Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Feeder
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Edmonton
STATE: AB
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2012049348
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2012049348
HEADING: Weekes, Patrick
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PERSONAL
Born in CA; married; wife’s name Karin (a video game editor); children: two sons.
EDUCATION:Stanford University, B.A., M.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
BioWare (video game developer), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, member of various writing teams, 2005-15, lead writer for Dragon Age franchise, 2015–.
AVOCATIONS:Lego building projects, kenpo karate, video games.
WRITINGS
Contributor to Mass Effect: Homeworlds (graphic short stories), collected by Mac Walters, Dark Horse Books, 2012; anthologized in Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores, edited by Greg Ketter, Prime Books, 2012.
SIDELIGHTS
Patrick Weekes was born in the San Francisco Bay area. He earned a master’s degree in English literature from Stanford University, but then his career opportunities led him away from literature and out of California. In 2005 he joined the writing staff of video game developer BioWare, and he has lived in Canada ever since. Weekes worked on the Mass Effect platform for several years. He updated his literary skills periodically with short fiction, including work in the anthology Mass Effect: Homeworlds in 2012. Weekes then launched a secondary career as a novelist.
The Palace Job, The Prophecy Con, and The Paladin Caper
“Rogues of the Republic” introduces an enterprising fugitive named Isafesira de Lochenville. The former soldier is on a single-minded quest to regain possession of a cherished family treasure, but she cannot do it alone. The Palace Job reveals her plan to retrieve the stolen elven manuscript from the vault of Heaven’s Spire, all the while eluding the forces of the Justicar Pyvic. She assembles an eclectic team of miscreants to carry out the heist: an illusionist, a reformed priestess of death, and a boy of no apparent talent, along with a supernatural talking war hammer and a magical unicorn.
The quest continues in The Prophecy Con. The priceless elven document that has set the scene for war between Loch’s Republic and the ancient Empire turns out to be a volume of salacious poems. On the off-chance that the off-color verses conceal an evil plot to seize control of the Republic, Loch pits her crew against a well-armed cast of enemies from the real world and beyond. Her strategy will take her, in action-packed video-game style, from a museum full of booby traps to a library of lurking monsters, and past a temple of angry monks, while being chased by a trainload of assassins.
In The Paladin Caper, Loch learns that the ancients have already infiltrated the highest ranks of leadership of the Republic. The Empire now threatens family members of Loch’s criminal enterprise, using their own family histories and social connections against them. Betrayed by her own sister and a once-trusted ancient, Loch faces an uncomfortable reality. It is possible that the only way to accomplish an audacious sting operation, save a friend, and defeat the Empire forever will be to enlist the aid of her enemies.
The Masked Empire
After the completion of the video game Mass Effect 3 in 2012, Weekes moved to the writing team for the third installment of the medieval-themed Dragon Age series, in which the Inquisitor character travels to the continent of Thedas to end a period of civil unrest and seal a tear in the sky that is enabling a horde of demons to pour through. The breach was created by the ancient “darkspawn” Corypheus from Dragon Age II, and the goal of the Inquisitor is to prevent him from conquering Thedas. As a quasi-prologue to this installment of the game, Weekes wrote the companion novel The Masked Empire. This is the story of Empress Celene of Orlais and her elven lover Briala, in which the elven subjects of Halamshiral revolt against their human overlords. The evil grand duke, Gaspard de Challons, is plotting to overthrow Celene, and she must flee for her life. The novel is best understood by readers already familiar with the video game series.
Liz Bourke, a fan of the Dragon Age universe, posted at the Tor Books website that “The Masked Empire is a fun read.” She pointed out various flaws that are often attributed to tie-in novels that rely on the original source material for world-building and character development, but she was favorably impressed by other elements of the story. Bourke wrote: “The central relationship between Celene and Briala is worth examining” as “a loving sexual relationship between its two main female characters,” a rather unusual situation in the major video-game industry at that time. She complimented the author as “a significantly better prose writer” than she expected, and added: “I’ll be keeping my eye out for other novels by Patrick Weekes.” Soon after The Masked Empire appeared, Weekes was promoted to lead writer of the Dragon Age platform, so a few years elapsed before he completed his next novel.
