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The Books of Skyrim

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A digital collection of all of the books that can be found and read in the epic game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

1005 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2011

83 people are currently reading
1196 people want to read

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Brian Chapin

2 books4 followers

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5 stars
199 (61%)
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83 (25%)
3 stars
33 (10%)
2 stars
10 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Lindsey.
110 reviews1 follower
May 6, 2012
I HAVE CONQUERED YOU, FLAVOR TEXT COMPENDIUM.

In no particular order, have my ten favorites:
1. The Real Barenziah (probably actually my top favorite)
2. The Wolf Queen
3. Feyfolken
4. The Doors of Oblivion
5. Sixteen Accords of Madness
6. Myths of Sheogorath
7. A Dance in Fire
8. Ahzirr Trajijazaer
9. 2920: The Last Year of the First Era
10. The Lusty Argonian Maid
Profile Image for Matthew.
145 reviews25 followers
January 12, 2018
A really excellent collection of short stories, poems, songs and other literature found in the Skyrim video game. There is a surprising amount of content here (854 pages) and most of it is very good. If you are looking for something that will fill in the lore and back history of the world of Tamriel, then this will do it. Best of all, the stories and the lore is really well written. You will learn about the creation of the universe, the races, their histories and some of the major turning points throughout the previous ages.

This works as an excellent companion book to the video games giving you a broader context of what is happening. Overall an excellent read.
Profile Image for Dan Pollard.
23 reviews2 followers
December 31, 2012
I originally started reading these after my first play through Skyrim during my commute. I became so enthralled by the depth that was put into these stories I was compelled to play a further 100 or so hours, especially to visit all the places talked of in the books. This is a must for every fantasy fan - whether you've played the games or not. An excellent collection of journals, diary excerpts, short stories, factual accounts, and epic tales.
Profile Image for Emre Karadeniz.
11 reviews
March 7, 2012
They are awesome books. Seriously most of them are better than other fantasy short stories
Profile Image for SurDiablo.
126 reviews13 followers
December 29, 2024
If you’re a fan of The Elder Scrolls lore but don’t have the time or patience to hunt down and read all the books scattered across Skyrim, this collection is exactly what you need. As the title suggests, it brings together the entire game literature in one accessible volume. Personally, I read this for the "Fiction, Songs, Riddles, Poetry, and Plays" sections, but all the entries in general are well-written and rich in detail, though some of the more lore-heavy texts might feel confusing if you haven’t played the games to provide the necessary context.

That said, you don’t need to be a hardcore player to enjoy the fictional pieces. Many of the short stories stand on their own and have stuck with me over the years—haunting, amusing, or captivating my mind even long after I first read them. The ambiguous and often cryptic nature of the lore adds to its charm, inviting you to piece together the mysteries and imagine the larger world behind the words. The stories manage to be intense, dreadful, and even humorous at times, showcasing the depth and diversity of Skyrim’s in-game writing.

Some of my personal favorites, listed below in no particular order, remain highlights of this collection, and I’d recommend reading those if nothing else. Whether you're revisiting the stories you loved in the game or discovering them for the first time, this book is a must-have for The Elder Scrolls enthusiasts and fantasy lovers alike.

• Palla
• Trap
• The Charwich-Koniinge Letters
• The Horror of Castle Xyr
• The Legend of the Kratley House
• The WoodCutter's Wife + The Cabin in the Woods
• Surfeit of Thieves
• Purloined Shadows
• The Poison Song
• The Locked Room
• Incident in Necrom
• Feyfolken + The Final Lesson
• A Dance in Fire + The Argonian Account
• The Black Arrow
• Immortal Blood
• Report: Disaster at Ionith
• The Importance of Where
• The Real Barenziah, etc.
Profile Image for Sophie.
58 reviews1 follower
September 25, 2020
I think I've put enough hours into reading all the books of Skyrim to be able to use this to contribute towards my yearly reading challenge.

My library in Skyrim is very impressive. I ran out of room on the bookshelves so now I just yeet the books on the floor.

Fun.
Profile Image for Danny.
65 reviews
August 24, 2017
I never took the time in-game to read the books as I scavenged them here and there (mostly because I wanted to get on with the quest, but also because of the large font, the time spent page-turning, and the fragmented nature of the book series). But now with all of them in front of me at once, they tell some amazingly clever stories and reveal some truly hilarious and insightful anecdotes about Skyrim.

Unfortunately, I would only recommend this book to those who have played AND enjoyed Skyrim; they are prerequisites, if you will, to reading this book. Otherwise you might be a little confused about the locations, creatures, history of the empires, etc.

