Dark Horse Books Publishes Varric's "Hard in Hightown" in Real Life

Bioware might be in the news lately for messing up Mass Effect and working on Anthem, a sci-fi Destiny clone that looks to have all the worst qualities of EA's contractually obligated greed stamped all over it. But it wasn't too long ago that people were praising the company (mostly) for releasing Dragon Age Inquisition, a game that was better than the second and at least easier to understand than the first.

And if you've ever played it, you'd know there's a lovable yet beardless dwarf named Varric who, in addition to being a merchant and crossbow expert, is also a famous author.  You can find 19 chapters of his most popular work, "Hard in Hightown," scattered across the in-game world, and you can even do a series of humorous sidequests to help him stop the production of unofficial sequels. But if you've ever hungered to know the full, unabridged story that helped catapult everyone's favorite beardless dwarf to fame, worry not: Dark Horse Books is teaming up with Bioware's Mark Kirby to publish the story in real life.

It'll be 96 pages long, with 24 pages dedicated to full-page illustrations, making it a rather light read. However, it will be significantly longer than the in-game text, which means that parts of it will have to be flushed out. Shouldn't be a problem.

If you're curious what the story's all about because you skipped all the in-game text (you MONSTER), then here's a brief summery:

"Twenty years of patrols have chiseled each and every stone of the Kirkwall streets into city guardsmen Donnen Brennokovic. Weary and weathered, Donnen is paired with a recruit so green he might as well have leaves growing out of his armor. When the mismatched pair discover a dead magistrate bleeding out on the flagstones, they’re caught up in a clash between a shadowy organization known only as the Executors and a secretive group of Chantry agents—all over some ancient artifact."

Seems like a fun little collector's item. It'll be released at the end of July for $20, so get those wallets ready.