Feeder
Feeder reveals that Lori Fisher is not a typical teenager. She is a monster-hunter for the Lake Foundation in a watery city of the Pacific Northwest, where the sea level is rising, slowly but inexorably. The rising water is the least of her worries. Her job is to hunt down the alien “feeders,” who latch on to unsuspecting humans and consume them from the inside out. When Lori finds a feeder and touches it, her mysterious Handler swoops in from another dimension and drags the monster away in its huge jaws.
All goes well until Lori discovers the Nix trapped in a shipping container near the docks. She frees the imprisoned teens, all of whom have a special supernatural power and a physical or emotional attribute that sets them apart from their peers. One is confined to a wheelchair; another has lost both parents. One is marginalized by transgender status; Lori happens to be biracial. Their personal struggles feed their powers. One is bulletproof; another is a shape-shifter.
When Lori learns that the kidnapper of the Nix was her own boss, Tia Lake, she realizes that the Lake Foundation is not what it seems to be and that many lives are in danger. Time is running out for Lori and the cherished little brother that she must protect. She and the Nix have three days to uncover Tia’s secret plot and neutralize her. If they fail, the feeders will be waiting for all of them. Ultimately, each of the Nix is human. Will their special talents and their bonds with one another be enough to defeat the ancient creature whose need for them grows stronger every day?
Feeder moves with the speed of a video game, critics wrote, at some cost to character development, but with ample opportunities for surprising plot twists. “Action scenes crackle with energy,” observed a Publishers Weekly contributor, “and the banter among the heroes is rapid-fire.” Reviewers also noted the unusual text-message dialogue between Lori and her otherworldly Handler. Barbie Love mentioned in her Voice of Youth Advocates review: “Handler’s relationship with Lori is successfully mysterious and tantalizingly wrapped in a secret Lori is afraid to uncover.” Booklist contributor Cindy Welch volunteered, somewhat ambiguously, that “the ‘villain’ is caught in a situation that … makes it a little difficult for readers not to empathize.” The challenges faced by individual characters enable the author to delve into themes described in the Publishers Weekly review as “self-acceptance, friendship, and what it means to be human.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 15, 2017, Cindy Welch, review of Feeder, p. 96.
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2017, review of Feeder.
Publishers Weekly, January 1, 2018, review of Feeder, p. 59.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2018, Barbie Love, review of Feeder, p. 71.
ONLINE
Simon & Schuster website, http://www.simonandschuster.com/ (June 23, 2018), author profile.
Tor.com, https://www.tor.com/ (April 11, 2014), Liz Bourke, review of The Masked Empire.
Patrick Weekes was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Stanford University, where he received a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature.
In 2005, Patrick joined BioWare's writing team in Alberta, Canada. Since then, he’s worked on all three games in the Mass Effect trilogy, where he helped write characters like Mordin, Tali, and Samantha Traynor. He is now working with the Dragon Age team on the third game in the critically acclaimed series, and he has written tie-in fiction for both series, including Tali’s issue in the Dark Horse “Mass Effect: Homeworlds” series and Dragon Age: Masked Empire, an upcoming novel to be released in July 2014.
Patrick lives in Edmonton with his wife Karin, his two Lego-and-video-game-obsessed sons, and (currently) nine rescued animals. In his spare time, he takes on unrealistic Lego-building projects, practices Kenpo Karate, and embarrasses himself in video games.
Rogues of the Republic:
The Palace Job:
Loch is seeking revenge.
It would help if she wasn’t in jail.
The plan: to steal a priceless elven manuscript that once belonged to her family, but now is in the hands of the most powerful man in the Republic. To do so Loch—former soldier, former prisoner, current fugitive—must assemble a crack team of magical misfits that includes a cynical illusionist, a shapeshifting unicorn, a repentant death priestess, a talking magical warhammer, and a lad with seemingly no skills to help her break into the floating fortress of Heaven’s Spire and the vault that holds her family’s treasure—all while eluding the unrelenting pursuit of Justicar Pyvic, whose only mission is to see the law upheld.
