Lord of Souls: An Elder Scrolls Novel (The Elder Scrolls)

A very engaging continuation of the first book from start to finish! Very heavy moments that lead to an all together satisfying conclusion!

(This review was written having read "Infernal City" and "Lord of Souls." Note that "Lord of Souls" is the second half, rather than a sequel, of "Infernal City." Minor spoilers are in this review- though no particular plot points are mentioned.)Make no mistake- I enjoyed Infernal City and Lord of Souls. Unfortunately, both books left me with the distinct impression that the author did not, in fact, spend several hundred hours of his life living within the complex, fascinating and beautiful world of Tamriel. The UESP can only get you so far- it's like reading a tourist magazine about New Zealand instead of actually going there.As a long-time Elder Scrolls fan- someone who has both poured hundreds of hours into every iteration of the title, as well as roleplayed in TES online communities- I can understand the challenge of creating a convincing conflict on a scale big enough to be concerning to readers. However, the main conflict of these books simply leave a bad taste in my mouth, rather than leaving me feeling satisfied and entertained.Even so, the author is obviously no stranger to world-building, and has a very strong descriptive voice. Annaig and Mere-Glim manage to be characters I care about, and where they are concerned, I am very entertained by the story. My attention lapses, however, when the story cuts to the perspective of other characters, such as the mysterious Colin (who seems to serve very little purpose in the current state of affairs) and the pathetic Prince Attrebus. I found myself rather bored with those subplots, unfortunately.PROS-The descriptions of Umbriel are remarkable. Though it is not a place I want to be, it is a place I can imagine myself being. It is difficult to capture the sensory experiences of things that are not possible to experience in real life (such as flying, cooking with spiritual essences, and breathing under water), but the author manages to capture these experiences in a way that I can feel immersed.-Annaig and Mere-Glim are interesting and relatively unique. They are characters that I have come to care about and I want them to succeed. Their developed conflict between the two stories is a very neat concept. I wish it were developed more.-Some bits of the lore are written rather well, even with very little lore to work from in the source material. The way Argonian souls and society works, for example, is captured well. And the various inter-workings of Daedric princes and Oblivion was convincing to me. Though the same cannot be said for ALL the lore, at least there were times like this that I couldn't find anything to mildly critique.CONS-There are no particularly glaring lore-errors, but Keyes does take a few leaps of faith with the source material. Annaig's messenger bird Coo is a bit of a stretch from what is established within in-game lore. Additional minor details leave me feeling like this version of Tamriel is your typical high fantasy rather than a world with very specific deviations from the norm.-The author tried too hard to weave together different branching stories into one at the end. I enjoy the descriptions, hierarchy, and situations in Umbriel so much that when the story breaks away, I feel a little bored and cheated. The characters' simple motivations of surviving, thriving, and bringing down Umbriel are easy to understand and relatable. Sul, Attrebus, Colin and other minor characters the story sometimes focuses on are caught up in politics, searching for clues and artifacts, slipping in and out of Oblivion, and running from various foes sounds interesting when summarized, but ends up coming across as distracting. It might be just me, and it might be the fact that I do not like any of the other characters but Annaig and Mere-Glim. However, it is my understanding that the author should make me like these characters, and make me interested in what they're trying to accomplish. Otherwise, I find myself bored, waiting for the moment when I can return to the more pressing situation in Umbriel, with the characters I like, understand, and want to succeed.TL;DR: It's unfocused, scattered. It does not do the 'tell different stories from different perspectives before coming in on a singular goal' very well.-The finale is chaotic. It feels, dare I say it, too much like a "video game final boss fight." Granted, these are books based on video games- but I believe one should tell a story within reasonable bounds of their medium. If you're writing a novel, don't write it like a film script or a video game- write a novel. I do not want to read a chaotic description of characters attempting to usurp the villain in ways that I would do in a video game. I want to feel emotionally invested in what's going on. I want to feel shocked when characters are hurt, killed. I want to be on the edge of my seat. Instead, this is more like a popcorn flick. In book form.I would love to read more Elder Scrolls novels in the future- hopefully ones that focus on two or three characters and do not continually deviate from the task at hand. I am also particularly disinterested in another "fate of the world" jeopardy. Give me one or two characters who are merely trying to survive in the already complicated and wartorn world of Nirn- we don't need another Daedric overlord or zombie apocalypse to form a riveting conflict.If you are an Elder Scrolls fan, you will be entertained by these stories, but you won't be amazed.

These books did a good job of filling in some of the space between Oblivion and Skyrim. I would love to have some more.

