 7.8 out of 10, commenting that the novel covers an important point in the Grey Warden's backstory and also tells a coming of age story for two different protagonists, calling it a must-buy for enthusiasts of the Dragon Age franchise, or book collectors who might want to add an engaging new fantasy novel to add to their collection. [2] Dominika "Mara" Bieńkowska from the Polish website Nerdheim scored Last Flight 7 out of 10. [3] In her "Sleeps With Monsters" column on Tor.com, reviewer Liz Bourke commented that Last Flight is a solid tragic adventure story with "compelling characters, plenty of desperate last stands, and a fair amount of hack-and-slash". She praised Last Flight for being "much better written, and much better put together, than any of the previous tie-ins", and that its narrative did not rely on prior knowledge of the Dragon Age setting, "while successfully managing to avoid the worst flaws of RPG tie-in novels". [4]
Keri Honea from Playstation Lifestyle noted that Last Flight answered a very important question about the fate of the griffons; she noted that the creatures feature very prominently in the heraldry and lore of the Grey Wardens throughout the Dragon Age series, and that Last Flight indicated that there appears to be a future for these creatures. Honea recommended Last Flight, commenting that fans of the series should read Liane Merciel's novel. [5]
Dennard Dayle from AIPT reviewed the deluxe edition of Last Flight and rated it 4.5 out of 10, questioning "Who is this book for?" He noted that the Dragon Age setting is inspired and has resonant environmental themes, and that the novel itself had quality art inserts, but claimed that the reader "wouldn't know it thumbing through Last Flight". He criticized the novel's "arid prose", stale plotting and lack of wit, and expressed concerns that a "quick, thinly thought-through cash-in" like Last Flight might hurt the brand just like Mass Effect: Andromeda did to the Mass Effect franchise. [6]
Dragon Age: Origins is a 2009 role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first game in the Dragon Age franchise. Set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the game puts the player in the role of a warrior, mage, or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background. The player character is recruited into the Grey Wardens, an ancient order that stands against monstrous forces known as "Darkspawn", and is tasked with defeating the Archdemon that commands them and ending their invasion. The game is played from a third-person perspective that can be shifted to a top-down perspective. Throughout the game, players encounter various companions, who play major roles in the game's plot and gameplay.
Dragon Age is a media franchise centered on a series of fantasy role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare, which have seen releases on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The franchise takes place on the fictional continent Thedas, and follows the experiences of its various inhabitants.
Dragon Age: Origins is a story-driven role-playing game set in a world called Thedas, where the player usually assumes control of one primary character as the protagonist of the story. Throughout the course of the story, player characters in Origins are continually presented with choices for how to deal with major game events, and any decisions made usually influence the overarching narrative. While the player does retain control over forks in the narrative, the overarching narrative in each game follows a specified path, and the player's influence is confined to certain pre-ordained events in the game rather than the entire narrative itself.
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is the expansion for the role-playing video game Dragon Age: Origins. Awakening adds a new campaign that takes place during the aftermath of Dragon Age: Origins. The game features new class specializations and skills for the player to develop. Awakening was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 16, 2010, in North America, March 18 in Europe, and March 19 in the United Kingdom. It was released for the Mac on August 31, 2010.
Hawke is a character from BioWare's Dragon Age media franchise, first appearing as the player character of the 2011 video game Dragon Age II. Hawke is the eldest child of the human Hawke family and hails from the nation of Ferelden in the world of Thedas, the setting of the Dragon Age franchise. The opening sequence of Dragon Age II follows Hawke's family as they flee northwards to the Free Marches region as refugees from the invading Darkspawn hordes. Settling down in the city-state of Kirkwall soon after arrival, Hawke emerges as a prominent figure within the span of a decade, rising in power and influence to become the "Champion of Kirkwall". Hawke is a pivotal figure behind the origins of the worldwide conflict between the setting's magicians and their custodians the Templar Order, and also plays an important role during a subsequent extradimensional invasion of Thedas by demonic beings as depicted in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Alistair is a fictional character in Dragon Age, a role-playing video game series created by Canadian video game developer BioWare. He is introduced as one of many companions that can join the party of the player character in Dragon Age: Origins. Alistair is a Grey Warden who fought alongside The Warden against the Darkspawn to end the Fifth Blight. Alistair is eventually revealed to be the illegitimate child of King Maric, making him an heir to the throne of Ferelden. Depending on the player character's choices during the events of Dragon Age: Origins, Alistair may be installed as king of Ferelden, remain as a Grey Warden, become a wandering drunk, or be executed by Queen Anora.
Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third main video game in BioWare's Dragon Age series, is the most successful video game launch in BioWare history based on units sold. The game features a large number of characters who are members or potential allies of the organization known as the Inquisition; its formation was sanctioned by Divine Justinia V of the Andrastrian Chantry, the dominant religious organization in the Dragon Age series, prior to the events of Inquisition. The organization's primary purpose is to restore order to the continent of Thedas, the setting of Inquisition, where civil unrest and civil wars have already plunged entire nations and societies across the known world into chaos. A supernatural calamity in the beginning of Inquisition led to the deaths of the Divine and the majority of the Chantry leadership, and the subsequent opening of a mysterious metaphysical tear in the sky called the "Breach", which is unleashing dangerous demons upon the world and sends Thedas deeper into crisis.
Flemeth is a character in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. She first appears in the 2009 novel The Stolen Throne as the Witch of the Wilds, a notorious sorceress who resides in the Korcari Wilds region within the Kingdom of Ferelden in the world of Thedas, and provides conditional aid to the novel's main characters when they pass through her territory. Her first video game appearance is Dragon Age: Origins, which is set several decades after the events of The Stolen Throne, and again aids the game's protagonists. She saves the Hawke family and guides them to Kirkwall, which sets the events of Dragon Age II in motion, and provides insight on how to defeat the main antagonist of Dragon Age: Inquisition. She is voiced by American actress Kate Mulgrew for all relevant media.
Varric Tethras is a fictional character from BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. The character made his debut in 2011's Dragon Age II, where he appeared as part of the game's framing device as the unreliable narrator of its plot. He also serves as a party member, a role which he reprises in its sequel, Dragon Age: Inquisition. In-universe, he is a renowned novelist as well as a self-appointed biographer to Hawke and the Inquisitor, the protagonists of Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition respectively. Brian Bloom provides the voice for Varric in all media.
The Darkspawn are a fictional collective of humanoid monsters who serve as recurring antagonists of the Dragon Age video game media franchise, developed by BioWare and owned by Electronic Arts. Within the series, they mostly dwell in the subterranean realms beneath the world of Thedas, the setting of the Dragon Age series. The Darkspawn are depicted as malevolent and ugly creatures who are capable of infecting other beings with a supernatural disease known as the "Taint", which twist its victims into monstrous creatures. The supposed origins of the Darkspawn is presented in Dragon Age: Origins as a religious creation myth by the Chantry, the dominant religious organization of Thedas. The Darkspawn are portrayed as an overarching threat to the world of Thedas, as they periodically rise to the surface as a unified force led by an Archdemon, the corrupted form of ancient draconic beings once worshipped as deities by human civilizations in antiquity, killing indiscriminately and corrupting anything they encounter. The Darkspawn hordes are primarily opposed by the dwarven civilization of Thedas as well as the Grey Wardens, a sworn brotherhood of warriors formed to stop the rampaging hordes of monsters from overrunning the surface world by any necessary means.
Morrigan is a fictional character from BioWare's Dragon Age franchise, first appearing as a party member in Dragon Age: Origins. She is a shapeshifting Witch of the Wilds, one of several sorceresses whose legends originate in the Korcari Wilds region of the kingdom of Ferelden, the setting of Origins. Morrigan leaves her home to accompany the protagonist of Origins, the would-be Hero of Ferelden, at the request of her mother Flemeth to stop the monstrous Darkspawn from overrunning the world of Thedas. Morrigan also appears in Dragon Age: Inquisition as a supporting character. She is voiced by Claudia Black.