What could possibly go wrong?
The Palace Job is a funny, action-packed, high-fantasy heist caper in the tradition of Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series, from debut author Patrick Weekes.
The Prophecy Con
Who would have thought a book of naughty poems by elves could mean the difference between war and peace? But if stealing the precious volume will keep the Republic and the Empire from tearing out each other’s throats, rogue soldier Isafesira de Lochenville—“Loch” to friends and foes alike—is willing to do the dishonest honors. With her motley crew of magic-makers, law-breakers, and a talking warhammer, she’ll match wits and weapons with dutiful dwarves, mercenary knights, golems, daemons, an arrogant elf, and a sorcerous princess.
But getting their hands on the prize—while keeping their heads attached to their necks—means Loch and company must battle their way from a booby-trapped museum to a monster-infested library, and from a temple full of furious monks to a speeding train besieged by assassins. And for what? Are a few pages of bawdy verse worth waging war over? Or does something far more sinister lurk between the lines?
The Paladin Caper
A thief’s good deeds are never done.
Loch and her crew are determined to stop the ancients from returning to reclaim the world they once ruled, but the kidnapping of a friend throws their plans awry. When a desperate rescue turns into a shocking reunion, the ancients return and seize power. Determined to stop them, Loch and the group look for a way to close the gate to the ancients’ world, but this time, they find themselves up against an enemy that has insinuated itself into the highest ranks of the Republic. Cruel, cunning, and connected, the ancients target the crew’s families and histories, threatening to tear friendships apart.
If that weren’t bad enough, Loch must deal with her treacherous assassin sister, her turncoat ancient friend, and a daemon who has sworn to hunt her to the ends of the earth. In order to save the Republic and pull off her largest con ever, Loch will need her friends…and maybe her enemies too.
Patrick Weekes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Patrick Weekes
Occupation Writer
Language English
Alma mater Stanford University
Subject Science fiction
Fantasy
Spouse Karin Weekes
Patrick Weekes is an American author. He was born in California and attended Stanford University, where he received a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature. He is a writer at BioWare[1] where he has written for both the Mass Effect and the Dragon Age writing team. In 2015, it was announced that he would be succeeding David Gaider as the Lead Writer for the Dragon Age franchise[2]
Patrick currently lives in Edmonton with his wife Karin Weekes and his two sons.
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Patrick Weekes
Patrick Weekes is the current Lead Writer for the Dragon Age series, and author of Dragon Age: The Masked Empire. He is married to BioWare's lead editor Karin Weekes.[1]
Contents[show]
Background Edit
Patrick Weekes joined Bioware in 2005 and originally worked on the Mass Effect writing team. He was a writer on Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3, as well as the Lair of the Shadow Broker, From Ashes, Leviathan and Citadel DLCs. Among many other contributions, he wrote for characters including Jack, Tali, Miranda, Kasumi, and Mordin, as well as the Rannoch and Tuchanka story arcs of Mass Effect 3. Following completion of Mass Effect 3, he moved to the Dragon Age writing team working on Dragon Age: Inquisition.
David Gaider announced on March 3, 2015, that he would soon begin a new project at BioWare, and that Weekes would assume the role of Lead Writer for the Dragon Age series going forward.[2]
Dragon Age: Inquisition Edit
Weekes wrote the characters Iron Bull, Solas, Cremisius Aclassi and the rest of the Bull's Chargers, and Cole.[3] He also wrote the quest Here Lies the Abyss.[4] Weekes was Lead Writer on the Trespasser DLC.
Other Works Edit
Weekes wrote the fourth Dragon Age novel, Dragon Age: The Masked Empire, which was published on April 8, 2014. He also contributed to the writing of Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2.
