Blood Echoes: A Bloodborne Anthology

by Simon Parking

Blood Echoes is not an official FromSoftware product, nor is it a comprehensive dissection of Bloodborne’s lore. It is very much, however, a testament to the game’s enduring power, and an attempt to understand the strong magic it exerts to this day.

The approach is prismatic, filtering the game through the hard-won illumination of essays published shortly after launch, plus a variety of newer essays and interviews commissioned by our guest editor, Simon Parkin (The New Yorker, The Guardian), exclusively for this anthology.

We are also delighted to have the blessing of Future Press to republish a long out-of-print interview they conducted with Miyazaki for their official Bloodborne guide. We can’t thank them enough, truly, for giving this conversation a second life.

“Our eyes have yet to open… Fear The Old Blood.”

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Video Games

254 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2023

Reviews

[Chris Bo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

No idea how one reviews a “book” like this. Basically, I really wanted something from Bloodborne, one of my newest favorite games of all time. All three stars are for the beautiful packing. It comes in a nice slip case with sprayed edges, and a glossy front hardcover with great fan art. The book also has a good amount of artwork in it. Some of which I had seen online before. A few pages are full artwork, with glossy paper. They look great. The majority are red illustrations that look fairly nice, but you realize as they go through that those red artworks start to repeat.

This is not a lore book, nor was it advertised as such. It’s a series of essays and interviews from fans or those involved in the making of the game. To be honest, the essays were not very interesting overall, and felt very repetitive after a while. The interviews were also a mixed bag.

If you want something Bloodborne related on your shelf, get it. But it is very much a style over substance kind of buy. Especially for the price.

[Miquella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful bookbinding but lacking in content.

[Aleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first finished Bloodborne, I was genuinely and strangely sad to leave the world of the game. It was a place that felt deep, significant, vague, threatening and exhilarating. Everything in the game, from the combat, to the visual aesthetics to the lore and the music combined to hit some sort of chord (discord?) that resonated with me for a long time after the fact.

I thought about Bloodborne a lot and I didn’t really know why.

This collection of essays, from both fans and people involved in the game’s creation, articulates various layers of this ‘chord’. Reading about how the game has been interpreted by others and how it has impacted others is fascinating and has helped clarify some of my own thoughts and feelings around why this game, for a non-gamer, felt as significant as it did.

The essays are clear, well written and the arguments are interesting and insightful. It’s an easy and enjoyable read and aesthetically, the book itself is a beautiful object.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, I never DON’T want to hear/read about other people gushing about one of my all-time favourite games. Loved most of the interviews, adored the essays, and the book itself is beyond gorgeous

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book, especially after how much I enjoyed The Abyssal Archive. I was eager to dive into this one, but after a few interviews, I found myself losing interest. The lore felt sparse, and maybe that's on me for expecting it to be something it was never meant to be. While I did manage to finish it, nothing really stuck with me, and most of what I read has already faded from memory. I wish it had left a stronger impression.

Despite this, I still gave it 4 stars, largely because of my deep love for the video game. I recognize the tremendous effort the creators put into this book, and it’s clear that it’s a valuable addition to the Souls community. I genuinely hope we see more projects like this in the future!

[Jaan Carlo Morales · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to replay Bloodborne alongside my reading of this book, and it led towards one of the most fulfilling literary experiences I've ever had.

To read such detailed analyses, essays, and interviews regarding such a niche subject, alongside Shimhaq's incredible art, is something that I personally see as an incredibly unique gift to myself and the FromSoft community.

The amount of passion seeping from its pages is akin to the blood your character is soaked in after walking through the streets of Yharnam. An absolute must-have for Bloodborne lovers.

[Michael Doane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of love letters to a video game most people put down after a few minutes of play. For those who get sucked in, this collector’s edition only deepens the obsession. I found two very important yet distinct parts of my collective self coming together while reading this — the academic and the gamer. Not for everyone, but for me, this is one of the most engaging things I’ve read all year.

[Zack Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood Echos is quite good, unfortunately not as good as “you died” (the only other T&F book I have read). Blood echos has 16 different editors who contribute various essays on Bloodborne, some are very engaging while others are fine. Still overall a very enjoyable read with some insanely good art sprinkled in throughout.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully presented book that has some interesting interviews and short essays, unfortunately, some of these essays were not very interesting. Some even seemed to be lack any real sense of substance. It's fair to say that this was not what I expected, as I was hoping for more lore.

However, the internal art pieces were stunning, and the structure of the book was very well laid out.

[Marcus M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, nobody is going to read, understand, and appreciate this book who isn’t a massive fan of Bloodborne. Though many of these essays you can read online for free, the book itself compiles an anthology of thought provoking love letters to a masterpiece of a game, interspersed with gorgeous art and insightful interviews. For me, worth it.

[J.D Wheeldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is beautiful, the quality is amazing and the artwork is phenomenal. The content however is quite average. The essays become quite repetitive and don't offer any real insight into the game or it's world. there are some good interviews with the game director and musical composer, but other than that most people talk about the same points.

[Nicholas Papadimitriou · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only this was a lore book instead of a collection of essays it would be flawless. The essays within it are really good, except some of them. They just felt that the person was talking for talking sakes.

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love bloodborne and anything about it. That said, readers not interested in the game should skip this one.

[Rebeca F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book and thus, was quite surprised by how many people were disappointed with it, specially considering it was told from start that it wasn't a lore book about Bloodborne, there are already quite a few of those, it's a collection of essays and interviews about the game, with really diverse subjects, reflections about Yharnam in comparison to some old European cities, about the power of blood through history and about infection, some really interesting ones in relation to the Covid pandemic, about the concept of overcoming failure in Fromsoft games and growing through it and, somehow, clinging to life through those tiny achievements. I felt I could relate to a lot of what was written in Blood echoes, Bloodborne has a tight, awesome community and I've always felt part of it, but through this book I realized a lot of thoughts I had throughout all my years playing and replaying this game, and which I thought were really unique, are actually shared by many of us. It was pretty special.
I had been waiting forever for this book since I preordered it ages ago, and it was definitely worth it, not only it's a very interesting and diverse reflection on one of my favorite games, it's also a truly stunning book in terms of design.
A must for any Bloodborne fan, but be aware, it's definitely not a lore book.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent anthology! Read for dissertation work.

[Sean Jamison · Rating 2 out of 5]

amazing art, essays are meh