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Abyssal Archive: The Mythology of Dark Souls
In celebration of the 10th anniversary year of Dark Souls, Tune & Fairweather is pleased to announce Abyssal Archive.
Though not an official licensed FromSoftware product, Abyssal Archive features the most comprehensive fan analysis of Dark Souls' mythos ever undertaken. Presented in the most lavish collector's edition we have assembled to date. We set out to pay tribute to Miyazaki's legendary game by crafting something that embodies the same care and attention to detail that makes Dark Souls itself such a peerless work of art.
Includes a fold-out companion map of Lordran by artist Judson Cowan. Bound individually and housed alongside the books, this map rounds out the set, making Abyssal Archive the definitive reference for fans of Miyazaki's gothic masterpiece.
Though not an official licensed FromSoftware product, Abyssal Archive features the most comprehensive fan analysis of Dark Souls' mythos ever undertaken. Presented in the most lavish collector's edition we have assembled to date. We set out to pay tribute to Miyazaki's legendary game by crafting something that embodies the same care and attention to detail that makes Dark Souls itself such a peerless work of art.
Includes a fold-out companion map of Lordran by artist Judson Cowan. Bound individually and housed alongside the books, this map rounds out the set, making Abyssal Archive the definitive reference for fans of Miyazaki's gothic masterpiece.
455 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2023
112 people are currently reading
576 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 3, 2025
For a glorified Dark Souls wiki lore entry, it's incredibly engaging and well written.
While I've put my own mind toward deciphering the story of Dark Souls, I've never put so much thought into the politics and nature of the world. I particularly enjoyed the chapters focusing on the royal family and the slow dissolution of the society that ruled Lordran, as well as Lokey's understanding of disparity and the causality that rules Miyazaki's world. It might be all speculative, I'm sure I don't agree with every single one of Lokey's theories, but the fun of Dark Souls for me is not about being right, but piecing together the story you wish to see.
In this Lokey has done a tremendous job, and I will continue to enjoy his views of the Souls world as long as he continues to have them.
While I've put my own mind toward deciphering the story of Dark Souls, I've never put so much thought into the politics and nature of the world. I particularly enjoyed the chapters focusing on the royal family and the slow dissolution of the society that ruled Lordran, as well as Lokey's understanding of disparity and the causality that rules Miyazaki's world. It might be all speculative, I'm sure I don't agree with every single one of Lokey's theories, but the fun of Dark Souls for me is not about being right, but piecing together the story you wish to see.
In this Lokey has done a tremendous job, and I will continue to enjoy his views of the Souls world as long as he continues to have them.
July 21, 2024
5/5
The Silmarillion for Dark Souls. A beautiful and personal examination of the lore and translations for the first of the Dark Souls trilogy, really good stuff.
The Silmarillion for Dark Souls. A beautiful and personal examination of the lore and translations for the first of the Dark Souls trilogy, really good stuff.
February 22, 2025
A deep dark dive into my favorite game, and for what it is, it is perfect.
Aside from the text itself, I adore the aesthetic. As advertised this thing is gorgeous, I think the main reason I was drawn to it is because of its appearance, and it looks just as good in real life.
This book, which goes so heavily into the lore of a video game which is so deliberately opaque can get quite challenging at times, but the beautiful imagery throughout feels like a moment's rest, much like a bonfire. At its absolute best, it can make the book feel like you are reading something from Lordran. Admittedly later into the book as the chapters shorten, this is less true.
I didn't realize what I was missing before when playing the games. I know I love the challenge, music, world, visuals etc. of the games, but I never really understood the lore. Boy I have missed a lot.
This book breaks down everything, from the owners of the 4 Lord souls to even the most irrelevant characters.
Unlike some reviews, I really like the speculation of the author for some parts. Their reasoning is well argued and paints a more complete picture of their obviously very well researched worldview, some parts are subjective but I appreciate the perspective.
The first 2 thirds of this book paints a vivid and rich picture of how the world works. There is no way I could arrive at anything close to the conclusions made in this book on my own and the written format feels like such an appropriate way to get that understanding. I adored the sections about Seath and Izalith in particular, but I just loved putting all the pieces together as I read forward.
The last 100 or so pages feel as though they are only there for completeness, but even though most of the lore mentioned in these last pages are pretty skin deep, it is still worth having them there.
In conclusion, if you want a love letter to the souls series which serves as more than just a memento, I think this is the exact right choice.
Aside from the text itself, I adore the aesthetic. As advertised this thing is gorgeous, I think the main reason I was drawn to it is because of its appearance, and it looks just as good in real life.