He has also written several novels in his own "Rogues of the Republic" series: The Palace Job,[5] The Prophecy Con,[6] and The Paladin Caper.[7] Weekes has another novel, Feeder, which was published on March 6, 2018.[8]
External links Edit
Bioware Blog Facebook Friday Week 10
References Edit
↑ Chris Priestly (February 18, 2011). Facebook Friday Week 10 – Patrick & Karin Weekes. BioWare Blog.
↑ Twitter icon Patrick Weekes. https://twitter.com/PatrickWeekes/status/572892012598448129 . Twitter.
↑ Patrick Weekes (November 10, 2014). Character Profile: Cole. Dragon Age.
↑ Nerd Appropriate Interview with Patrick Weekes.
↑ Twitter icon Patrick Weekes. https://twitter.com/PatrickWeekes/status/247740747137290240 . Twitter.
↑ Amazon.com The Prophecy Con.
↑ Twitter icon Patrick Weekes. https://twitter.com/PatrickWeekes/status/554424079483039745 . Twitter.
↑ Amazon.com Feeder
Patrick Weekes
Patrick Weekes was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Stanford University, where he received a BA and an MA in English literature. By day he works at BioWare, where he has worked on games in the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. By night, he is the author of the Rogues of the Republic trilogy; Dragon Age: The Masked Empire, a novel set in the Dragon Age universe; and Feeder. Patrick lives in Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, with his wife Karin, his two Lego-and-video-game-obsessed sons, and far too many rescued animals. In his spare time, he takes on unrealistic Lego-building projects, practices Kenpo Karate, and embarrasses himself in video games. Follow him on Twitter at @PatrickWeekes.
Print Marked Items
Weekes, Patrick. Feeder
Barbie Love
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.6 (Feb. 2018): p71.
COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Weekes, Patrick. Feeder. Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster, March 2018. 304p. $17.99. 978-1-534-40016-0.
4Q * 3P * J
Lori Fisher has a complicated life. Not only is the sixteen-year-old responsible for her seven-year-old brother, but she has a secret she must keep:
she is connected to an inter-dimensional creature known as Handler, and together, they hunt and destroy creatures who prey on clueless humans.
Recently, however, after uncovering several teenagers locked in an unmarked shipping container, Lori is thrown into the most dangerous mission
yet. She must search for the truth about why the teens were kidnapped and determine how to save the world from the monsters who want them.
As she teams up with the Nix--the group of kidnapped teens who have amazing superpowers--she starts to wonder if she has more in common
with the monsters hunting them than with the humans they are trying to save.
Feeder is an action-packed story filled with intriguing plot twists and a worthy storyline. Although it seems a little strange that an otherworldly
being would be adept in modern texting slang, <
a hit with teens who enjoy enthralling fight scenes, a mystery worth killing for, and teens with powers who may not be powerful enough to stop
what's hunting them. --Barbie Love.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Love, Barbie. "Weekes, Patrick. Feeder." Voice of Youth Advocates, Feb. 2018, p. 71. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357185/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1dc96a27. Accessed 22 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357185
Feeder
Publishers Weekly.
265.1 (Jan. 1, 2018): p59.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Feeder
Patrick Weekes. S&S/McElderry, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-5344-0016-0
In the canal city of Santa Dymphna in the Pacific Northwest, 16-year-old Lori Fisher supports herself and her younger brother by hunting down
alien beings called feeders with her interdimensional partner, Handler, who communicates with her via text message. While hunting feeders,
which take over human bodies to gruesome effect, Lori frees a group of superpowered teenagers called the Nix; they team up to stop their captor,
who has nefarious plans for them. Set in a world altered by rising sea levels, this first YA novel from Weekes (the Rogues of the Republic trilogy)
is chock-full of pop culture references (one of the Nix "might have wished for Captain Marvel, but she got Professor X") and diverse characters.
Brazilian Iara uses a wheelchair, Filipino Hawk is bulletproof, and sparks fly between sharp-tongued shape-shifter Maya and ultracompetent Lori.
