The Elder Scrolls Online - Volumes I & II: The Land & The Lore (Box Set): Tales of Tamriel

Let's cut to the chase: if you love the lore of the Elder Scrolls games (Skyrim, Oblivion, Morrowind, Daggerfall, etc.), you're going to want to add this to your bookshelf. This gorgeous slipcase boxed set brings together the previously released hardcovers of "The Elder Scrolls Online: Tales of Tamriel, Book I: The Land" and "The Elder Scrolls Online: Tales of Tamriel: Book II: The Lore," with a slight re-branding so it seems less specific to Elder Scrolls Online. The covers now only say "Tales of Tamriel." That's a good change, too. Though branded as being tied to The Elder Scrolls Online, an MMO many offline players have been hesitant to check out -- for what it's worth, it's a great game that earns the Elder Scrolls name -- the content and stories here are pretty universal and will be of interest to any Elder Scrolls lore geek, from novices to the long devoted. The production quality on this set is OUTSTANDING. The books are sturdy hardcovers with faux leather textured covers, lavish illustrations inside, and thick glossy paper. They are genuinely GORGEOUS. I initially balked at the price, but once I had it in my hands I understood. The box is nice, too, with textured print and designs, and a sturdy build that should last. These are not cheaply made! It's what's inside that counts, though, right? Each book runs a little over 200 pages and contains dozens of in-game books and (I'm pretty sure) some addition material not found in the games. "Book 1: The Land" is broken into five sections. These sections are organized based on the factions of Elder Scrolls Online, but veterans of the offline games will have no problem navigating what's what. The book opens with a brief section on Tamriel history. The next section is focused on the people and places of the Aldmeri Dominion, which means it's a series of tales and pieces on the high elves, wood elves, and khajiit. Section two covers the Daggerfall Covenant, made up of the orcs, Bretons, and Redguards. The fourth section is on the Ebonheart Pact, aka the dark elves, argonians, and nords (of Skyrim fame). And finally, a section on creatures wraps things up. The material here gives you a great sense for the people and places of the game world, including many places we never visited in the offline games. Book II: The Lore is (obviously) focused on history and lore.This one is broken into six sections: Racial Motifs (descriptions of the races), Lore (history, the gods, etc.), Magicka (about the schools of magic), Warfare and Factions (about guilds and combat), Oblivion (about the planes of Oblivion), and Daedra (self explanatory). This one gets a little deeper into the headier stuff that makes up Elder Scrolls lore. If you've read some in-game books, you know what to expect. There arearound 400 or so in-game books represented in these two volumes, far more than most people have read while playing the games. If you've skipped the in-game books, here's what to expect: a load of well-written tales, essays and pieces about Tamriel, presented as if written by people who live in the game world. They can vary from serious and deep to whimsical and fantastic. Just as the tone of the games switch a lot, so do these stories. If one of the pieces isn't catching your interest, no worries. Just skip it. Each story is very brief, usually only a single page, making this a GREAT book to just pick up and read for a few moments. Things are arranged in a logical order so if you want to read the books straight through you can, but it's not necessary. You can skip around to the things that interest you. If it wasn't so nicely made, it would make good bathroom reading. Hey Bethesda, get affordable softcovers made of these released so we don't have to feel guilty about beating them up! All in all, this set is terrific. The price is about the same as buying the two volumes individually, plus it comes in a gorgeous slipcase. Can't beat that. Looking forward to getting the Skyrim version next week! EDIT: My copy of The Skyrim Library - Volumes I, II & III (Box Set) has arrived, and it's equally as gorgeous!

