Empress Celene of Orlais rules a court built on masks and backstabbing while the mage-templar war spreads and the elves in her own cities grow restless. Her cousin, Grand Duke Gaspard, wants her throne. Celene sets out for Halamshiral to put down an elven uprising, taking her champion, Ser Michel, and Briala, her elven handmaid and spymaster, who shares a past with her that the court mustn't know about.
What this adds if you've played the games
Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, the Winter Palace mission in Inquisition, is built on this book. Celene, Gaspard and Briala are the three people you choose between that night, and reading this first turns the mission from a puzzle into a decision about people you know. It also introduces Felassan, an elf whose remarks read very differently after Trespasser. Patrick Weekes writes court intrigue and sword fights well, and it moves faster than the Gaider novels.
Where it fits
- Read beforeDragon Age: Inquisition
Leads directly into Inquisition's Orlesian civil war, which shows how the book ends. Read it before the game, or at least before the Winter Palace.
- Ties intoDragon Age: Asunder
Set just after Asunder, with the mage rebellion that novel builds toward already underway. Read Asunder first.
Editions
Titan Books Ltd paperback
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