Bookworm Speaks!- The Skyrim Library: The Histories

Bookworm Speaks!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The Skyrim Library, Vol. I: The Histories

By Bethesda Softworks and Aaron McConnell

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Acquired: Amazon.com

Series: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Hardcover: 232 pages

Publisher: Titan Books (June 23, 2015)

Language: English

Subject: Fantasy

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The Story: For the first time, the collected texts from the critically and commercially acclaimed fantasy video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are bound together in three exciting volumes. Lavishly illustrated and produced, these titles are straight out of the world of Skyrim - and a must for any wandering adventurer.

The Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the most iconic video games ever. When it was released in the year 2011, it took the world by storm. 

One of the main points for all of this praise is the vast open world that the player can roam through. It is very easy to lose all semblance of running quests when there is a another tomb, cave, or mountaintop castle to explore. In addition to gold, weapons, and armor, there are also books that are scattered throughout the land of Skyrim. Adding to the delight was the fact that these books could be picked up and read, sometimes offering player boosts! Even without boosts though, the books were fascinating all on their own. 

Each one told a little story, ranging from history to fairy tales to even the Elder Scrolls version of pulp fiction tales! It really drives home just how deep and rich the world of the Elder Scrolls truly is. Reading this book adds a whole other level to the game and proves there is much more than swords, shouts, and dragons in Skyrim. It helps that the text takes us much, much father than the realm of Skyrim. 

Sadly, the text does not seem to contain every single book that is found in Skyrim. Perhaps there was simply too many to add all of them into a single book. Also, the series as a whole, only seems to contain, for lack of a better term, ‘official’ texts from the game. What made Skyrim so successful as a video game was the personal touches that the player could add to their character and the things they could discover on their own unique journey through the world. There are countless notes, diaries, and specialty items that can be discovered along the way. The fact that they these more personalized writings were largely excluded from this series, not just this volume, does seem like adding a touch of sterility. After all, in real life historical research, journals are just as valuable as textbooks, if not more so. 

This is a minor grievance, however, as the richness of the text quickly supersedes all others. The history of Skyrim and indeed that of the Elder Scrolls is vast and intimate. Stories of heroes and villains and monsters and adventures. For those players, who did not have the patience to read all of the books while they were playing the game, they are in for a treat as the world of the game opens up to them in ways never though possible. 

Of course, for players that did, in fact, read the books during their own adventure in Skyrim, they won’t find anything new. The artwork is new to most of us but not the text. 

It would be nice on Bethesda’s part, though, to release a Skyrim Ultimate Library, which contains every text in the game. Bookworm would by that in a heart beat. 

Those are minor problems though. Just the chance to truly hold something that up until that point only existed in the digital realm, makes this book all the more worthwile. 

The Verdict: This book helps Skyrim feel real. This is not a video game, where a screen is between the world and the player. It is something that can be held in your hands. It can be felt and touched and smelled and seen.  

The Rating: Five Stormcloak Insignia out of Five

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