Loghain Mac Tir is a fictional character from BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. He hails from the kingdom of Ferelden, a realm in the world of Thedas, where the Dragon Age series is set. Loghain first appears in the 2009 novel The Stolen Throne as one of its main characters alongside his friend, King Maric Theirin. The novel's story is set during their youth, where Loghain served as Maric's right hand during Ferelden's war against the Orlesian Empire. He would next appear in The Calling, eleven years after King Maric and his companions ventured into the Deep Roads as described in The Stolen Throne, and eight years after the rebellion led by Prince Maric managed to liberate Ferelden from the Orlesians.
Anders is a fictional character in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. The character made his debut in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening as a human mage pursued by members of the Templar Order, the military arm of the Chantry, which is the dominant religious organization in the Dragon Age series. He joins the player character as a party member. He appears again as a companion character in 2011's Dragon Age II.
Downloadable content for Dragon Age: Origins, a role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, was announced prior to the game's release in late 2009 along with a commitment from BioWare to support two years of content. Up to seven major content packs were released: The Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep, Return to Ostagar, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Leliana's Song, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt. The downloadable content (DLC) packs were distributed via Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and BioWare's website for the PC platform.
Dragon Age II is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts (EA) for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and OS X. It is the second major game in the Dragon Age series and was released worldwide in March 2011. The game features a total of six downloadable content packs that were released from November 2009 to September 2010 on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and BioWare's website. Most of these content packs feature new quests and new locations for players to access in the base game, as well as new items for the player to make use of. Two story-focused content packs serve as standalone side stories from the base game, both of which advance the narrative of the Dragon Age series as a whole: Legacy, and Mark of the Assassin.
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire is a fantasy novel released on April 8, 2014 and written by Patrick Weekes. The novel is set in the Empire of Orlais on the continent of Thedas, the setting for the role-playing video game franchise Dragon Age. The Masked Empire describes the events that culminate in the Orlesian civil war waged between the ruling Empress Celene I of House Valmont and her cousin, Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons and serves as a tie-in novelization for Dragon Age: Inquisition. Besides Celene and Gaspard, other notable characters introduced in the novel who later appear in Inquisition include Celene's elven handmaiden and secret lover Briala, Celene's champion Michel de Chevin, Mihris the sole survivor of the Dalish Clan Virnehn, and the ancient demon Imshael.
Dragon Age: Magekiller is a five-issue dark fantasy comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics set in the Dragon Age universe, and released between December 2015 and April 2016. The series was written by Greg Rucka, with artwork by Carmen Carnero and Terry Pallot. The timeline of the series run concurrently with the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition and tells the story, in several arcs, of the "mage-killer" Marius and his loquacious handler Tessa Forsythia. The series also tells the origin story and rise of the Venatori faction, and features appearances by several secondary characters from the Dragon Age series.
Dragon Age: Knight Errant is a five-issue heroic fantasy comic book series set in the Dragon Age universe, published by Dark Horse Comics and released between May and September 2017. The series was co-written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with artwork by Fernando Heinz Furukawa. The series takes place after the events of Dragon Age: Magekiller and serves as its sequel. The protagonists of Knight Errant are the elven thief Vaea and Ser Aaron Hawthorne, a drunken washed up Fereldan knight. The series features appearances from secondary characters in the Dragon Age series, such as Varric Tethras and Sebastian Vael.
Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights is an anthology of short stories set in Thedas, the universe of the Dragon Age media franchise. The collection is edited by Chris Bain, Patrick Weekes, Matthew Goldman and Christopher Morgan, and comprises a selection of fifteen stories written by nine BioWare staff writers about various characters from the Dragon Age series. Tevinter Nights was released on March 10, 2020 in paperback and e-book format.
Dragon Age II, the second main video game in BioWare's Dragon Age series, features an ensemble cast of characters. Several returning characters from its antecedent Dragon Age: Origins may appear in a major or minor capacity, including Flemeth, Anders, Merrill, Isabela, Alistair, Zevran, Leliana, Marethari, Bodahn and Sandal Feddic.