Another well-written multi-volume set by Waughin Jarth featuring the adventures of the hapless clerk Decumus Scotti. This story is a prequel to The Argonian Account. Poor Scotti has just been laid off from his job, in favor of a younger man with a winning smile, and he makes his way to Valenwood in the hopes of securing a lucrative contract to entice his former employer to rehire him. However, Scotti's bad luck never fails him, and just as he arrives, Valenwood erupts in war, with the Khajiit attacking on one side and the Altmeri on the other.
This rollicking tale rarely stops to take a breath, as Scotti is plagued by monsters, magic, cannibalism, and chaos. The reader learns quite a lot about the Bosmer and Khajiit, in the most fun way possible. The seven volumes of this set have continuity, so read them in order.
Five stars.
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Darkest Darkness, by Anonymous.
This text provides some background information about various Daedra, their internal ranks and allegiances, and their relation to the Dunmer. It's not written in a particularly exciting manner, but it offers enough information beyond what one sees in the game to remain interesting. Read it if you're really interested in Daedra; skip it if you're not.
Two and a half stars.
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The Death Blow of Abernanit, with Explains by the sage Geocrates Varnus.
The faux-archaic style of this epic poem makes for difficult reading. It was difficult to follow, despite the slow pacing. A holy warrior battles a Daedra-worshipper purported to be undefeatable, and defeats him. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't hold my interest.
Two stars.
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The Death of a Wanderer.
An anonymous author records the end-of-life thoughts of an old Argonian adventurer. The Argonian was in possession of one of the claw-shaped keys from one of the many Draugr-infested Nord barrows. There wasn't a lot of substance to this story, but it was well written, with many nicely-turned phrases. An answer is offered to the question many players may have about these claws: "Why even have a combination if you're going to write it on the key?"
Three stars.
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De Rerum Dirennis, by Vorian Direnni.
An Altmer from one of the great families, himself of little achievement, talks about a particular ancestor of his, renowned for turning alchemy into a science. This ancestor defeated a vampire and then went on to develop the first practical invisibility potion. A large and hostile force repeatedly attacked his village, eventually taking him prisoner. His clever use of alchemy was the key to his salvation. This story would have been better without the first couple of pages, but if you can get past the overly-long and dull intro, the main story is decent.
Three stars.
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Report of the Imperial Commission on the Disaster at Ionith, by Lord Pottreid, Chairman.
Okay, I know this title begins with R, but it appears in the D section of the Dovahkiin Gutenberg, presumably filed on the word Disaster. I'm going to review it now because I absolutely do not want to reread it once I reach the Rs. This report possesses the dreaded combination of long plus boring. I fell asleep multiple times, and I was well-rested and alert when I started reading. My pervasive thought was, "How many pages are left? Will this ever end?" The historical events described should have been interesting, but this was written in the dryest, most overblown style possible.
One star.
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The Doors of Oblivion, by Seif-ij Hidja.
Of course, my strongest in-game impression of this book came from finding a skeleton that would yield a copy of this book with every single search. I kept clicking on the skeleton until I had enough copies of the book to reach my encumbrance limit, and then hauled them off to town to sell.
Lucrative glitch aside, this book is actually quite interesting. In fact, it's probably the most interesting textbook about Daedra that I've read yet. An apprentice remained in this plane of existence while his master traveled into Oblivion. The two maintained psychic contact, and the apprentice transcribed the master's running commentary on his exploration of the Daedric lands. It's rather long, but well worth the read.
Four stars.
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The Dragon Break Reexamined, by Fal Droon.
This is an interesting exploration of how the use of different calendars with different methods of measuring years can result in distortions of the historical record. This is a very short piece, and rather like an article from an academic journal.
Three stars.
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Dragon Language: Myth No More, by Hela Thrice-Versed.
This book more than makes up for its scattering of typos by presenting passages of the dragon's language in its original form (marks similar to cuneiform), romanizing them, and then translating them into English (or whatever Tamrielian language that English is supposed to represent). The inscriptions are taken from word walls, and this book goes a long way toward explaining what the walls are and why they exist, which makes them truly meaningful, instead of just places to go to pick up new shouts. That alone makes this book a must-read. The Dovahkiin Gutenberg does not show the dragon language, so to see it, you will need to find an in-game copy of the book or look at the Elder Scrolls Wiki.