This book, which goes so heavily into the lore of a video game which is so deliberately opaque can get quite challenging at times, but the beautiful imagery throughout feels like a moment's rest, much like a bonfire. At its absolute best, it can make the book feel like you are reading something from Lordran. Admittedly later into the book as the chapters shorten, this is less true.
I didn't realize what I was missing before when playing the games. I know I love the challenge, music, world, visuals etc. of the games, but I never really understood the lore. Boy I have missed a lot.
This book breaks down everything, from the owners of the 4 Lord souls to even the most irrelevant characters.
Unlike some reviews, I really like the speculation of the author for some parts. Their reasoning is well argued and paints a more complete picture of their obviously very well researched worldview, some parts are subjective but I appreciate the perspective.
The first 2 thirds of this book paints a vivid and rich picture of how the world works. There is no way I could arrive at anything close to the conclusions made in this book on my own and the written format feels like such an appropriate way to get that understanding. I adored the sections about Seath and Izalith in particular, but I just loved putting all the pieces together as I read forward.
The last 100 or so pages feel as though they are only there for completeness, but even though most of the lore mentioned in these last pages are pretty skin deep, it is still worth having them there.
In conclusion, if you want a love letter to the souls series which serves as more than just a memento, I think this is the exact right choice.
November 16, 2025
To say that the world of Dark Souls is huge would be a colossal understatement. The amount of depth and lore attributed to this franchise feels almost infinite at times. Like with all FromSoftware titles however, there’s a price to pay to understand the scope of this world and its narrative. The stories behind these games are never told in conventional manner. A key portion of the game’s lore is often hidden beneath item descriptions and ambient dialogue and it’s never presented to the player the clearest format. It’s always been the expectation that to understand the world of Dark Souls, you must be prepared to interpret it and form your own conclusions and that does invite different perspectives depending on who you ask. Lokey is considered one of the Dark Souls community’s most well-regarded lore scholars, with years of self-proclaimed research and examinations published online. I figured it was time to dive deep into the Dark Souls world once again by reading Lokey’s 450-page dissection of the game titled Abyssal Archive.
Lokey starts the book out by specifically disclaiming how despite being well-versed in the world, a lot of the content behind the book is theory-based but utilizes a lot of key references and citations to back it up. Lokey then follows by discussing the very origins of the world of Dark Souls with the forming of the First Flame and the finding of the four great Lord Souls. Lokey then explores the foundation of Lord Gwyn’s empire and the sacking of the ancient dragons. Soon after he dissects the rise of the Undead Curse and its impact over the race of humanity. As he strolls through the key stages preceding the narrative of the main game and during it, Lokey focuses heavily on character and organization analysis as well. Each key section is also accompanied with beautiful illustrations they help realize key characters throughout the course of the world.
I don’t doubt Lokey is a smart and intelligent fan of this series if Abyssal Archive is anything to go by. His structuring and sectioning of the timeline behind Dark Souls is competently set out to allow the reader to learn about the game’s world through its chronological stages. I also grasp there’s a clear complexity to this world that makes transcribing it difficult even for the most knowledgeable of people. All of that being considered though, I genuinely feel Lokey goes way too far in trying to dissect the lore to a meticulous level. Every page feels like a slow, agonizing crawl as you try to obtain key information about the story while Lokey injects so much needless padding and wording in what I feel is an attempt to indulge his own ego. This book reads less like a fair, comprehensive understanding of the lore for the reader and more so an opportunity for Lokey to show the reader how smart he thinks he is. Don’t get me wrong that’s not to say the book lacks any credible breakdowns and explanations as I did find certain chapters and sections fairly comprehendible for the most part. For every competent example though, I feel there’s an equal number of pages littered with constant and arguably boring analysis that does very little to help me engage with this world.
While the engagement behind the book is inconsistent, I can’t take anything away from the general quality of the product. The mixture of written sections with detailed illustrations helps the reader visualize key elements when and where necessary. I just wish Lokey would have taken into consideration that other people would be reading this book other than him. His in-depth approach to the lore comes off as incredibly self-indulgent and the pacing of the book is excruciatingly slow for a majority of it’s page count. I know it seems like I have more negatives to tout on this book than positives but it just frustrates me how the book aspires to accomplish so much but ultimately does so little. It applies the subtextual format from the game that it derives yet it doesn’t make any effort to translate that complexity for the average reader. If you can deal with Lokey’s clear adoration for his own intelligence, you will be able to obtain some key and useful insight from this book, it’s just a shame it’s made so difficult to do so.
