Skyrim Book Reviews, Titles Beginning with K

Keepers of the Razor: Current Descendants of the Inner Circle.

This book has some useful information if you're doing the Daedric quest to restore Mehrune's Razor. If you're not doing this quest, however, the book isn't worth the time to read. It really is just a list of non-player characters in possession of the various fragments of the weapon. The text does not stand alone.

Two stars.

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Killing--Before You're Killed, by Eduardo Corvus.

Some game-related battle tactics for melee fighting. Nothing but contempt is given with regards to magic, and nothing whatsoever is given with regards to archery. The advice on using bladed weapons is applicable within the game-world, but probably not in real life. This is the kind of book you open so you can collect the skill point, but you gain little from the actual reading of it.

Two stars.

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A Kiss, Sweet Mother.

Another quest-related tome, this time for the Dark Brotherhood quest. This very brief text instructs the reader on the sacrificial ritual for summoning the Dark Brotherhood. It is creepy, but offers little substance.

Two stars.

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The Knights of the Nine, by Karoline of Solitude.

This book can be summarized as, "The Knights of the Nine were awesome. Then they fell from grace and weren't awesome anymore. Then everyone forgot about them." What the book lacks is any particular description of what the Knights of the Nine actually did in order to be held in high regard during their heyday. In other words, the author never explained why the reader should care about the Knights.

One star.

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Kolb & the Dragon: An Adventure for Nord Boys.

It's a choose-your-own-adventure-style book! Each page sets the scene, with a list of different pages you could turn to next depending on the choice you make. I loved this style of interactive adventure tale when I was a kid, so reading this book was like having a huge corner slice of birthday cake with extra buttercream frosting. The epub version doesn't work so well, even though the compiler was careful to preserve page numbers. However, reading this book in-game was delightful. I had to go through it multiple times, choosing different paths so I could see all the endings. It's a very short and simple tale, of course, but that doesn't lessen the delight. Props to the game developers for even thinking to include a book like this.

Five 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 ScrollsPages, or download the Dovahkiin Gutenberg.

Skyrim Book Reviews, Titles Beginning with I and J

I haven't played Skyrim in months. I was craving the wasteland, and made a fresh tour through Fallout 3, and now I'm back in New Vegas. But, after reading quite a lot of nonfiction for work and school, I'm back to reading the Books of Skyrim on my Nook.

Ice and Chitin, by Pletius Spatec.

Set in the time of Tiber Septum, this tale of a daring escape from an enemy army lacks the strong sense of suspense that could have made it truly great. However, it is still a decent story, and competently written. From the title, you might have expected Falmer or Charrus to be a factor, but it actually refers to the scavenged chitin armor that the main characters wear as they flee across the icy landscape.

Three stars.

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Immortal Blood, by Anonymous.

You find a copy of this book in just about every vampire nest in the entire game. It's capably written and enjoyable, and offers the origin story of Morvarth, whose lair the player may find near the town of Morthal. It's certainly not necessary to read this book to enjoy the quest that starts in Morthal, but it does make the game world richer.

Three and a half stars.

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Incident at Necrom, by Jonquilla Bothe.

This tale about four adventurers taking on an enclave of vampires suffers from mediocre writing and awkward sentences. It's a shame, because the story is good, and the illusionist is a memorable character.

Three stars.

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Interviews with Tapestrists, Volume Eighteen: Cherim's Heart of Anequina, by Livillus Perus, Professor at the Imperial University. (Note: the display title of this book when you find it in the game is just Cherim's Heart of Anequina.)

Sounds boring, right? An interview with a weaver of tapestries? Yet Cherim was a warrior in his younger days, and the tapestry named Heart of Anequina depicts a battle. The description of the tapestry is so vivid that the reader can clearly envision the battle scene. The discussion of light versus heavy armor was also quite interesting. This book was a delightful surprise.

Four stars.

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Invocation of Azura, by Sigillah Parate.

A Dunmer priestess of Azura describes her religious journey. She started off following her family's worship of Molag Bal, lost her faith and moved on to Boethiah, and then on to Nocturnal, and finally found her faith again in Azura. This short book gives a glimpse into the practices of four Daedric Princes and their worshipers.

Three and a half stars.

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Journal of Gallus Desidenius.

This journal describes Gallus's pursuit of Mercer Frey. The text mentions characters contemporary with the game, such as Karliah and Maul, so I gather that this is tied in with the Thieves Guild questline, which I've never played through. As I lack the game context, I can only judge the book on its literary merit. The author did a nice job of making this seem like a real journal. There is a sense of temporal disconnect between each paragraph, so that even without any dates or other notation of time lapse, the reader can infer that each entry was written on a different day.

Three 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 ScrollsPages, or download the Dovahkiin Gutenberg.