But for both fans of the game as well as non-gamers, the book is comprised of hundreds of short chapters...some are chapters of a larger ongoing short novel, and some are standalone parables that one might compare to the Grimm brothers or Aesop's fables. And of the latter type, some are re-hashed fables with a Skyrim twist to them, but I am fairly certain that others are completely original. And since the Elder Scrolls is a universe with such a diverse array of mythical and magical beings, their creative license to teach moral lessons through short stories is much broader than Aesop or the Grimm brothers, since they have to flirt with reality and fantasy (i.e. talking animals, witches and wizards, etc.). But in Skyrim...there's just no need to make up anything, it's already magical.
Profile Image for Metatron.
89 reviews29 followers
December 9, 2015
It would be an understatement to say I am a fan of Skyrim. I love Skyrim. This game means so much to me it's insane: not only was it my first RPG, it was the first game in which I was ever able to truly dream and escape from the real world to elaborate a second life in which the world was different from everything I ever knew.

The stories in this game are amazing. You have hilarious ones like the "Lusty Argonian Maid" and every single book written by Pelagius the Mad, interesting ones like "The Cake and the Diamond" and just plain epic ones such as "The Wolf Queen"; which is just fascinating in both scope and narration. This book, which is just a collection of all the books and short stories found in the world of Skyrim, is an amazing refreshment of the game's wonderful lore and a reminder of how complex Skyrim truly is as a game. Everything here is found in the game--but if you're a collector or simply enjoy having things from your favourite games, the physical edition of all the books in Skyrim is something worthy to have, particularly if you like to read.
Profile Image for Andre.
4 reviews
January 22, 2016
The books of Skyrim by Brain Chapin

The book is filled with Many short stories from the game skyrim and all some of of the stories have a child-like wonder of adventure and some are filled with harrowing tales of the sea of ghost or places most unknown to the world of tamriel. Like from the short-story A dance in fire. I man named Hulgard Had a fascination with fire since he was a child but an in incident he made his family's barn burn down and was scared of the punishment and had to run away to windhelm which is the coldest hold in skyrim. He stayed at an orphanage for most of this life until he was released to school. But then again he discovered fire at the art of magic and was tempted to play with fire again. I would recommend this book to people my age that is intrested in fantasy and the game skyrim. I rate this book 10/10 because it had many short-stories that i read all the time at home.
11 reviews
December 16, 2016
Skyrim is an amazing series and I love it so much. The characters are in stunning detail and I love the settings and story it creates. I really love the creativity it emits and the villains it has. The monsters are original and I loved every second of this book. The ending is cool with the epic battle with Aldwin at the top of the mountain. I also love the inclusion or Paarthurnax to help the Dragonborn along. It is new and I love it so much. Its a wonderful book. I don't like the giant spiders thou... those ain't cool.
Profile Image for Kristopher Krumb.
62 reviews2 followers
November 7, 2014
This collection of books from the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is flawless. This is some of the most detailed video game lore I've ever read. There's a wide range of material in this collection, such as history of Skyrim, religious texts, biographies, and folk tales from the Elder Scrolls universe. It's a long read, but it's great to read on and off. I wouldn't recommend reading it all the way through, as that might be a bit too much for one go.
Profile Image for Christine Frost.
Author 13 books27 followers
September 10, 2012
I'm so happy to have this compendium! I've been playing the Elder Scrolls series for years, and it's great to see the stories I've loved to read in the game in the collection. It's really an amazing testament to the level of detail they put into building this world.
Profile Image for Andrias Scheuchzeri.
57 reviews17 followers
January 26, 2016
Even thought it´s kind of cool getting to read actual books while playing Skyrim, being able to read the complete collection as an ebook afterwards was even better. One of my favorites was the story of The Wolf Queen, but there are also some remarkable ones.
15 reviews1 follower
September 4, 2014
A TON of short stories in a wide variety of genres, ranging from excellent to just ok. Elder Scrolls fans will probably get the most out of it, obviously, but I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a thorough look into a richly detailed fantasy world.
Profile Image for Luly Ceballos.
177 reviews1 follower
June 8, 2017
Did it! Collected them all and read each and every one of them. Some are simply amazing Dance in Fire one of those. Others are more interesting for those already playing, even before start playing like Troll slaying for example. Now these beauties rest safely in my library at Lakeview Manor .
Profile Image for Mosthak.
1 review
April 30, 2012
A really good read and the stories give a lot of background to the myth surrounding The Elder Scrolls games.
Profile Image for Saul Martinez.
3 reviews
July 12, 2013
That took entirely too long. Great mythos, hard to follow sometimes. The stories of individual of legends are by far my favorite. In particular, Queen Barenziah and Queen Potema had great stories.
Profile Image for Somnath Roy.
69 reviews17 followers
May 3, 2020
When I initially picked up this book, I was casually looking into the lore of the game which I had recently come to find, had more depth than that which met the eye.

But nothing could have prepared for the amazing, adventurous reading experience that I have been through while reading this book. This is more than just supplementary lore material.

This book is actually a very interesting read combined with all the various styles of writing and the diversity of content which can be found in it. You can find simple guides to skills found in game such as thieving, alchemy, smithing, etc, as well as stories, pieces of history and culture building upon the lore of the world, gripping tales of heroic adventures and political manipulation and stories of wit, and also a fair few books on humour. This collection of books from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has all that you can ask for.