This is the second in a two book series.This book is definitely worth a read. Greg Keyes is an excellent author. He describes events and scenes just enough to convey what is important, but not too much to clutter your mind's eye. His dialogue is natural and engaging.The first book, "the Infernal City," introduced the plot and the characters and left off with a giant floating city coming towards the Imperial City.In this second book, the characters are all brought together (in pairs at various points in the novel), and the plot lines are resolved. (Although I did not enjoy how all of the lines were closed out.)The prince, Attrebus, and his dark elf guide, Sul, are able to travel through Oblivion and eventually made bargains with several of the denizens there to recover a sword that Sul hopes will allow him to slay the master of the floating city.Annaig and Glim are still trapped on the floating city and lead decidedly different lives; Annaig becomes a chef in Hell's kitchen (or at least Oblivion's) while Glim leads a revolution for more rights and consideration for the proletariat.Colin continues to uncover rot at the heart of the Imperial city.The first book could have taken place in any fantasy setting. The second book definitely has an Elder Scrolls feel to it.Beware, take care for spoilers follow ...In the end, the sword is unable to harm the protagonist, but there is a work-around ... Annaig and Glim are able to point out to Attrebus and Sul where the soul of the antagonist is held.In the end, it is a group effort that brings down the evil overlord of the floating island.Attrebus and Annaig are getting along famously, and they have both grown from their experiences. The Prince is less self-engaged, and Annaign is more serving and has more confidence.Glim wills the floating island to "where the trees came from," and, well, yes, that seems like a bit of a "jump cut" for .Colin also makes out poorly. He finds the female infiltrator that we met in book one has decided that it is time to reimburse herself for all of trouble she has gone through. The final scene is Colin stopping her from taking over the world at the price of his own life. Bummer ending.I recommend this book if you liked the last one.In service,Rich

This product was easy going and enjoyable. The book definitely felt like a cool oblivion downloadable content.

I really enjoyed this novel and was suitably hooked, using every lunch break at work to read through it. Greg Keyes pays respect to the Elder Scrolls lore with consummate skill, introducing some new characters and concepts without breaking any lore.The theme involving foods, tastes and gastronomy continues from the previous novel and continues to blow my mind how creative Greg Keyes is in making the "cuisine" feel truly alien and lovecraftingly epicurean.A select few of the Daedra and their realms are featured. I felt this was handled better in this novel as the focus was on those with a direct investement in the events. In the previous novel The Infernal City, a couple of them felt sort of pedestrian, just there to tick a box.The 2 highlights of this novel and the previous are:1. One mentioned by many other fans of Elder Scrolls - we are privy to delicious lore regarding the Argonians and the Hist.2. The development of the characters Annaig and Mere-Glim.

It’s good to see a fantasy series that isn’t “the blah blah chronicles book one of nineteen” This is a short series of two books, well written, embraces the weird side of the setting and doesn’t have any wasted filler.It follows several main characters and although some stories were more interesting than others, there wasn’t a bad one.

The book is wonderful and a fine sequel to The Infernal City. I was thrilled to finaly get my hands on it but was left with a sour taste when I got the delivery package from Amazon containing Lord of Souls and Gotrek & Felix omnibus 1.The cardboard Amazon box it was shipped in wasn't glued shut or anything. I literaly opened it up with one finger. So anyone could've put their hands on my books. They weren't wrapped in anything protective either, meaning the books had a lot of time to get all sorts of grime stuck in them during transit. Not to mention the damage my books have sustained! The Lord of Souls had 1/3rd of the pages smashed and folded on the bottom and the bottom of the cover has multiple scrapes and dents. Gotrek & Felix omnibus 1 had a large fold on top with obvious damage to the cover. 1/10th of the pages got folded with the cover too, although thankfuly they don't have any folding lines and only look a bit bent. Both books have slightly discoloured sides where grime and dust got in them, the discolouring isn't so "in your face" but having to shake and dust off literaly newly printed books does have a discouraging feel to it. Especialy if they've arrived damaged!The 4 out of 5 is for the book's content. As the writer cannot be held responsible for Amazon's mistakes. Keep on putting out great novels full of wonder and adventure Greg!

Such a fantastic read, well written, and kept me wanting to read more; I almost wish there were more books in the series. There may not be the deepest of characterisations - most characters have a singular purpose - but they are well realised and it's easy to feel attached to them and I genuinely felt concerned for them at times. I also really enjoyed how the floating island ecosystem was described, and cooking with more "tastes" than beyond our own senses was fascinating.

I purchased this second edition of the series after reading the first. The storyline is pretty good although I would say not quite as good as the first but it does continue well and draws it to a suitable (if predictable) conclusion. At times the chapters can become confusing as the threads crossover regularly but it is a good read overall, especially if you're a fan of the Elder Scrolls games.