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Complete Talia - Fires of Ferelden (Elder Scrolls / DA:O)

Discussion in 'Almost Recommended' started by blob, Dec 15, 2017.

  1. blob

    blob Seventh Year

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    Messages:
    240
    Title: Talia - Fires of Ferelden
    Author: Roku - Molester of Science
    Rating: T
    Genre: Fantasy/Supernatural
    Pairing: OC female main character / male Cousland, minor side pairings
    Fandom: Elder Scrolls/Dragon Age (mostly Origins, hints of Inquisition)
    Chapters: 104
    Words: 754,238
    Status: Complete


    Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10491757/1/Talia-Fires-of-Ferelden

    Summary: The Mage-Four manage to botch a simple scroll, and are sent a thousand miles the wrong direction. Before they know what's happening, Talia and Onmund are assumed Apostates, while Brelyna and J'zargo are nowhere to be found. Ferelden does not make a good first impression. Non-Dragonborn-fic.

    This story is, to put it shortly, amazing. It's a crossover between TES and DA with most of the story taking place in DA:O. The main character is OC, which was an excellent decision for this story. The hook is that you have four apprentices from the College of Winterhold teleported into Ferelden, where the average mage either spends their entire lives forcefully confined in a tower or gets summarily executed for failing a 'gotcha' test and being possessed by demons, with the Blight right around the corner.

    It has most of the main parts of the story of DA:O as well - you have the battle of Ostagar, Darkspawn, Orzammar and the like. You could argue that a significant part of the story is a canon rehash as plenty happens in a roughly similar way, but it wouldn't do the story justice. There's more than enough to keep the experience fresh and interesting IMO.

    The author takes some liberties with the setting and background, which is mostly noticeable during the later half when we see more of the TES side of the story. The changes are believable and realistic for the most part, and the only significant 'plot hole’ I’ve found due to those changes feels necessary to the plot.

    The characterization is top-notch and the characters themselves are likable and interesting. The writing is of excellent quality, the pacing is good, the combat is good, the settings feels realistic... truth be told, there's nothing that I can remember that I disliked about the story (although there's one character making me somewhat leery of the future of the plot, but it has very little screen time in the story so far and it’s too early to judge).

    There's also the fact that it's a monster of a fic, clocking at 754k words and actually got finished a short while ago, with the first chapter of a sequel posted. Definitely in my top 10 of all time from FFN, my favorite from all TES works on FFN overall.

    I cannot say how enjoyable it would be if you knew nothing about Dragon Age. While it would still be readable, I think that much of the magic would be lost. Knowing nothing about TES would be doable, but if you don't know what TES is you have bigger problems anyway.

    Sorry for typos etc, I am in a rush to wrap it up
    @edit - fun fact, you cannot edit post title on mobile
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2017
  2. Otters

    Otters Groundskeeper ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2010
    Messages:
    367
    High Score:
    2005
    I wanted to like this. I really did. But it just wouldn't work for me. About 200,000 words in and I can hardly recall anything which has happened.

    There are full sized novels shorter than that. Hell, that's a YA trilogy right there. And it was almost all empty words.

    I've been yearning for a good cross between The Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age but this absolutely isn't it.

    I can't get my head around why there was any need to import not one but four characters from TES - the OC is a whiny bitch who frustrates me every times she opens her mouth, is profoundly bland in every other way - and the others have little purpose being there. You can really tell that they're NPCs and not full characters, which is a crippling thing to be reminded of.

    2/5. I'm possibly being harsher than usual because I've been craving an epic length fic in this crossover, but this was 750k words of literary blue balls.
     
  3. Zombie

    Zombie Black Philip Moderator DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2007
    Messages:
    6,036
    I feel like this is using the ElderScrolls name to draw audience where it otherwise wouldn't. There are several decent ES fics that I've read and enjoyed. This was not one of them. Mostly because I'm not familiar with DA:O. I don't expect the author to info dump so I understand everything, but I expect to be able to follow along even if I've never played the game. I'm not that much into the lore of DA:O. Maybe after I've played it a abit I'll give this a chance and re-rate.

    Otherwise, for the ES lore, I was disappointed. While everything else wasn't bad it didn't engage me. 2.5/5