The worldbuilding is thin, but the video-game-quick <
uses the action-adventure setup to explore
Inkwell Management. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Feeder." Publishers Weekly, 1 Jan. 2018, p. 59. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522125057/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f76d3b98. Accessed 22 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522125057
Feeder
Cindy Welch
Booklist.
114.8 (Dec. 15, 2017): p96.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Feeder.
By Patrick Weekes.
Mar. 2018.304p. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. MoElderry, $17.99 (9781534400160). Gr. 6-10.
Within one short week, five diverse teens with supernatural abilities, from super-strength to elasticity, bond as a team and defeat an ancient deity
who is bent on destroying the human race in order to be released from a millennia-long curse. Chapters are divided into the days of this
extraordinary week, wherein this newly formed set of superheroes--hailing from different cultures, parts of the world, and socioeconomic groups,
as well as having different physical abilities--have one another's backs when it matters. There are subplots about losing parents and dealing with
grief (or not), being different from one's teen peers, and being LGBTQ; but the sometimes-slimy action only slows and never stops to spend much
time developing them. Also, <
challenges middle-school students to explore gray areas of right and wrong. Readers will enjoy the mix of text messages into the prose, and those
who like mythology incorporated into fantasy plots can encounter Babylonian deities here.--Cindy Welch
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Welch, Cindy. "Feeder." Booklist, 15 Dec. 2017, p. 96. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A521459625/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e7699305. Accessed 22 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A521459625
Weekes, Patrick: FEEDER
Kirkus Reviews.
(Dec. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Weekes, Patrick FEEDER McElderry (Children's Fiction) $17.99 3, 6 ISBN: 978-1-5344-0016-0
Weekes offers a novel set in a strange reality full of unseen forces wreaking havoc.
To support herself and her little brother, Lori works with a creature called Handler to hunt the titular feeders, monsters that literally hollow
humans out. On what should be a routine assignment for the Lake Foundation, Lori makes a powerful enemy in Tia Lake when she stumbles
upon five teenagers trapped in a shipping container and sets them free. Turns out these teens possess special powers ranging from superstrength to
camouflage. Tia has plans for them, and she's not letting them--or Lori--go without a fight. The teens have three days to figure out what Tia wants
and how to bring down Lake Foundation or risk losing their lives in a most dreadful manner. With a mysteriously altered world and creatures that
jump dimensions, Weekes creates an intriguing setting, but the novel falters in its development of its diverse cast of characters of various
ethnicities and sexual orientations. One character uses a wheelchair, and another is transgender. Lori herself is part white and part Chinese.
However, Weekes' handling of diversity can get clunky. While trying to subvert stereotypes, his characters sometimes play into them instead.
Interestingly, each teen's power correlates to some very real struggle in their personal life that Weekes makes an effort to explore.
This has the makings of a fun, creative novel, but the execution leaves something to be desired. (Science fiction. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Weekes, Patrick: FEEDER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A518491403/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=38f7fc6b. Accessed 22 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A518491403
Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores
Publishers Weekly.
259.33 (Aug. 13, 2012): p45.
COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores
Edited by Greg Ketter. Prime (www.primebooks.com), $15.95 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-60701458-7
Ketter's collection of fantasy stories celebrating bookstores, first published in 2002, begins with an introduction by Neil Gaiman and contains 15
original stories plus Harlan Ellison's "The Cheese Stands Alone." The stories aren't spectacular, but the best offer narrative surprises. In Gene
Wolfe's wistful "From the Cradle," a consigned antique book seeks a new owner. Like John J. Miller's "Lost Books," which harks back to the
Library of Alexandria, it features an unexpected romantic thread. Although several stories offer Twilight Zone-type twists, just three do it well:
David Bischoff's "Books," P.D. Cacek's "A Book, by Its Cover," and Nina Kiriki Hoffman's "Escapes." A.R. Morlan's "The Hemingway Kittens"
serves up a surprising amount of whimsy, and Patrick Weekes' "'I Am Looking for a Book ...'" is laugh-out-loud funny. Bookshop owners and
habitues will appreciate the palpable affection for literary havens. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores." Publishers Weekly, 13 Aug. 2012, p. 45. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A299886731/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d7331837. Accessed 22 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A299886731
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes
Liz Bourke
Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:00pm 9 comments Favorite This
This is the first videogame tie-in novel that I’ve had for review. It’s been a little difficult for me to figure out where to start talking about it. Do I start with the world, with the games, or with a story that should stand on its own: a story that, without the context provided by Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, never actually will?
