Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne is a fantasy novel by David Gaider, first published in March 2009. It is Gaider's debut novel and the first book set in Thedas, the world of BioWare's Dragon Age role-playing video game series. The story acts as a prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, taking place thirty years earlier. It recounts the backstory of figures like Loghain Mac Tir and details how the kingdom of Ferelden gained its independence from the neighboring nation of Orlais.

The book was initially released on March 3, 2009, by Tor Books. A deluxe hardcover edition, with new illustrations by Stefano Martino, Andres Ponce, German Ponce, and Alvaro Sarraseca, came out on September 12, 2018, from Dark Horse Books.

At the time, Gaider served as the lead writer for the Dragon Age series at BioWare. He noted that while he had discussed the possibility of a novel with BioWare management earlier in Origins' development, the existence of book-based prequels for both Dragon Age and Mass Effect was "completely incidental." In an interview, he explained that Tor Books approached BioWare about a tie-in novel for the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins, following the positive reception of Drew Karpyshyn's Mass Effect: Revelation. BioWare offered the project to Gaider, who accepted because he had done most of the writing that established the lore and history of the Dragon Age setting. Gaider felt that having someone like him write the book meant he would know exactly what a Dragon Age story should sound like, calling the series his "baby."

Gaider observed that a novel's protagonist is predetermined and non-interactive, unlike a video game character. As the author, he had access to information players would not see in the game, allowing him to articulate a character's motivations or inner thoughts if it served the story, and he could freely shift point of view between characters. He noted that, unlike in video games, he could put anything from his imagination onto the page without technological limits. He found the experience "novel" and "unique" for a game designer and writer, and less difficult than expected. However, he also commented that players have agency when controlling a game character and tend to identify more strongly with them because they direct the action.