In Dragon Age: Origins, we got to spend precious little time with Duncan, and I don't know about you, but I never really grew attached to him for that very same reason. 
 In "The Calling", we get to know the (tragic) story of Duncan's life, and witness what he was like before becoming the famous Warden-Commander. 
 Then there is Alistair. Have you ever wondered at how he truly came into existence and what his father's relationship to his mother was like? 
 "The Calling" answers these questions. 
 The book closely relates to Dragon Age Awakening by introducing the Architect, a self-aware, talking and highly intelligent darkspawn, and focuses on Maric and Duncan, who venture into the Deep Roads to find a missing Grey Warden. 
 While the Wardens hardly played a role in The Stolen Throne, this book is theirs. 
 Even though the plot had its weaknesses here and there, the character backstories were fantastic and thus I highly recommend this book to fans of the Dragon Age universe. 
 This was a buddy read with Sorina at Buddies Books and Baubles