Maybe a media franchise tie-in novel doesn’t need to stand on its own, though. Certainly I’m not alone in really having enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins and DA:2 (for all their flaws) and in wanting to see more exploration of the interesting aspects of the world of Thedas, and places that have not yet been visited in the videogames. Dragon Age: The Masked Empire does a little of this, but it fails to avoid the major problem with the majority of media franchise tie-ins.
It echoes the atmosphere of, and recalls events from, its foundation texts to such an extent that its individual voice is muted and its ability to be its own thing is entirely compromised: the more so—I will tell you this in advance—when none of the major political developments that arise in its pages are resolved in any secure way by its conclusion. The Masked Empire feels more like a prologue for a future game—one presumes, in this case, the forthcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition—than a complete narrative in and of itself.
Although Patrick Weekes is <> than David Gaider, who authored the previous Dragon Age tie-in novels, so it’s a fairly enjoyable prologue.
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire opens at some point relatively soon after the events of DA:2’s finale, at the court of the Empress Celene of Orlais. Her Grand Duke, Gaspard de Challons, is plotting against her rule. He wants to start a war. He wants to be emperor. With the Chantry, the established religion, torn by internal division after the events of the end of DA2, and Celene’s support among the nobility undermined by her perceived lack of decisive action and her willingness to compromise with old enemies, there are only two people the empress believes she can trust: her bodyguard, Ser Michel, and her lover, Briala. But Ser Michel has secrets of his own, and Briala is an elf — for all her position as the empress’s trusted handmaiden, she’s still from a people who are despised as a class, whose horizons are limited by law and custom, who are abused with impunity by the powerful. When the elves revolt against their human overlords in the city of Halamshiral and Gaspard moves into open rebellion, Celene finds herself separated from her supporters. Isolated and on the run, with only Michel, Briala, and Briala’s elven friend Felassan for her allies, it’s an open question whether or not she’ll survive long enough to reassert her imperial authority.
If thus far I’ve made it sound as though this is Celene’s book, that’s not entirely accurate. While Michel and Gaspard have occasional interludes from their points of view, Briala is the other major point of view character, and she and Celene are equally The Masked Empire’s protagonists. Briala is set apart from her people by her knowledge and skills, and by her closeness to the empress, but her loyalty has always been as much to them as to Celene. When politics require the empress to suppress the elven revolt in Halamshiral with violence, it creates a rift in their relationship that no apology can heal: a rift made worse when Briala realises the truth of a certain secret that Celene’s been keeping from her since their shared youth. If Briala is to claim her own kind of power, it will be necessary for her to do so separate from the empress whom she has served for nearly twenty years—the empress who’s also the woman she loves.
As a further adventure in the Dragon Age universe, The Masked Empire is a fun read. As a novel, it possesses some flaws. It is unfortunate that Celene and Briala, women in their thirties, both of whom are experienced in matters political, should come across in the text as younger and rather less experienced than they are. Not unrelated: the political manoeuvring in The Masked Empire is drawn in unfortunately broad and simple strokes, and all our protagonists seem decidedly easy to manipulate, and to fool. And The Masked Empire prefers set-piece fights—action sequences—to tense emotional confrontations, rather than successfully balancing both.
<
This is, though, part of the problem with having relatively few queer female main characters in speculative fiction: every time we get one, their depiction bears impossible burdens of expectation.
Fans of the Dragon Age videogames will enjoy Dragon Age: The Masked Empire. It’s an entertaining novel, despite possessing in full measure the flaws of its source material. I had fun reading it—and <
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire is available now from Tor Books.