Lokey starts the book out by specifically disclaiming how despite being well-versed in the world, a lot of the content behind the book is theory-based but utilizes a lot of key references and citations to back it up. Lokey then follows by discussing the very origins of the world of Dark Souls with the forming of the First Flame and the finding of the four great Lord Souls. Lokey then explores the foundation of Lord Gwyn’s empire and the sacking of the ancient dragons. Soon after he dissects the rise of the Undead Curse and its impact over the race of humanity. As he strolls through the key stages preceding the narrative of the main game and during it, Lokey focuses heavily on character and organization analysis as well. Each key section is also accompanied with beautiful illustrations they help realize key characters throughout the course of the world.
I don’t doubt Lokey is a smart and intelligent fan of this series if Abyssal Archive is anything to go by. His structuring and sectioning of the timeline behind Dark Souls is competently set out to allow the reader to learn about the game’s world through its chronological stages. I also grasp there’s a clear complexity to this world that makes transcribing it difficult even for the most knowledgeable of people. All of that being considered though, I genuinely feel Lokey goes way too far in trying to dissect the lore to a meticulous level. Every page feels like a slow, agonizing crawl as you try to obtain key information about the story while Lokey injects so much needless padding and wording in what I feel is an attempt to indulge his own ego. This book reads less like a fair, comprehensive understanding of the lore for the reader and more so an opportunity for Lokey to show the reader how smart he thinks he is. Don’t get me wrong that’s not to say the book lacks any credible breakdowns and explanations as I did find certain chapters and sections fairly comprehendible for the most part. For every competent example though, I feel there’s an equal number of pages littered with constant and arguably boring analysis that does very little to help me engage with this world.
While the engagement behind the book is inconsistent, I can’t take anything away from the general quality of the product. The mixture of written sections with detailed illustrations helps the reader visualize key elements when and where necessary. I just wish Lokey would have taken into consideration that other people would be reading this book other than him. His in-depth approach to the lore comes off as incredibly self-indulgent and the pacing of the book is excruciatingly slow for a majority of it’s page count. I know it seems like I have more negatives to tout on this book than positives but it just frustrates me how the book aspires to accomplish so much but ultimately does so little. It applies the subtextual format from the game that it derives yet it doesn’t make any effort to translate that complexity for the average reader. If you can deal with Lokey’s clear adoration for his own intelligence, you will be able to obtain some key and useful insight from this book, it’s just a shame it’s made so difficult to do so.
July 21, 2024
There is some great and some not-so-great about this book. What's great is that this is - as advertised - an extremely comprehensive analysis of Dark Souls lore. What I espeically like is that Lokey translates a lot from the game's native Japanese, picking up on a lot of stuff lost in translation.
The critique I have for the book comes from Lokey's scientific process, which sometimes requires rather generous leaps of logic and unsubstantiated assumptions. I find that these assumptions are hidden in Lokey's writing style, which is unnecessarily flowery and full of metaphors and generalizations, which comes off as hand-wavey and undermines their credibility. I certainly will not dispute that Lokey knows Dark Souls lore better than I ever will, but I just don't quite believe the history they present is as iron-clad as they claim it to be.
All in all I think this is a great project and I've walked away with my understanding of Dark Souls greatly expanded, though I would've preferred Lokey to be a little more conservative with their analysis and make more of an effort to reference the source material.
The critique I have for the book comes from Lokey's scientific process, which sometimes requires rather generous leaps of logic and unsubstantiated assumptions. I find that these assumptions are hidden in Lokey's writing style, which is unnecessarily flowery and full of metaphors and generalizations, which comes off as hand-wavey and undermines their credibility. I certainly will not dispute that Lokey knows Dark Souls lore better than I ever will, but I just don't quite believe the history they present is as iron-clad as they claim it to be.
All in all I think this is a great project and I've walked away with my understanding of Dark Souls greatly expanded, though I would've preferred Lokey to be a little more conservative with their analysis and make more of an effort to reference the source material.
December 28, 2024
I loved this book and enjoyed so much reading it, I'm really heartbroken I finished it already. It was such a nice dive through the Dark Souls universe, which is always a fascinating experience filled with nostalgia and amazement.
It's pretty extensive, two volumes that follow the game's mythology, with chapters dedicated to every area and society (even those not really present in the game such as Astora or Carim), characters, groups, etc.