I was very shocked woth the quality and size of these book, I was fortunate to purchase them on sale for under $40 and I have to say I'm impressed. Both book are outstanding pretty thick, and have alot if heft to them, they make excellent additions to the bookshelf, shrine, or collection, and are a mist for any Elder Scrolls or ESO fan. (Bonus if you have the Skyrim Library books, they are the exact same size and fit beautifully on the shelf together out of slipcase) Breaking things down per book, The Land features 231 pages of illustration, and information on various factions, locations, houses (like Ravenwatch), alliances, etc. It groups alot of the information based of alliance location, the contents lists things in order of History, Aldmeri Dominion, Daggerfall Covenant, Ebonheart Pact, and Creatures. Something like House Ravenwatch would be located in the Daggerfall section, since in game that's where you can find them. There's so many sub categories in this book, alongside high detail it's breathtaking, having the text paired right by the beautiful artwork makes for a great experience, and we'll worth a read. Moving on, The Lore. The Lore is broken up across 228 pages, again listed in the contents as Racial Motifs, Lore, Magicka, Warfare and Factions, Oblivion, and Deadra. The Lore focuses more on the mystical aspect of The Elder Scrolls, passages about the Spellcrafting and the Arcana, to the fundamentals of Alchemy, whereas the Land focuses on the History of the universe. Learning the ruminations and origins of Magic, the Aetherious, and Oblivion, fans of Micheal Kirkbride's writing and appreciation for the mystic and arcane will appreciate this book, as it delves into Deadric Princess, there powers, the Dwemer and how they harnessed the powers of Aetherious, and more. There are some what i would say, misplaced, texts here, like the history of the Fighters Guild, Mace Etiquette, and Heavy Armor Forging, although good reads, they don't fit the over arching theme of the book as a whole, but are still appreciated. Again illustrations litter the book, with fascinating art of Alchemical ingredients and potions, to amazing renditions of magical forces or spells, or the haunting halls of the now ruined Ayleid empire, the artwork is simply stunning and detailed. I'd have to say that these writings are definitely worth the price, and of your reading this while it's on sale I'd say pull the trigger and just get them, it's an great price for an amazing product, and you won't be let down. Things like this make me wish that Microsoft/Zenimax doubled down on the books, and published more like this.

I've been playing this game since it came out and I can't keep all of it straight. I mean there are a lot of lorebooks to go through, but not much structural cohesion on how or even if you encounter them. This collection almost looks like some great librarian gathered all the lore books and curated the collection into an order that makes sense. This isn't a comprehensive overview of the world. Molog Bal is barely mentioned, for example. Certainly no section dedicated to the planemeld and all that. This is closer to an encyclopedia of things you might finish the main quest and still not know, or might easily forget. I know I forgot half the Kajiti pantheon. I mean Jone and Jode, yeah, but some of the others not so much. This is a great addition to the library of any fan. The cover is beautiful. I prefer ebooks generally, and wish this were available on Kindle as well, but I can see the intent on a book that is this much a work of art. Now if only someone would start publishing the Investigator Vale novels.

Very artistic with loads of detailed rich drawings throughout the books. If you are a lore buff its a must have!

Beautiful books. Good quality well illustrated very enjoyable.

Ótimo par de livros que aprofunda um pouco no conhecimento sobre o universo de The Elder Scrolls, mais especificamente na época chamada de "Segunda Era". Essa é a época do videogame TES Online e do jogo de tabuleiro TES: Betrayal of the Second Era, e ocorre uns 1.000 anos antes dos eventos do videogame TES V: Skyrim. Os textos dessa coletânea são os mesmos dos livrinhos achados ao longo do jogo TES Online e muitos deles (se não todos) estão disponíveis gratuitamente na internet em sites de fandom do TES, a diferença da coletânea física é que aqui eles estão organizados por tema e são acompanhados de ilustrações. O primeiro livro trata basicamente da organização das três alianças militares principais de um certo momento da Segunda Era (Aldmeri Dominion, Daggerfall Covenant e Ebonheart Pact) e menciona sobre algumas poucas criaturas de Tamriel, especialmente lobisomens. Já o segundo livro tem comentários sobre as raças, as divindades (Aedra e Daedra), magicka e Oblivion. Em termos de acabamento, as capas têm uma textura encerada e contam com verniz no símbolo das 3 Alianças; as páginas têm boa gramatura e um efeito envelhecido como se estivessem mofadas. Senti falta só de uma fitinha pra marcar a página. Com a ressalva de que o texto desses livros é disponível gratuitamente na internet, recomendo mais pra quem é fã do universo TES e/ou pra quem pretende jogar o jogo de tabuleiro Betrayal of the Second Era e quer ter uma referência visual e contextual ali na mesa enquanto joga (o que é interessante pra grupos que gostam de interpretar os personagens e não só ficar jogando dado). Já pra quem joga TES Online eu acho que não vale muito a pena porque a pessoa já vai encontrar esses textos ao longo do jogo, mas ainda assim é um item legal de colecionismo ou pra quem não tem paciência de ficar caçando os livros enquanto joga e prefere ler fisicamente.

These are fantastic

Arrived quickly, in fact one day before it was scheduled, the books looks amazing and I'm happy to have it.