Four and a half stars.
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The Dragon War, by Torhal Bjorik.
This book talks about ancient history, back in Ysgramor's day, telling of how the dragons ruled "as god-kings over men," and of how men rebelled against the dragons and their priests. This text provides only the most cursory overview of the war, and that chapter of history probably deserved a longer and more detailed treatment. Even so, this was an interesting little book.
Three and a half stars.
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A Dream of Sovngarde, by Skardan Free-Winter.
Written by a Nord warrior on the eve of one of the most significant battles of the Great War, this text describes a vision of the afterlife sought by Nord warriors who die with honor in battle. Skardan dreamed himself in the company of great Nord heroes, and he sought council from Ysgramor himself. Upon waking, he related his dream to the other Nords, raising their morale and whipping them into a battle-frenzy as they rushed toward their deaths.
Three stars.
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The Dreamstride, the Mysterious Alchemists of Vaermina.
This book is cool simply for being the largest and most impressive book I've yet seen in the game, and for having awesome cover art. This is definitely one to leave lying on or near your alchemy bench, to serve as home decor.
The content of this book serves simply to explain how the potion Vaermina's Torpor works, just before you have to use that potion as part of the Waking Nightmare quest. Treat this book as an instruction manual if you are doing that quest.
Three stars.
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The Dunmer of Skyrim, by Athal Sarys.
The Dunmer author apparently read a travelogue written by Nords and thought that Skyrim would be a nice place to live. After emigrating from Morrowind, he discovered that the Nords were not at all hospitable toward his people. A victim of racism, he responded with a virulently racist screed of his own, proclaiming that the Dunmer ("higher beings") will eventually rise up and slaughter all Nords ("white-skinned, jaundice-haired apes"). He doesn't come across as threatening so much as angry and impotent. All he's doing by publishing this is reinforcing the bad opinion many Nords have of Dunmer.
Two stars.
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Dwarves: The Lost Race of Tamriel, by Calcelmo, Scholar of Markarth.
This three-volume set uses a lot of words to say that little is known about the Dwemer, and to obliquely attempt to discredit all other Dwemer scholarship. Calcelmo, a character you can interact with in the game, is just as condescending, arrogant, and pompous in print as in conversation. In that aspect, these books are very successful in fleshing out Calcelmo's character. But don't expect them to tell you anything especially useful about the Dwemer, despite Calcelmo's self-reported expertice.
Two and a half stars.
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Dwemer History and Culture: A Scholar's Review of the Dwemer Essays Written by Marobar Sul, by Hasphat Antabolis.
(Alternate title from the Dovahkiin Gutenberg: Collected Essays on Dwemer History and Culture, Chapter 1: Marobar Sul and the Trivialization of the Dwemer in Popular Culture.)
This text is so similar in tone, style, and content to the uncredited publisher's notes at the end of each volume of the Ancient Tales of the Dwemer that at first I thought it was merely a compilation of those notes, but upon comparing them, I can verify that the text is actually different. It is probably safe to assume that Hasphat Antabolis is the author of the publisher's notes in Ancient Tales. If you are hardcore into the Dwemer, Dwemer History and Culture is a must read. If you're ambivalent toward Dwemer history, you can probably skip this book.
Despite the "Chapter 1" label, there appears to be only one volume of this series.
Three stars.
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Dwemer Inquiries: Their Architecture and Civilization, by Thelwe Ghelein, Scholar.
Now this is the three-volume set to read if you actually do want to learn something about the Dwemer. Even if the author strays into speculation on occasion, this text demonstrates more real scholarly inquiry than Calcelmo's work. It's quite interesting, and it's written in an engaging style. Beware if you're reading from the Dovahkiin Gutenberg as I mostly do--the second and third volumes are missing part of the text. Read this particular series in-game or on one of the wikis.
Three and a half stars.
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Note: I am not connected to Bethesda in any way, and no one asked me to do these reviews. I am doing this purely for my own fun, as time allows. I don't have an agenda, other than the joy of reading and writing. If I panned your favorite Skyrim book, sorry. If I gave five stars to one you thought was awful, also sorry. These are my opinions and mine alone. You're entitled to your own.
Read these books within the game Skyrim, on The Elder Scrolls Wiki or on the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, or download the Dovahkiin Gutenberg.
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