This book isn't just meant for readers who would like to know more about the lore. This book can be read by anyone and it will instill a desire for you to know more lore from the game instead. In fact, the lore as described here is so deep that it may be the deepest lore I've ever come across, counting epics like The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.

This book has many amazing stories and books on debate and philosophies as well including banter and plays. My favourite books from this, in no particular order, are:

1. 2920: The Last Year of the First Era (All 11 + 1 books). A gritty tale of subtle politics and chilling bloodshed in a game between three clans, all to dangerous.

2. The Argonian Account. (All 4 books). An adventurous tale of a witty beaureaucrat stuck on a mission to improve the impossible living conditions of a region.

3. A Dance in Fire. (All 7 chapters). Another adventurous tale of the same beaureacrat looking to find a way to make a profit of his retirement.

4. Eslaf Erol. (All 4 books, Beggar, Thief, Warrior, and King). A dark and humerus tale of the son of a King who became a beggar and then a King again.

5. Feyfolken. (All three books). A dark story about the dreams of a broken and aspiring writer blessed with powers more than he can handle.

6. The Legend of the Krately House. A play about a pair of bandits stealing from a haunted house full of ghosts.

7. The mystery of Princess Talara. (All 5 Parts). The intellectually thrilling tale of a prostitute who seems to have a more royal background to her than she remembers.

8. Palla. (All 2 Books). A dark and romantic tale of a mage who falls in love with a deceased heroic warrior.

9. The Real Barenziah. (All 5 volumes). A biography of Barenziah, a dark elf queen, and her life. More of a slice of life with a gentle, but exciting pace and demeanour to it.

10. The Wolf Queen. (All 8 books). The dark and chilling tale of 'The Wolf Queen' of Skyrim and her twisted political maneuvers to gain control and turn everything into chaos.

Reading this list, it should come as no surprise that Waughin Jarth is my favourite fictional writer from this series.

This collection of books has everything that you can ever ask for and some of the stories are just so well written and narrated that it is quite difficult to put the book down. Even if you might not like the game or the lore at all, the book itself is definitely worth a read. And you won't regret reading the book either.

This goes among the other books that I've thoroughly enjoyed reading. It has simply failed to disappoint and left me quite surprised with the amount of detail and thought which the makers of the game actually put into it.
Profile Image for Antonis.
257 reviews50 followers
July 30, 2018
The Books of Skyrim is a collection of all the in-game books that can be found and read in the computer game The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. This is a huge book, more than 1 thousand pages long and collects no less than a hundred short stories. Some of the stories originate from the early games in the series like Arena and Daggerfall (most are edited though) while some are from the newer games.
As is expected from such a huge collection, of course not all stories are that great and (their ratings) range from mere 2 or 3 to straight 5s. However, what is so outstanding and impressive is the massive scope and the incredible amount of lore collected here-in. Simply judging by that, I could not possibly give this collection anything less that 5 even if trying to average the individual story ratings would not amount to anything greater than 4.
Thus, my advice and recommendation is that if you're not Elder Scrolls player with some knowledge of the game and lore, maybe it's not the best choice for a fantasy read. There are definitely better fantasy novels and compilations out there. But if you're an Elder Scrolls player and want to know more about everything, then this is an amazing opportunity to learn and enjoy even more the games' world and lore.
4.5 / 5
Profile Image for Alaril.
26 reviews
September 24, 2024
Finally, after all this time, I've finally finished the every book in Skyrim...

My favorites:

The Gold Ribbon of Merit

Halgerd's Tale

Herbane's Bestiary

Immortal Blood

Section: Notes on Racial Phlogeny and Biology- Informations about fertility between different races.

Palla

Real Barenziah

A Tragedy in Black

Twin Secrets

The Wolf Queen
Profile Image for Jonet.
16 reviews1 follower
August 22, 2018
Fus do rah! All the books in the game in one convenient edition.
Profile Image for Svetlana.
70 reviews
April 1, 2021
I cannot express how happy I am to have finished every book in skyrim after like a year. These books are a great addition to the story and I love them. But MAN there are a lot of books in this game.
Profile Image for haley ‧₊˚✩彡.
217 reviews1 follower
March 29, 2022
Read this while I finished my platinum Skyrim trophy run. This game and it’s lore/world holds so much nostalgia, love, and memories for me. I will cherish it forever.
Profile Image for Patrick.
124 reviews4 followers
October 21, 2012
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone not interested in the Elder Scroll series. I have not played any of those games, and that is perhaps why I found this collection of stories quite boring and too diverse for me. One chapter deals with the Pterlus line while the next is a recipe for orc stew, followed by a "A burglar's guide on surviving in Skyrim". Unless you're a serious fan of this series, skip it.
Profile Image for Brian.
19 reviews
Read
August 13, 2012
Nice having a collection of all the books in the realm of Skyrim. A lot of work.
18 reviews
September 9, 2016
The collection of stories and writings are a nice addition to an already deep gaming experience.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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