Bethesda Softworks

This review and others posted over at my blog.

This is a little collection of stories, poems, and histories about the races, creatures, factions, and wars of Skyrim. I think (though I could be wrong) that these are the actual books which can be found throughout the game. If that’s the case, it’s much easier to read them in printed format than in-game.

Like any collection of shorts/lore, some stories were more interesting than others. Some of my favorites were:

Palla – a horror-esque tale about being careful what you wish for

Confessions of a Khajiit Fur Trader – much darker than I expected, very cool

The Wraith’s Wedding Dowry – this was a fun dungeon-run type story

I also enjoyed the shorts about the Nightingales and the terrible origins of the Night Mother.

My favorite art was of the wispmothers (so pretty!) and the hagravens (so badass and creepy!)

If you’re a fan of books that add to the lore and world building of video games, and you love Skryim, then I think you’ll enjoy this book. I do want to get the whole set, not only to satisfy my inner completionist, but because they’re nicely put together.… (meer)

One of the least compelling of the official Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim lorebooks, this third volume of 'The Skyrim Library' deals with magic and mythology. That sounds promising, but the mechanics of magicka in the Elder Scrolls universe has always been rather sketchy, and the religious/mythic stuff is either too broad to be interesting or too detailed that it seems silly (like a lot of lesser worldbuilding, some of the names seem like they were made up on the spot). The Daedra are cool, and they are one of the jewels of Tamriel worldbuilding, but in this volume there are few of the stories that made other Elder Scrolls lorebooks passably entertaining.… (meer)