Reviewed by:
- Book written by Patrick Weekes, Sylvia Feketekuty, Jon Epler, Lukas Kristjanson, Brianne Battye, Caitlin Sullivan Kelly, Courtney Woods, Ryan Cormier & Arone Le Bray
- Edited by Chris Bain, Patrick Weekes, Matthew Goldman & Christopher Morgan
- Published in 2020
- Spin-off of the Dragon Age games
The world of Thedas is full of ancient horrors, mysteries and factions that are trying to make their mark on history. We’ve all heard of heroes like the Hero of Ferelden, the Champion of Kirkwall and the Inquisitor, but they are not the only ones.
Tevinter Nights is an anthology of stories that tell the tales of unknown champions. Stories of ordinary Grey Wardens, Antivan Crows, Rivaini Lords of Fortunes and Tevinter mages, living their not so ordinary lives. With a Qunari invasion and the Dread Wolf lurking in the shadows, the nights are darker than ever.
With the title of the fourth Dragon Age game – Dragon Age: Dreadwolf – recently revealed, it seems only appropriate that I finally finished this anthology. As I’m writing this, it’s been seven years since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s last DLC. Seven years! How is a fan supposed to bridge all this time? Well, reading Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights proved a worthwhile activity.
There are fifteen short stories in this book, each focusing on different characters, settings and scenarios. A few of these main characters will be familiar to those who played the previous Dragon Age games. Most of the other stories will at least mention characters or events we’ve come to love or hate. The writers took effort to drop many such Easter eggs between the lines. Most important, however, all the stories succeed in capturing the unique atmosphere of the Dragon Age universe, despite the different types of stories. Horror, heists and murder mysteries all highlight a different aspect of Thedas.
Is this anthology then merely a taste of what we already know? Certainly not. Many stories take place in locations we haven’t previously visited in the games, such as Tevinter, Antiva and Nevarra. We are also presented with some delicious new lore nuggets. And mayhaps some of your questions from the games might get answered here…
As for the writing, I’ll say that the overall quality was fairly good. The stories are enjoyable and easy to read (more or less within an hour). I deliberately paced myself during the reading process, so I didn’t race through the book. On the whole, there was only one story where I was bothered by how the story was structured/written.
Though I believe Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights could also be enjoyed by those without any previous Dragon Age experiences, I think they might struggle with some of the basic worldbuilding of the setting. Furthermore, the beauty of this book lies within the earlier mentioned lore nuggets. I have some new questions to ponder before Dragon Age: Dreadwolf arrives…
