Originally Reviewed at:Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source:NetGalley
Reviewer:Me




I have been waiting on this one! Dragon Age Volume 1: The Silent Grove is definitely a graphic novel for fans of the game, Dragon Age:Origins and Dragon Age II. We see the return of Alistair who is our main character, on a quest to find his missing father Maric. Along beside him for the journey are Isabela, who you may recall is a thief and the captain of the pirate ship, The Siren’s Call. Also we have Varric, the surface dwarf who narrates the story of Dragon Age II. So yes fans, we have an eclectic bunch who have banded together by necessity to find Alistair’s missing father.



Being a fan of both video games, my expectations for this graphic novel were extremely high. Thank goodness I wasn’t disappointed! I was able to quickly immerse myself back into the world of Ferelden, a land that has been recovering from the Fifth Blight and a grave civil war. We are immediately thrown into the action as our characters meet one another to get acquainted before embarking on their first mission, raiding the archives of The Crows. From here on out, the story is filled with angst as we watch our character be betrayed, discover hidden secrets, and encounter The Witch of the Wilds. I was captivated and enjoyed every single minute of the non-stop action.



Art wise, I liked the illustrations, though I do believe the characters looked a little more cartoonish than Dragon Age style. It wasn’t a huge issue, but I can see it throwing some fans of the series off. The mystery surrounding Alistair’s father was very intriguing and eluded to several possibilities in the upcoming continuation. I loved seeing The Witch of Wilds, Yavana. We also get a few references to her infamous mother and sister, Flemeth and Morrigan who are both heavily present in the games. And of course you can’t have Dragon Age without DRAGONS! So yup, you will see those too!



Overall, this is definitely a graphic novel for fans of the series who want to immerse themselves deeper into the world. If you are not a gamer but still enjoy graphic novels with an exciting storyline and over-the-top characters, then please go and pick this one up! ( )

Förutom vanliga böcker så finns det naturligtvis även serier satta i Thedas: The silent grove handlar om hur Alistair (ja!), Isabella (ja!) och Varric (jaaa!) tillsammans försöker ta reda på vad som hänt med Alistairs far, kung Maric. De börjar i Antiva, och fortsätter sedan in träsken för att hitta en vildmarkshäxa (en syster till Morrigan) som skall ha tagit honom.

Som berättelse är det inte mycket att säga om den, speciellt som det bara är första delen av tre: den ångar på rätt bra, har ungefär så många vändningar man kan vänta, och ger en del förståelse för personerna. Dialogen funkar hyfsat – med dessa tre i huvudrollerna fattas bara annat –, men det är någon gång lite oklart.

Teckningarna är dock lite mer blandade: Alistair är överlag hyfsat igenkännelig, Isabella acceptabel, men någon har gjort ordentliga missar med Varric, för han står knappt att känna igen. Det har troligen till stor del att göra med att hans näsa inte längre är knäckt, men även annars verkar han lite plufsig (att han har någon sorts rustning som döljer hans håriga bröst är av något mindre betydelse). Att sedan alla kvinnor man ser (inklusive Isabella, men det är bara väntat) går omkring mycket lättklädda känns inte helt OK heller.

Det är hyfsat, men om det är värt att plocka upp kommer bero på avslutningen. ( )

Before I start my review I just wanted to say that I have never read any other Dragon Age books or played any of the games and I have no knowledge of the Dragon Age world. That's probably one reason why I didn't enjoy it very much. I saw it on Netgalley and thought it looked interesting so I requested it.

This was clearly a fantasy book so I should have expected a complicated world with lots of made up words. If I kept up with Dragon Age I would understand what was happening, but I don't so for the first half of the book I was confused as to what was happening.

I had no idea who the characters were, but their roles were easy enough to grasp. Alistair is a king who doesn't think he should be king. Isabela is a feisty pirate and Varric is a cocky, gruff dwarf. Seems like an odd group, but it made for an interesting adventure.

The artwork is great. Sometimes I felt like it wasn't very good, but it's nicely detailed. I especially loved the dragon; it looked awesome. But trying to read this on my iPad (using the BAM Reader app) was just painful. The words were blurry and it was zoomed in far too much. I think the artwork would have looked nicer if I could have zoomed out a little.

The story is interesting, the world is well developed, and the characters are complex. I think for fans if this story this would be an enjoyable comic. For me it was just really confusing. ( )

Background: King Alistair sets out on a dangerous quest with the pirate Isabela and Varric Tethras. While on the move, they encounter thieves, assassins, witches, and dragons. Quests can’t be easy.

Review: I did not play the Dragon Age games, however I have friends that did as well as my husband, which means I watched a lot of people play. The characters from the games are very well depicted here in this graphic novel. Alistair is a very interesting personality, a king, but not afraid to do things himself. The illustrations are beautiful, using a full range of colors and the details are amazing. The adventures of Alistair, Isabela and Varric are entertaining, and there are dragons, and you cannot go wrong with dragons. If you liked the games or if you enjoy a good graphic novel, this is for you. And it is a pretty short read, only 83 pages. Enjoy. ( )

The Silent Grove is (I'm assuming) created to be a link between the events of Dragon Age II and the upcoming sequel. While this property cannot stand on its own, it -does- stand strong along side the other canon supplements. Grove creates many more questions than it answers, however, I suppose that is the nature of this particular beast. I was perhaps most impressed with the depiction of Isabela, as the artwork steps away from the long held tradition of gratuitous fan shots and does a fantastic job of keeping focused on the action. As a longtime fan of the series, I cannot wait for the questions raised to be answered and Gaider, as usual, keeps me guessing despite all of the hints and clue laid out before me. That being said, it is definitely not a jumping off point for someone looking to get into the series. ( )