Book: Baldur's Gate 3: Astarion by T. Kingfisher
Reviewed by Rallie X
Rating: 4/5
This was so charming! I haven't read any of T. Kingfisher's work before but I'll definitely be checking her out now! I think this book does an incredible job of being both fanservice for Baldurs Gate 3 players and just an entertaining book about a foppish vampire for people who like vampire novels. I'm both of those things, so this book was perfect for me!
I loved getting to see Astarion's backstory, and I think T. Kingfisher did a really good job of taking the essence of the character and finding reasons for him to be the way that he is. He doesn't just like nice things because he's a sexy vampire, he doesn't just use daggers because dual wielding is good for rogues ("Astarion took to knife fighting like a goose to mayhem" - does T. Kingfisher know about Goose-starion? she has to, right?). And Kingfisher's Cazador was every bit as evil as Game Astarion tells players he is - getting that fleshed out is almost as satisfying as killing him in the game.
The pacing was excellent, the tone fit perfectly the kind of serious-unserious character Astarion is, there were funny little lines that D&D players will snicker at (why do you think there so many skeletons in the sewers?), and a spicy romance that was exactly as tragic as Astarion deserves. And my god Kingfisher gives us the tragic morally black vampire(spawn) hotboi that we deserve.
I was blessed to have the audiobook from libro.fm, and it's narrated by Neil Newbon! Which was amazing, not just because he <i>was</i> Astarion but also because he's just an incredibly talented VO in general.
The elder vampire hadn’t lied. This was what awaited him now— brief pleasures that gave way to humiliation and disgust.
But Cazador did not know about this. A single sensual pleasure still belonged to Astarion: that silk was still a cool whisper and velvet a warm glide against his fingertips. This solitary thing remained untainted… as long as the old man never found out.
It also made Astarion irrationally angry. I went on my knees to any god that I thought might have me and begged them for help after I was turned. Not one answered. Not one so much as glanced in my direction. And this thick-skulled, muscle-bound bastard, with his earnestness and his conviction, casually calls up a god that barely even exists anymore?