It's well written and nicely in depth, and it looks gorgeous. I always love Tune & Fairweather, because their books are stunning, but also truly interesting, they care about the form but also the content.
A must for any Dark Souls fan.
It's pretty extensive, two volumes that follow the game's mythology, with chapters dedicated to every area and society (even those not really present in the game such as Astora or Carim), characters, groups, etc.
It's well written and nicely in depth, and it looks gorgeous. I always love Tune & Fairweather, because their books are stunning, but also truly interesting, they care about the form but also the content.
A must for any Dark Souls fan.
August 13, 2024
This book is fantastic, offering deep insights into the mysteries of a game I played every day for a year as a kid. I approached it as someone else's interpretation of the Dark Souls universe, and I didn’t need everything to be 100% accurate to enjoy the story. It’s a compelling take on a world I love, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has played the game. Even if you haven’t, you can still be inspired by the rich storytelling. I know I'll revisit this book in the future, which is something I can't say for every book I read.
June 27, 2025
Abyssal Archive is as-advertised: a deep dive into Dark Souls and everything that makes its story work. Reading this made me feel (a little) like I was in college again, reading well-researched treatises on this or that. The academic tone and attention to detail made reading it a treat.
That said, Lokey does take some liberties with gaps in the knowledge. His leaps are well-informed, to be sure, but they are leaps, nonetheless.
I need to replay Dark Souls and see if it makes more sense this go around.
That said, Lokey does take some liberties with gaps in the knowledge. His leaps are well-informed, to be sure, but they are leaps, nonetheless.
I need to replay Dark Souls and see if it makes more sense this go around.
June 27, 2025
Abyssal Archive is as-advertised: a deep dive into Dark Souls and everything that makes its story work. Reading this made me feel (a little) like I was in college again, reading well-researched treatises on this or that. The academic tone and attention to detail made reading it a treat.
That said, Lokey does take some liberties with gaps in the knowledge. His leaps are well-informed, to be sure, but they are leaps, nonetheless.
I need to replay Dark Souls and see if it makes more sense this go around.
That said, Lokey does take some liberties with gaps in the knowledge. His leaps are well-informed, to be sure, but they are leaps, nonetheless.
I need to replay Dark Souls and see if it makes more sense this go around.
September 20, 2023
As a longtime fan of Soulsborne lore, I have always appreciated Lokey's contributions to the community: providing translation clarifications to other community members and writing their own analyses on their website. This compendium is certainly the most comprehensive dive into the lore of the first Dark Souls game yet produced. Though this is obviously an extremely niche product, it fills that niche wonderfully. I highly recommend it to anyone obsessed with the Soulsborne lore.
August 4, 2025
Abyssal Archive dives deeper into the lore of a fantastic universe than 99% of people will ever care to dive into. The attention to detail from the creators, and the willingness to piece together this puzzle by the fans, is a testament to Dark Souls' legacy.
This isn't even taking into account the quality of the physical hardback copies, which are works of art in their own right (huge shout-out to T&F).
This isn't even taking into account the quality of the physical hardback copies, which are works of art in their own right (huge shout-out to T&F).
November 28, 2025
Lokey has created an incredible compendium of Dark Souls lore and mythology to rival that of other ancient and famous pieces of mythos. Abyssal Archives's only real flaw might be its density and low level of accessibility, but this is only a testament to the sheer amount of work that went into cultivating this educational, and seemingly boundless collection of information on a game described as inscrutable. Clearly, with effort, its contents are ripe for the taking.
November 13, 2025
Listened to it on audible, VaatiVidya has the most soothing voice in the world. I was listening to it while i got my various tattoos this year, didn’t even know when the needle was in my skin I was so invested in the book. 11/10
December 19, 2025
A deep delve into the mythology of Dark souls. Be prepared to have every possible npc and boss taken under examination. I only wish it would cover events of the game two sequels as well but still an amazing read.
September 28, 2023
This book made me think a lot about the world of dark souls but also our world in general and the nature of mankind. also the drawing are sick
June 2, 2024
Audiobook. Amazing narrator.
October 27, 2024
vaati could narrate my grocery list and I would listen to it for 19 hours
December 30, 2024
I need time to write this up in full. Great book, not entirely correct, but massively revealing and persuasive.
April 15, 2025
Wonderful!! Gave me a whole new appreciation for one of the best games of the 21st century
September 12, 2025
Insanely in depth coverage of the game and its lore. Loved it.
October 5, 2025
Good insight to the world of Dark Souls I and offers some interesting lore perspectives that make sense in hindsight, but are oft missed in the game.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews