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The Elder Scrolls #1
Cidade Infernal, A - Baseado no Jogo The Elder Scrolls
Quatro décadas depois da crise de Oblivion, o continente Tamriel está sendo novamente ameaçado por uma terrível força do mal: trata-se de Umbriel, uma ilha flutuante que se alimenta exclusivamente de almas e ameaça destruir todos os povos por onde passa. E é sob a sombra de Umbriel que uma grande aventura começa, liderada por pessoas das mais diferentes origens: um lendário príncipe que acaba de descobrir um segredo; um espião que tenta desvendar uma grande conspiração; um mago obcecado por seu desejo de vingança; e Annaïg, uma jovem que pode ter nas próprias mãos o destino de Tamriel… Baseado no premiado game The Elder Scrolls, ''A cidade infernal'' é o primeiro de dois emocionantes livros que dão continuidade à história de The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, vencedor do prêmio Jogo do Ano de 2006.
Paperback
First published November 1, 2009
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About the author
Greg Keyes
84 books654 followersGregory Keyes is a writer of science fiction and fantasy who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names J. Gregory Keyes and "Greg Keyes".
Greg Keyes was born in to a large, diverse, storytelling family. He received degrees in anthropology from Mississippi State and the University of Georgia before becoming a fulltime writer.
He lives in Savannah, Georgia.
Greg Keyes was born in to a large, diverse, storytelling family. He received degrees in anthropology from Mississippi State and the University of Georgia before becoming a fulltime writer.
He lives in Savannah, Georgia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 437 reviews
July 23, 2017
I’m a massive Elder Scrolls fan. I still play Oblivion to this day. Despite completing the game, several times over, along with all the side quests, I never grow bored of it. I do a play through once a year. Occasionally, I even play Skyrim. I refuse to play The Elder Scrolls online though. This series for me was always about individual immersion, something an MMO could never achieve or want to achieve.
This year I thought I’d read this (or try to) whilst I did my play through. And, I must say, I could have written a better book. Sure, the plot is okay I guess. There’s an ancient city floating in the air propelled by ancient magics. It’s laying waste to all nearby settlements and is heading straight towards the capitol. The city is a strange place, full of weird creatures and plant life that reminded me of the glorious Shivering Isles expansion. All the material is here and the plot has some potential, but the writing is just piss poor.
The characters are completely unremarkable. Of all the interesting, eccentric and plain bizarre entities the author could have drew on he chose to write about a very plain Bretton alchemist. She has no talents, no abilities in combat with either sword or sorcery, which, if you’ve played any of the games, you’ll know it's absolutely essential to surviving the plethora of enemies that come your way. She's essentially a NPC, one of the boring townsfolk that frequently find themselves in situations they are totally inept to deal with.
Where is the might of the destruction school of magic, the subtlety of Illusion and the deathly powers of conjuration? Where is the assassin in the darkness? Where is the thief ready to cut a purse? Where is the strong and noble warrior ready to pummel his/her enemies into submission? This doesn’t feel like Tamriel; it has no sense of epicness or open-endedness. All in all, it's a mere shadow of what it could have been: an empty husk devoid of any sense of the Elder Scrolls Magic.
If you’re thinking about reading this, stop: don’t bother with it. You’re better off just doing another replay through of your favourite Elder Scrolls game. At least that will be good fun. That being said though, I think it’s fair to mention that not all novels adapted from video games are bad. For example, the Dragon Age novel series, starting with The Stolen Throne is excellent.
This year I thought I’d read this (or try to) whilst I did my play through. And, I must say, I could have written a better book. Sure, the plot is okay I guess. There’s an ancient city floating in the air propelled by ancient magics. It’s laying waste to all nearby settlements and is heading straight towards the capitol. The city is a strange place, full of weird creatures and plant life that reminded me of the glorious Shivering Isles expansion. All the material is here and the plot has some potential, but the writing is just piss poor.
The characters are completely unremarkable. Of all the interesting, eccentric and plain bizarre entities the author could have drew on he chose to write about a very plain Bretton alchemist. She has no talents, no abilities in combat with either sword or sorcery, which, if you’ve played any of the games, you’ll know it's absolutely essential to surviving the plethora of enemies that come your way. She's essentially a NPC, one of the boring townsfolk that frequently find themselves in situations they are totally inept to deal with.
Where is the might of the destruction school of magic, the subtlety of Illusion and the deathly powers of conjuration? Where is the assassin in the darkness? Where is the thief ready to cut a purse? Where is the strong and noble warrior ready to pummel his/her enemies into submission? This doesn’t feel like Tamriel; it has no sense of epicness or open-endedness. All in all, it's a mere shadow of what it could have been: an empty husk devoid of any sense of the Elder Scrolls Magic.
If you’re thinking about reading this, stop: don’t bother with it. You’re better off just doing another replay through of your favourite Elder Scrolls game. At least that will be good fun. That being said though, I think it’s fair to mention that not all novels adapted from video games are bad. For example, the Dragon Age novel series, starting with The Stolen Throne is excellent.
February 6, 2015
Another wind was starting up, and on it something unbelievably foul.
I was introduced to Greg Keyes via his Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series (Book 1: The Briar King), which I thought was bloody magnificent. It looks like most of his other stuff is tie-in fiction, so I didn’t immediately get around to sampling any of it, because I wasn’t familiar with the source material, with one or two possible exceptions.
Enter The Infernal City: I was keen to read more Keyes, and frankly I was sold by the cover art.
He ticked one glossy black claw on the table.
OK. I’ll be very clear here. If you are not acquainted with the different races and the history of the Elder Scrolls Universe, you will initially have some issues with this book. I dabbled with both Oblivion and Skyrim to some little extent, and boy was I in over my head with The Infernal City…
She saw thick figures with brick-red skin, fierce faces, and small horns on their heads, working next to ghostly pale blue-haired beings, spherical mouselike creatures with stripes, and a veritable horde of monkeylike creatures with goblinesque faces.
It’s not so much an issue with the writing as it is with visualisation: what does a Khajiit, or an Argonian, look like? And what, pray tell, is a “Lilmothian expression of agitation”? For example: I pictured a certain character as, well, human, until I realised he was covered in hair. In another instance: scales. And imagine my surprise when yet another character turned out to have a snout, and not a nose…
Armed and armored, he rode south and east, toward madness, retribution, and death.
And though he had long ago forgotten what happiness was, he imagined it must have been a bit like what he felt now.
So, fantasy for the hardcore crowd then? Possibly. But then again, this novel isn’t very massive by fantasy standards and reads very quickly. Once I settled into a rhythm I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. If you’re tired of Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance or Warhammer, here’s where you should be looking next. Or, you could just start here if you haven’t been reading any of the aforementioned.
“He saw something out on the deep, something coming this way.”
Keyes is very adapt at keeping the pace lively, and his action sequence are second to none. Well, at least those he wrote in his Kingdoms series. Here’s the thing: when it comes to tie-in fiction you need to adjust your tolerance level accordingly. It’s often silly and over the top, or just plain weird, because of the prerequisite of following a certain rule-set. Other times it’s pretty damn good. Keyes is certainly competent enough. Don’t expect anything ground-breaking and you’ll be just fine.
Old Imperial Lilmoth spread below them, crumbling hulks of villas festooned with vines and grounds overgrown with sleeping palms and bamboo, all dark now as if cut from black velvet, except where illumined by the pale phosphorescences of lucan mold or the wispy yellow airborne shines, harmless cousins of the deadly will-o’-wisps in the deep swamps.
The set pieces are quite fantastic, as you would expect. And especially the Infernal City of the title.
Her first impression was of a vast jellyfish, its massive dark body trailing hundreds of impossibly slender, glowing tentacles. But then she saw the solidity of it, the mountain ripped from its base and turned over. The mass of it, the terrifying size.
That said, the sequences taking place on Umbria (the Infernal City) itself are sometimes a bit creepy, or bizarre, especially as far as the environment / setting is concerned.
The hum sharpened into not one voice, but many. Vague, gibbering cries, unholy shrieks of agony and fear, babbling in languages she did not know. It sent scorpions down her back.
I find Keyes to be an incredibly entertaining writer, but this doesn’t really match up to his Kingdoms of Thorn & Bone series. The characters are rather forgettable and the story isn’t particularly deep or complex, but it is still quite a bit of fun and recommended to those fantasy-ists who really immerse themselves in imaginary worlds.
Oh, it contains the cooking competition from hell; Longtime Oblivion / Elder Scrolls fans will recognise the elaborate spellcraft dynamics. Also, sometimes it betrays its origins by veering into “quest” territory. I was going to give it 4 stars but the ending was ultimately unsatisfying (the book isn’t self contained). Hopefully there is a follow-up.
3 – 3.5 stars
It was breathtaking, and for a moment she forgot her situation in wonder of it.
January 25, 2011
I picked this up because I adore The Elder Scrolls, particularly Morrowind and Oblivion. It's a fantastic read, though even as a fan I found the prologue a little confusing. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys The Elder Scrolls games, and at least has some understanding of the plot, though it would be best to play III and IV through most of the way before reading. It is definitely not a book I would recommend to a generic fantasy fan, as there are many references to races and lore, storylines and different features from the games that are not explained in even little detail.
Apart from that, a fan could very easily enjoy the novel. The characters are believable and likable. Some improvement could be made to the writing style, as the author doesn't always clarify who exactly is speaking. For example, after mentioning someone by name, Keyes might end a speech with "he said", however the 'he' doesn't actually refer to the last person mentioned by name, which can be confusing, but it's usually easy to pick up on after reading on a little.
Apart from that, a fan could very easily enjoy the novel. The characters are believable and likable. Some improvement could be made to the writing style, as the author doesn't always clarify who exactly is speaking. For example, after mentioning someone by name, Keyes might end a speech with "he said", however the 'he' doesn't actually refer to the last person mentioned by name, which can be confusing, but it's usually easy to pick up on after reading on a little.
January 16, 2014
I had such high hopes for this when I ordered it. A book about the world of Elder Scrolls! Lore! Adventure! A female hero! Everything I wanted and loved in one book!
But, unfortunately, what I found was... awful.
To put it simply, it was like a really badly written fanfiction about the Elder Scrolls games. A REALLY badly written one. The dialogue was very modern for being set in a more medieval world, the characters were pretty bland and it pained me to read a paragraph each time I tried to pick it up and read a bit more, in the hopes it would get better. I only got two chapters in before I put it up for sale.
If you would like to read some amazing and well-planned, lore-friendly stories about the world of the Elder Scrolls games... go to fanfiction.net! Save your money! Save yourself!
But, unfortunately, what I found was... awful.
To put it simply, it was like a really badly written fanfiction about the Elder Scrolls games. A REALLY badly written one. The dialogue was very modern for being set in a more medieval world, the characters were pretty bland and it pained me to read a paragraph each time I tried to pick it up and read a bit more, in the hopes it would get better. I only got two chapters in before I put it up for sale.
If you would like to read some amazing and well-planned, lore-friendly stories about the world of the Elder Scrolls games... go to fanfiction.net! Save your money! Save yourself!
January 17, 2015
This book is a must read for any Elder Scrolls fans! Fair warning though, if you are not familiar with the games, you will find it hard to understand this book, as it assumes that you understand the world and its lore.
The book takes place some time after the Oblivion crisis, in a time when the Empire is trying to put itself back together and become a formidable force again.
The characters we meet are interesting and well rounded out. What I especially liked, was the character development that took place during the book.
The story itself is really interesting!
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next one!
The book takes place some time after the Oblivion crisis, in a time when the Empire is trying to put itself back together and become a formidable force again.
The characters we meet are interesting and well rounded out. What I especially liked, was the character development that took place during the book.
The story itself is really interesting!
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next one!
January 15, 2018
It took me a while to get into this book, mainly because most of my knowledge of the Elder Scrolls comes from playing Skyrim (and reading plot summaries for Morrowind and Oblivion). Still, it was nice to see an author making use of the rich setting which the Elder Scrolls provides. I'm surprised, and slightly disappointed, that only this author has written for the franchise.
Stylistically, the novel is a bit of a mess. The worst offense is how the author flips between point-of-view characters. There are roughly five main characters, in three different groups, carrying four different plot-lines. Each time, the shift between characters was jarring, ruining any immersion. On a nit-picky point, there was even a typo, which should have been fixed in the editing process, rather than appearing in the finished product.
As well, the ending felt rushed and flimsy. It was as if the author decided it would be better to end on a dramatic cliffhanger, and was too eager to get there. The book has a sequel, but honestly, I think it would have been better if it was just one continuous story. Since this book spends so much time setting up the characters and the plot, the sudden ending cheapens the story on a whole. It's hard to say that the political intrigue is interesting when it was barely focused on, and leads nowhere. Looking back on the book, it is hard to say there was much substance, when most of it was merely a sequel hook. This shouldn't be the case, the book should be able to stand on it's own merits, with the it's own, satisfying, self-contained story.
The most interesting and original parts were the scenes set within in the floating city itself. It's explored and established nicely by the two characters who arrive there, and spend time living in it. From moving through the bottom of the island (the sump, a birthing pool/dump/waterway), to the kitchens, and the places they serve, we learn about the ecosystem, and the morals (or lack thereof) which the inhabitants hold. The scenes in the big, chaotic, alchemical kitchens full of completely alien foods reminded me of the first time I watched Spirited Away -- both have a fascinating otherworldliness to them.
Probably the biggest flaw in the novel is the morality surrounding the use of souls. In the floating city, the upper classes enjoy consuming vapours and other dishes, made by diluting the souls gathered by the island's insects. The island itself is only able to float through the use of these gathered souls.
For some of our main characters, this is considered unethical and highly disturbing. Yet the one who works in the kitchen soon comes to think of it as similar to working with meat, and another character only protests against it when the souls used belongs to people he knows.
Within the universe, the capturing of souls within the aptly named soul gems, is considered common place. These are then used to power enchanted items, such as weapons or dwarven golems.
My point is, I feel like the author missed the chance to do anything interesting with this issue. It'd be refreshing to see at least one character go "hey, this is kind of fucked up." Or to realize the floating city isn't that monstrous, considering much of Tamriel does the same thing with soul gems.
But it does show compliance with the established canon, with regards to soul-powered enchantments, so I guess at least the author is showing his work somewhat.
Finally, it bothers me that of the five main characters, only one of them is female. It makes her feel like "the token chick", and it's annoying how much time is spent from the male povs.
Though this is, again, an unfortunate tendency of the Elder Scrolls. See: Azura, who is a Daedric Prince. Apparently, the Daedra are genderless beings, yet they hold male titles (Princes and/or Lords), and Azura herself is referred to by female pronouns. I mean, what. That makes no sense. I bring this up because Azura is one of the key Daedra in the book, and so it is guilty to buying into that clusterfuck.
I will read the next book, to see what happens, but I am disappointed with this book for falling so short of it's potential.
Stylistically, the novel is a bit of a mess. The worst offense is how the author flips between point-of-view characters. There are roughly five main characters, in three different groups, carrying four different plot-lines. Each time, the shift between characters was jarring, ruining any immersion. On a nit-picky point, there was even a typo, which should have been fixed in the editing process, rather than appearing in the finished product.
As well, the ending felt rushed and flimsy. It was as if the author decided it would be better to end on a dramatic cliffhanger, and was too eager to get there. The book has a sequel, but honestly, I think it would have been better if it was just one continuous story. Since this book spends so much time setting up the characters and the plot, the sudden ending cheapens the story on a whole. It's hard to say that the political intrigue is interesting when it was barely focused on, and leads nowhere. Looking back on the book, it is hard to say there was much substance, when most of it was merely a sequel hook. This shouldn't be the case, the book should be able to stand on it's own merits, with the it's own, satisfying, self-contained story.
The most interesting and original parts were the scenes set within in the floating city itself. It's explored and established nicely by the two characters who arrive there, and spend time living in it. From moving through the bottom of the island (the sump, a birthing pool/dump/waterway), to the kitchens, and the places they serve, we learn about the ecosystem, and the morals (or lack thereof) which the inhabitants hold. The scenes in the big, chaotic, alchemical kitchens full of completely alien foods reminded me of the first time I watched Spirited Away -- both have a fascinating otherworldliness to them.
Probably the biggest flaw in the novel is the morality surrounding the use of souls. In the floating city, the upper classes enjoy consuming vapours and other dishes, made by diluting the souls gathered by the island's insects. The island itself is only able to float through the use of these gathered souls.
For some of our main characters, this is considered unethical and highly disturbing. Yet the one who works in the kitchen soon comes to think of it as similar to working with meat, and another character only protests against it when the souls used belongs to people he knows.
Within the universe, the capturing of souls within the aptly named soul gems, is considered common place. These are then used to power enchanted items, such as weapons or dwarven golems.
My point is, I feel like the author missed the chance to do anything interesting with this issue. It'd be refreshing to see at least one character go "hey, this is kind of fucked up." Or to realize the floating city isn't that monstrous, considering much of Tamriel does the same thing with soul gems.
But it does show compliance with the established canon, with regards to soul-powered enchantments, so I guess at least the author is showing his work somewhat.
Finally, it bothers me that of the five main characters, only one of them is female. It makes her feel like "the token chick", and it's annoying how much time is spent from the male povs.
Though this is, again, an unfortunate tendency of the Elder Scrolls. See: Azura, who is a Daedric Prince. Apparently, the Daedra are genderless beings, yet they hold male titles (Princes and/or Lords), and Azura herself is referred to by female pronouns. I mean, what. That makes no sense. I bring this up because Azura is one of the key Daedra in the book, and so it is guilty to buying into that clusterfuck.
I will read the next book, to see what happens, but I am disappointed with this book for falling so short of it's potential.
August 17, 2018
There are two halves to the story. They don't quite meet in the middle, but that is what the sequel is for.
On one hand, the flying island/city of Umbriel has appeared in the world and is starting to wreak havoc as it travels over inhabited lands. It is, the reader learns, a very strange place even for the world of The Elder Scrolls: an enclosed hierarchical society seemingly built on gustation and vicious self-interest, and as close to C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters concept of 'gluttony' as ever I've read. It plays out sort of like an evil TV reality game show. Two inhabitants of Tamriel--the outside world--wind up on board and must navigate the weird social structure.
On the other hand, Attrebus, Prince of the Empire is on a journey where he discovers he is not as much of a hero and leader as he thought. Forces, not clear who, conspire against him and leave him abandoned in the wilderness. A bright Imperial investigator realizes some part of the situation and defies his immediate superiors to investigate.
Despite the outre setting of Umbriel, I found myself attached to Attrebus's plot thread, especially as it relates to Colin the investigator (who disappears for most of the story) and the conspiracy against the empire.
On one hand, the flying island/city of Umbriel has appeared in the world and is starting to wreak havoc as it travels over inhabited lands. It is, the reader learns, a very strange place even for the world of The Elder Scrolls: an enclosed hierarchical society seemingly built on gustation and vicious self-interest, and as close to C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters concept of 'gluttony' as ever I've read. It plays out sort of like an evil TV reality game show. Two inhabitants of Tamriel--the outside world--wind up on board and must navigate the weird social structure.
On the other hand, Attrebus, Prince of the Empire is on a journey where he discovers he is not as much of a hero and leader as he thought. Forces, not clear who, conspire against him and leave him abandoned in the wilderness. A bright Imperial investigator realizes some part of the situation and defies his immediate superiors to investigate.
Despite the outre setting of Umbriel, I found myself attached to Attrebus's plot thread, especially as it relates to Colin the investigator (who disappears for most of the story) and the conspiracy against the empire.
April 15, 2018
Kind of cool to see the tie in to the games. But the story was fairly disjointed, and I feel like you have to know all the lore to understand a lot of the references.
Also, the main character’s sections felt like a cooking show.
Also, cliff hanger ending.... seriously.
Also, the main character’s sections felt like a cooking show.
Also, cliff hanger ending.... seriously.
April 11, 2010
I am an Elder Scrolls addict. I was introduced to the video game series with Daggerfall in my late teens, and own every game and expansion pack that has been released for DOS or Windows.
When I heard they were releasing a novel based on the world of Tamriel, I was both excited and terrified. Most of the books that are based on video game, movie, or other “popular” franchises aren’t very good. But I had to give it a shot.
Summary
Forty years after the events of Oblivion, a mysterious floating city appears in Tamriel, initially south of the Black Marshes, but moving north toward the broken lands of Morrowind. The story follows two principal characters- Annaïg, who is the daughter of a disenfranchised nobleman, and Prince Attrebus, whose father is trying to reunite the old empire. Annaïg finds herself on the floating island where she must serve the demonic rulers, while Prince Attrebus launches a campaign (that turns into a quest) to stop the city before it can destroy Tamriel.
2.8 Overall
Bored on the first half, loved the second
The Infernal City and its sequel are meant to setup the fifth Elder Scrolls video game, so things should be interesting. The city of Vivec is no more, dark elves have been chased out of Morrowind, and the empire remains fractured.
And if you didn’t understand any of that, that’s because this book is really for the people who played Morrowind and Oblivion. Though the story can be understood by most people because it deals with a lot of character issues, there are enough names, places, and concepts dropped to keep non-TES players thoroughly confused.
This book was better than I expected it to be though. It picked up in the second half and had me glued to the pages. There were questions that needed to be answered, and I cared not only what would happen to the characters, but what they would do.
I have to give this book credit for its length too. In just 288 pages of double-spaced print, Keyes provides an exciting adventure without boring the reader with needless history, lists of activities, geography lessons, or pointless conversation. Everything serves the story- something I think most modern fantasy authors have forgotten about.
Lastly, reader be warned that this book is connected to a sequel that is supposed to come out at some point in the future. Not all your questions will be answered.
3 Characters
Good
I didn’t like Annaïg at first, but her character grew on me. Attrebus was an interesting look at a prince who appears to fill his shoes completely, but learns that he still has a long way to go.
I particularly liked Mere-Glim, Annaïg’s Argonian companion, and Sul, a Dark Elf wizard who later accompanies Attrebus. Sul, in particular, becomes the life of the story once he is introduced, and a book (or a few) could be written about him alone.
A third important character, a spy named Colin, is briefly explored, but I think any development for him is meant to wait until the next book.
While none of these characters really popped out and grabbed me from the beginning, they are all on slow boil. I didn’t realize how much I appreciated them until the story was over.
3 Pace
Good
The first half of the novel wasn’t completely boring, but it didn’t grab me as I hoped it would. The second half was a fun adventure though, as even Annaïg’s scenes became interesting.
4 Story
Very good
This story is hard to pin down. It is called The Infernal City, but the floating city of Umbriel actually takes a backseat to the character interactions and history that is explored.
In some ways the story is like a tour of the last two video games in reverse order; the provinces of Cyrodiil and Morrowind are settings, as is White-Gold Tower in the imperial capitol, and Vivec (though it’s not recognizable to players who might remember it from Morrowind). Other locales are explored though, including the southern fringe of Black Marsh and the northern counties of Elsweyr.
Maybe the story works because I think that, for the most part, someone who hasn’t played the games could probably understand most of it. A map in the front may have helped, as well as a one-page time-line describing everything that has happened.
There are some interesting revelations at the end of the story.
2 Dialogue
Satisfactory
Some of the dialogue feels too modern, but generally the author keeps things easy to understand. The names of places, people, and events are occasionally dropped to remind readers what world the story takes place in.
2 Style/Technical
Satisfactory
I have never read anything by Greg Keyes before, but he has an unfortunate habit of giving us dialogue, actions, and everything a given scene needs except for one thing; context. Certain terms weren’t explained (I am still not sure if my definition of the An-Xileel is correct), and more than once I found myself wondering what the heck was going on, until some kind of description finally came a few pages later.
Either he worked out of that habit or I became accustomed to it, because the problems seemed less-pronounced about halfway through the book.
When I heard they were releasing a novel based on the world of Tamriel, I was both excited and terrified. Most of the books that are based on video game, movie, or other “popular” franchises aren’t very good. But I had to give it a shot.
Summary
Forty years after the events of Oblivion, a mysterious floating city appears in Tamriel, initially south of the Black Marshes, but moving north toward the broken lands of Morrowind. The story follows two principal characters- Annaïg, who is the daughter of a disenfranchised nobleman, and Prince Attrebus, whose father is trying to reunite the old empire. Annaïg finds herself on the floating island where she must serve the demonic rulers, while Prince Attrebus launches a campaign (that turns into a quest) to stop the city before it can destroy Tamriel.
2.8 Overall
Bored on the first half, loved the second
The Infernal City and its sequel are meant to setup the fifth Elder Scrolls video game, so things should be interesting. The city of Vivec is no more, dark elves have been chased out of Morrowind, and the empire remains fractured.
And if you didn’t understand any of that, that’s because this book is really for the people who played Morrowind and Oblivion. Though the story can be understood by most people because it deals with a lot of character issues, there are enough names, places, and concepts dropped to keep non-TES players thoroughly confused.
This book was better than I expected it to be though. It picked up in the second half and had me glued to the pages. There were questions that needed to be answered, and I cared not only what would happen to the characters, but what they would do.
I have to give this book credit for its length too. In just 288 pages of double-spaced print, Keyes provides an exciting adventure without boring the reader with needless history, lists of activities, geography lessons, or pointless conversation. Everything serves the story- something I think most modern fantasy authors have forgotten about.
Lastly, reader be warned that this book is connected to a sequel that is supposed to come out at some point in the future. Not all your questions will be answered.
3 Characters
Good
I didn’t like Annaïg at first, but her character grew on me. Attrebus was an interesting look at a prince who appears to fill his shoes completely, but learns that he still has a long way to go.
I particularly liked Mere-Glim, Annaïg’s Argonian companion, and Sul, a Dark Elf wizard who later accompanies Attrebus. Sul, in particular, becomes the life of the story once he is introduced, and a book (or a few) could be written about him alone.
A third important character, a spy named Colin, is briefly explored, but I think any development for him is meant to wait until the next book.
While none of these characters really popped out and grabbed me from the beginning, they are all on slow boil. I didn’t realize how much I appreciated them until the story was over.
3 Pace
Good
The first half of the novel wasn’t completely boring, but it didn’t grab me as I hoped it would. The second half was a fun adventure though, as even Annaïg’s scenes became interesting.
4 Story
Very good
This story is hard to pin down. It is called The Infernal City, but the floating city of Umbriel actually takes a backseat to the character interactions and history that is explored.
In some ways the story is like a tour of the last two video games in reverse order; the provinces of Cyrodiil and Morrowind are settings, as is White-Gold Tower in the imperial capitol, and Vivec (though it’s not recognizable to players who might remember it from Morrowind). Other locales are explored though, including the southern fringe of Black Marsh and the northern counties of Elsweyr.
Maybe the story works because I think that, for the most part, someone who hasn’t played the games could probably understand most of it. A map in the front may have helped, as well as a one-page time-line describing everything that has happened.
There are some interesting revelations at the end of the story.
2 Dialogue
Satisfactory
Some of the dialogue feels too modern, but generally the author keeps things easy to understand. The names of places, people, and events are occasionally dropped to remind readers what world the story takes place in.
2 Style/Technical
Satisfactory
I have never read anything by Greg Keyes before, but he has an unfortunate habit of giving us dialogue, actions, and everything a given scene needs except for one thing; context. Certain terms weren’t explained (I am still not sure if my definition of the An-Xileel is correct), and more than once I found myself wondering what the heck was going on, until some kind of description finally came a few pages later.
Either he worked out of that habit or I became accustomed to it, because the problems seemed less-pronounced about halfway through the book.
August 8, 2015
It was immensely enjoyable. However, one should not expect deep meanings or detailed characterological psychograms. It was just a plain, action-ridden fantasy story, packed with strange creatures, manichean characters, dense landscapes, ancient lore, epic battles, magic, magic, magic and then some more magic - and it was awesome as such. It was all the more appealing to readers deeply familiar with the Elder Scrolls lore, such as myself, but it could also be so for all fantasy fiction lovers. I definitely recommend it for easy reading.
Comment:
Readers would comprehend it easier if they had played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and especially The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in advance - or at least, had read about the respective storylines in some kind of online wikies.
Comment:
Readers would comprehend it easier if they had played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and especially The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in advance - or at least, had read about the respective storylines in some kind of online wikies.
August 21, 2017
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: While some reviews on this book originally had me worried on how well I would understand the novel (I’ve personally only played Skyrim, not Oblivion), I actually was able to follow the plot and references fairly well (after a quick 2 minute search on the plot of Oblivion.) In addition, the cast of characters and somewhat complicated plot completely drew me in, and I love how well the author transferred over the video game universe to a novel.
The Good: I really liked the plot, and the characters as well. There are also so many intertwining stories at once, and seeing them all connect to each other later was awesome. I also loved how well the world of Tamriel and the Elder Scrolls games was intertwined into this novel, while it still remained its own separate tale!
The Bad: Hard to understand with little background knowledge of the Elder Scrolls series, as most things don’t get explained right away. In addition, many places are mentioned randomly with little explanation of them, with their background/history somewhat hinging on background knowledge, but I found that the farther into the book you got, the less this hindered the reading experience.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I really love what the author did with the characters in this story. It was diverse both in personality and race, as we saw Imperials, Khajiit, Argonians, and many more. I also love the unique skills all the characters had, and how they were all important and useful to the plot in their own right.
The Plot: While originally the plot seemed fairly simple, I loved how developed and layered it became later, and how so many parties and races were at play. I also loved the intertwining of both the Daedric princes, Oblivion, and the standard races of Tamriel were used to their fullest extent to create a rich and diverse story.
The World Building: While most of the world building was taken from the lore of the Elder Scrolls, I felt the author still did a fairly good job of writing the history of Tamriel in his own way. In addition, parts that not every reader may know where elaborated on. However, this was not the case for basic info, so readers without some basic background knowledge may be confused at points by certain references.
The Favorite Character: Annaig for sure!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress....
Overall Thoughts: While some reviews on this book originally had me worried on how well I would understand the novel (I’ve personally only played Skyrim, not Oblivion), I actually was able to follow the plot and references fairly well (after a quick 2 minute search on the plot of Oblivion.) In addition, the cast of characters and somewhat complicated plot completely drew me in, and I love how well the author transferred over the video game universe to a novel.
The Good: I really liked the plot, and the characters as well. There are also so many intertwining stories at once, and seeing them all connect to each other later was awesome. I also loved how well the world of Tamriel and the Elder Scrolls games was intertwined into this novel, while it still remained its own separate tale!
The Bad: Hard to understand with little background knowledge of the Elder Scrolls series, as most things don’t get explained right away. In addition, many places are mentioned randomly with little explanation of them, with their background/history somewhat hinging on background knowledge, but I found that the farther into the book you got, the less this hindered the reading experience.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I really love what the author did with the characters in this story. It was diverse both in personality and race, as we saw Imperials, Khajiit, Argonians, and many more. I also love the unique skills all the characters had, and how they were all important and useful to the plot in their own right.
The Plot: While originally the plot seemed fairly simple, I loved how developed and layered it became later, and how so many parties and races were at play. I also loved the intertwining of both the Daedric princes, Oblivion, and the standard races of Tamriel were used to their fullest extent to create a rich and diverse story.
The World Building: While most of the world building was taken from the lore of the Elder Scrolls, I felt the author still did a fairly good job of writing the history of Tamriel in his own way. In addition, parts that not every reader may know where elaborated on. However, this was not the case for basic info, so readers without some basic background knowledge may be confused at points by certain references.
The Favorite Character: Annaig for sure!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress....
December 2, 2025
This was a really awsome and interesting story, and I love the characters and their complexity.
However, the book really needed another editor, because there were quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes.
However, the book really needed another editor, because there were quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes.
March 11, 2011
OK, I have to admit that I'm not a video game player, and I'm not at all familiar with the Elder Scrolls game, so I'm not the target audience for this book. It was actually better than I might have expected for a video game tie-in, however, I couldn't avoid having very high hopes due to the 4 Keyes books I previously read - the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone epic - which are all fully 5-star novels!
I just couldn't really get into this, though. Although it had some good writing (nice turns of phrase and original imagery), for such a short book, it had too many different characters in different places, without enough development. A lot of the plot episodes seemed very abrupt. The female lead being stuck in the kitchens was just a little too goofy. And of course, it ends with an obvious sequel set-up.
I'm still planning on reading more Keyes - but I think I'll skip the tie-ins.
I just couldn't really get into this, though. Although it had some good writing (nice turns of phrase and original imagery), for such a short book, it had too many different characters in different places, without enough development. A lot of the plot episodes seemed very abrupt. The female lead being stuck in the kitchens was just a little too goofy. And of course, it ends with an obvious sequel set-up.
I'm still planning on reading more Keyes - but I think I'll skip the tie-ins.
February 1, 2012
Four stars because I have had my head embedded in Elder Scrolls V for months, but three stars for anyone who has never played a TES game. I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting the story was, especially with the many references to the lore from the games. Also, this is the best molecular (alchemical?) gastronomy based fantasy I've ever read.
November 22, 2022
This book sucking fucks.
I’m quite a huge Elder Scrolls nerd; I’ve played most of the games and have read many of the books you can find in-game that explain the lore of the in-game world (called Nirn.)
I read this particular book because while I was reading some lore about one of the daedra princes, the strange Floating City from Oblivion was mentioned and I was curious. So, I picked up the book and started reading as soon as I could.
The first chapter was tedious. That’s never a good sign, but I persevered hoping it would get better. The characters are bland, they lack any sort of inspiration or unique qualities that set them apart from any other stereotypical fantasy characters. You have your pompous prince, the reluctant side kick, a flavourless alchemist, and a gritty seasoned adventurer. There’s more originality in my dnd players’ backstories then in any one of these characters.
To make it all worse, the editor of the book clearly just phoned it in; as while I was reading I found numerous glaring typographical errors that just totally brought me out of the narrative and reminded me what a shitty book I was reading.
Now I will give it credit where it’s due, for maybe the last 80 pages or so I gained a little bit of interest. It seems that the author had a semi-decent idea for an elder scrolls novel, but then just packed it with unnecessary and boring dialogue that does nothing for the character or plot development so that the narrative could be split into two books. The whole thing feels like it was just a cash grab coming off of the success of Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion. Which it obviously was.
Boring book . Don’t read it.
I’m quite a huge Elder Scrolls nerd; I’ve played most of the games and have read many of the books you can find in-game that explain the lore of the in-game world (called Nirn.)
I read this particular book because while I was reading some lore about one of the daedra princes, the strange Floating City from Oblivion was mentioned and I was curious. So, I picked up the book and started reading as soon as I could.
The first chapter was tedious. That’s never a good sign, but I persevered hoping it would get better. The characters are bland, they lack any sort of inspiration or unique qualities that set them apart from any other stereotypical fantasy characters. You have your pompous prince, the reluctant side kick, a flavourless alchemist, and a gritty seasoned adventurer. There’s more originality in my dnd players’ backstories then in any one of these characters.
To make it all worse, the editor of the book clearly just phoned it in; as while I was reading I found numerous glaring typographical errors that just totally brought me out of the narrative and reminded me what a shitty book I was reading.
Now I will give it credit where it’s due, for maybe the last 80 pages or so I gained a little bit of interest. It seems that the author had a semi-decent idea for an elder scrolls novel, but then just packed it with unnecessary and boring dialogue that does nothing for the character or plot development so that the narrative could be split into two books. The whole thing feels like it was just a cash grab coming off of the success of Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion. Which it obviously was.
Boring book . Don’t read it.
August 26, 2014
The Infernal City
When I first picked up this book I did not know what to expect. If someone who knew nothing about The Elder Scrolls Game read this book I think they would be a bit confused, luckily I do know the story of the game and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the book. Even though I am not big into reading, I had trouble putting this book down it was so enjoyable. The story development was excellent, the character development was intriguing. The plot of the book was a bit farfetched but if you are looking for a nonfiction fantasy adventure book I highly recommend it. While reading this book you will not get bored, each chapter brings an entirely new concept to the story.
The book is broken into three parts, part one “Arrival”, part two “Purpose” and part three “Betrayals.” Each part is eight to eleven chapters, and each just as exciting as the last. The only down side of the book is that it has a very open ending. If you read this story and enjoy it I recommend reading the next book in the two part series “Lord of Souls.” Although I just started it, I expect it will give an epic finish to this thrilling story.
When I first picked up this book I did not know what to expect. If someone who knew nothing about The Elder Scrolls Game read this book I think they would be a bit confused, luckily I do know the story of the game and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the book. Even though I am not big into reading, I had trouble putting this book down it was so enjoyable. The story development was excellent, the character development was intriguing. The plot of the book was a bit farfetched but if you are looking for a nonfiction fantasy adventure book I highly recommend it. While reading this book you will not get bored, each chapter brings an entirely new concept to the story.
The book is broken into three parts, part one “Arrival”, part two “Purpose” and part three “Betrayals.” Each part is eight to eleven chapters, and each just as exciting as the last. The only down side of the book is that it has a very open ending. If you read this story and enjoy it I recommend reading the next book in the two part series “Lord of Souls.” Although I just started it, I expect it will give an epic finish to this thrilling story.
March 22, 2014
Wow Greg Keyes, what did I just finish reading here? Quite frankly, this story is awful. There's no charitable way to put it. It comes across as very amateurish fan fiction and there's probably ten thousand Elder Scrolls fans out there who have some skill in writing, including myself, who are thinking they could do a lot better.
I'd give this book a zero rating but that's not possible. The one star is for the setting. Shame on you Greg Keyes, I know you can do better than this. Much better. This is not only the nadir of Keyes' career, but damn close to the nadir of fantasy fiction itself.
I'm not going to even touch the sequel.
I'd give this book a zero rating but that's not possible. The one star is for the setting. Shame on you Greg Keyes, I know you can do better than this. Much better. This is not only the nadir of Keyes' career, but damn close to the nadir of fantasy fiction itself.
I'm not going to even touch the sequel.
January 4, 2019
No puedo creer que me enganché. Es malo, muy malo! Pero Zeus sabe cuántos libros sobre videojuegos disfruté y este no fue la excepción. Solo me habría gustado que fuera más largo - a diferencia de lo que suelo decir, que los libros deberían ser más cortos y evitar relleno, en este me pareció todo muy apresurado, sobretodo el desarrollo del príncipe Attrebus. Estoy segura de que con unas 100 o 200 páginas más en las que nos dejaran saborear más a estos personajes y encariñarnos habría sido una lectura por demás de buena.
June 19, 2021
I'm a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls, but I genuinely feel like this would work better in an independent, original universe. It was a nice read nonetheless.
February 23, 2024
A Garth Nix setting invades a post-Oblivion Tamriel, and it has the pre-love-triangle-YA verve of a Nix book too. Something's always happening, weird things are constantly popping up. The gluttony-themed planar parasite city Umbriel is the star of the show, and it reads like Keyes came up with that concept, then contorted it to fit Elder Scrolls. On the whole, I like it. The contortion is just unsuccessful enough that everything about the city feels wrong in the right way, yet there's enough connection to Elder Scrolls lore to have an actual tie to the wider setting.
The story is in a weird intermediate zone of lore knowledge it demands of the reader. There is zero effort to explain the basics of the Elder Scrolls setting and it assumes you played both Oblivion and Morrowind. It does try to contextualize elements that may have escaped the notice of the average player, like Khajiit furstocks, realms of Oblivion that aren't literally Hell, Argonian-Hist hivemind, White-Gold being the lynchpin of creation, etc. My personal problem is that this dipping into the slightly esoteric elements of the setting set me up for an entirely self-made disappointment that it didn't go even further. The fun of Elder Scrolls is that on the surface Oblivion looks like the most generic fantasy setting ever conceived, but if you stop and read the in-game books, there's some strange stuff. This may prompt you to look into things outside the games themselves, at which point, you either take the blue pill and believe the MMO is canon, or you take the red pill and attempt to give yourself schizophrenia. All of this is to say that the weirdness of Umbriel was just enough to get me excited for some of the more out-there possibilities. Well, no. It's a lot more mundane than that, which from the perspective of the average reader is probably a good thing...but I dunno. When you've seen some of the charts I have, you start to yearn for something more.
The actual story follows three sets of characters, successively further removed from the action. The first has two Black Marsh teenagers (Annaig and Mere-Glim) who are sucked into the city and have to navigate its strange social order based on consumption, from mundane matter, to immaterial essences, all the way up to souls themselves. One of them manages to send a magical message to Prince Attrebus, who tries to fight the invasion of Umbriel, but discovers his entire life is a lie, and things get worse from there. Even more peripherally, an Imperial agent, Colin, investigates a conspiracy against Attrebus that may have some connection to Umbriel. As far as storylines go, they're a bit uneven. Annaig and Mere-Glim get to experience the bulk of the horror and weirdness on offer, and while Attrebus' story has good bits and lots of action, I think Keyes was a bit too enamoured with his fantasy Truman Show concept, stretching the bounds of credulity at times (not in the good way). Colin's story is too intermittent and unresolved to place.
All three of these subplots ends on a cliffhanger, and this is not by any stretch of any imagination a complete story.
The story is in a weird intermediate zone of lore knowledge it demands of the reader. There is zero effort to explain the basics of the Elder Scrolls setting and it assumes you played both Oblivion and Morrowind. It does try to contextualize elements that may have escaped the notice of the average player, like Khajiit furstocks, realms of Oblivion that aren't literally Hell, Argonian-Hist hivemind, White-Gold being the lynchpin of creation, etc. My personal problem is that this dipping into the slightly esoteric elements of the setting set me up for an entirely self-made disappointment that it didn't go even further. The fun of Elder Scrolls is that on the surface Oblivion looks like the most generic fantasy setting ever conceived, but if you stop and read the in-game books, there's some strange stuff. This may prompt you to look into things outside the games themselves, at which point, you either take the blue pill and believe the MMO is canon, or you take the red pill and attempt to give yourself schizophrenia. All of this is to say that the weirdness of Umbriel was just enough to get me excited for some of the more out-there possibilities. Well, no. It's a lot more mundane than that, which from the perspective of the average reader is probably a good thing...but I dunno. When you've seen some of the charts I have, you start to yearn for something more.
The actual story follows three sets of characters, successively further removed from the action. The first has two Black Marsh teenagers (Annaig and Mere-Glim) who are sucked into the city and have to navigate its strange social order based on consumption, from mundane matter, to immaterial essences, all the way up to souls themselves. One of them manages to send a magical message to Prince Attrebus, who tries to fight the invasion of Umbriel, but discovers his entire life is a lie, and things get worse from there. Even more peripherally, an Imperial agent, Colin, investigates a conspiracy against Attrebus that may have some connection to Umbriel. As far as storylines go, they're a bit uneven. Annaig and Mere-Glim get to experience the bulk of the horror and weirdness on offer, and while Attrebus' story has good bits and lots of action, I think Keyes was a bit too enamoured with his fantasy Truman Show concept, stretching the bounds of credulity at times (not in the good way). Colin's story is too intermittent and unresolved to place.
All three of these subplots ends on a cliffhanger, and this is not by any stretch of any imagination a complete story.
October 10, 2021
Lectura abandonada
Esto de abandonar libros no me gusta, ni lo suelo hacer, pero... no podría retomarlo en otro momento. La verdad no me atrapó en lo absoluto.
Si bien estoy jugando The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, no me considero alguien que conozca la historia detrás de todo ello, y este libro, si no entendí mal, esta basado en Oblivion, juego que no toqué por el momento. Pero sí puedo decir que entre con muchísimo hype, y hay cositas que sí me trajeron lindos recuerdos, como la alquimia, la prueba y error de armar una poción, las diferentes razas, el basto y maravilloso mundo que se describe, las facciones, eso sí me dio un sentimiento lindo. Aún así, no encontré manera alguna de conectarme con los protagonistas, ni tampoco con la trama en sí.
En mi opinión súper personal (teniendo en cuenta que lo deje por la mitad), la trama me llamaba la atención, pero se tornó muy aburrido. Las descripciones me parecían algo sosas, como que no tenían esa pizca llamativa que a uno lo incitan a leer y conocer más, sino que me encontré totalmente desconectada con ellas. Si bien se presenta a aquella ciudad infernal voladora de una manera impactante, no me llegó el mismo mensaje. Al igual que las descripciones de los personajes, de sus quehaceres, y de cositas que se daban en la ciudad flotante, que parecen interesantes, pero no me resultaron así. No sé por qué, no tengo explicación 😅
Por otro lado, más adelante, se centran en otro personaje que persigue a aquella ciudad voladora (por motivos que no voy a dar porque sería un spoiler), y ese personaje sí me llamó la atención. De hecho, por él seguí leyendo un poco más porque había una disputa que me resultó interesante, pero, de nuevo, me aburría la lectura. Los problemas que comenzó a tener me parecieron un poco forzados y salidos de la nada, y seguramente sean porque es el primer libro y se de una explicación mejor en sus próximas entregas, pero no pude continuar y ahí quedó.
Me da pena abandonarlo así, pero no podría retomarlo. Supongo que son cositas que nos ocurren de vez en cuando, y cuando un lector no conecta, no conecta 😔
Esto de abandonar libros no me gusta, ni lo suelo hacer, pero... no podría retomarlo en otro momento. La verdad no me atrapó en lo absoluto.
Si bien estoy jugando The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, no me considero alguien que conozca la historia detrás de todo ello, y este libro, si no entendí mal, esta basado en Oblivion, juego que no toqué por el momento. Pero sí puedo decir que entre con muchísimo hype, y hay cositas que sí me trajeron lindos recuerdos, como la alquimia, la prueba y error de armar una poción, las diferentes razas, el basto y maravilloso mundo que se describe, las facciones, eso sí me dio un sentimiento lindo. Aún así, no encontré manera alguna de conectarme con los protagonistas, ni tampoco con la trama en sí.
En mi opinión súper personal (teniendo en cuenta que lo deje por la mitad), la trama me llamaba la atención, pero se tornó muy aburrido. Las descripciones me parecían algo sosas, como que no tenían esa pizca llamativa que a uno lo incitan a leer y conocer más, sino que me encontré totalmente desconectada con ellas. Si bien se presenta a aquella ciudad infernal voladora de una manera impactante, no me llegó el mismo mensaje. Al igual que las descripciones de los personajes, de sus quehaceres, y de cositas que se daban en la ciudad flotante, que parecen interesantes, pero no me resultaron así. No sé por qué, no tengo explicación 😅
Por otro lado, más adelante, se centran en otro personaje que persigue a aquella ciudad voladora (por motivos que no voy a dar porque sería un spoiler), y ese personaje sí me llamó la atención. De hecho, por él seguí leyendo un poco más porque había una disputa que me resultó interesante, pero, de nuevo, me aburría la lectura. Los problemas que comenzó a tener me parecieron un poco forzados y salidos de la nada, y seguramente sean porque es el primer libro y se de una explicación mejor en sus próximas entregas, pero no pude continuar y ahí quedó.
Me da pena abandonarlo así, pero no podría retomarlo. Supongo que son cositas que nos ocurren de vez en cuando, y cuando un lector no conecta, no conecta 😔
December 23, 2014
"Are you staying here, do you think?"
"I don't know much about being dead," she said, "but it doesn't feel that way. I feel something tugging at me, and it's stronger all the time." She smiled. "Maybe I only stayed to talk to you."
First, a quick, silly summary.
This book takes place on the vast continent of Tamriel, also known as the setting of the Elder Scrolls series, (Skyrim, Morrowind, Oblivion, etc.) 40 or so years after the events of Oblivion. In an event which a surprisingly few amount of people seem to be worried about, a mysterious floating island appears off the coast of Black Marsh, inching its way closer to Tamriel every moment, while at the same time Lilmoth City's Hist tree begins acting strangely. Where did this floating city (that some may call "damnable" or perhaps "hellish") come from? How is it controlling the Hist? Who was phone?? Spunky Lilmoth teens Annaïg and Mere-Glim "Ar-gonia" find out! Heyyooo!
(terrible, terrible puns over now)
Alright, so first off, if I could give this book 3 1/2 stars or 3 3/4, I absolutely would. The issue here is that when I'm thinking about this book objectively the first things that come to mind are its faults (of which there are many, though all relatively minor ones) and I can't think about much to support it. However, this book flies in the face of logic by being absolutely freaking enjoyable despite its flaws. Despite the fact that, looking back, I can't think of a whole lot to recommend it, it was a blast to read. Take from that what you will, but somehow I still think it was a really good book regardless of everything I type after this.
(spoilers ahoy!)
This book has a lot of characters in it, and some appear for a truly miniscule amount of time (I'm lookin' at you, Keem from the prologue) before they are killed off or simply written out of the book for seemingly arbitrary reasons -- if there is a reason for it at all. It gives the book a feeling of vastness that it simply doesn't deliver on. It genuinely seemed as if Lesspa and her family would be pivotal characters in the second half of the book (or at the very least provide something of a love-triangle to add to the mix) but instead they contributed to a single (admittedly epic) chase scene and were then killed off. Alright, it was heavily implied that they were killed off. The point is that without the actual scope of a much longer book, it's extremely doubtful that their death will be resolved in the next book in the series. (could be wrong of course, I haven't read it as of the writing of this review.) Heck, the book would have improved drastically if Colin (one of the few main characters that DOES survive 'til the end) had been given twice as many chapters as he was given. As it is by the time the narrative switched to his point of view I'd long forgotten what he had done last time we'd seen him.
The same thing can be said of the back-story. Speaking as someone who has played Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim obsessively over the past four years or so, I had no bloody idea what was happening in the first few chapters of the book. The problem mainly being: when you're trying to write about a strange and alien place (which I think we can all agree Argonia undoubtedly is,) you have to first establish the norm of the area before introducing the wacky event that throws everything out of balance. Tolkien explained with careful detail that the nature of a Hobbit is to shirk all kinds of adventure just before sending Bilbo off on a dragon-fighting quest to show that Bilbo had something in him that was just a little bit more daring than his peers.(On a completely unrelated note, it makes me happy that not one word in the entire previous sentence set off my spell-checker.)
That simple bit of exposition would have made The Infernal City a hundred times better, especially at the beginning. Having a clear image of what Lilmoth City usually looked like would have made the weird hallucination sequence in chapter three a little less baffling, but not much time is spent on it before it is destroyed by Umbriel. Knowing more about the Hist tree and how it works normally would have made the entire first section far more interesting and understandable. Heck, knowing anything at all about half the words that are thrown about in the first half of the book -- An-Xileel, the Penitus Oculatus, the origin of the many curse words Annaïg spouts out at various times, etc. -- would have saved me a whole lot of confused interjections.
And if you can't explain these things in a few quick paragraphs, explain them anyway. I would have happily read this book if it was twice as long, as long as it spent as much time as it needed to tie up all those loose ends they left hangin' all over the place. Then again, I love big books and I cannot lie, and perhaps that wouldn't have been everyone's cup of tea.
(spoiler-ey bit over)
I have one more itty-bitty gripe here, and I'm really hesitant to lay the blame on the author in this case. There's something about Greg Keyes' writing style that has me convinced that we have a similar issue when it comes to writing. It seemed as though he had these incredible images in his head while he was writing this book, precise snapshots of a world that was all at once terrifying, alien, and breathtakingly beautiful all at once. But as wonderful as these pictures must have been in the author's head, the translation from mind to page was a little unclear and confusing. As much as I tried to immerse myself in this world I was continuously baffled by very long descriptive paragraphs that gave me no clearer an idea of the subject then when I began. Still, this got increasingly better as I read, and I admit in hindsight that it may have been a lack of interpretation on my part rather than Mr. Keyes'.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this book, you guys and I would probably recommend it to other Elder Scrolls fans, if for no other reason than to have someone to talk to about it.
Am I gonna read the sequel? You better "O-believe-ion" it!
...... I'm sorry. I'll leave now.
"I don't know much about being dead," she said, "but it doesn't feel that way. I feel something tugging at me, and it's stronger all the time." She smiled. "Maybe I only stayed to talk to you."
First, a quick, silly summary.
This book takes place on the vast continent of Tamriel, also known as the setting of the Elder Scrolls series, (Skyrim, Morrowind, Oblivion, etc.) 40 or so years after the events of Oblivion. In an event which a surprisingly few amount of people seem to be worried about, a mysterious floating island appears off the coast of Black Marsh, inching its way closer to Tamriel every moment, while at the same time Lilmoth City's Hist tree begins acting strangely. Where did this floating city (that some may call "damnable" or perhaps "hellish") come from? How is it controlling the Hist? Who was phone?? Spunky Lilmoth teens Annaïg and Mere-Glim "Ar-gonia" find out! Heyyooo!
(terrible, terrible puns over now)
Alright, so first off, if I could give this book 3 1/2 stars or 3 3/4, I absolutely would. The issue here is that when I'm thinking about this book objectively the first things that come to mind are its faults (of which there are many, though all relatively minor ones) and I can't think about much to support it. However, this book flies in the face of logic by being absolutely freaking enjoyable despite its flaws. Despite the fact that, looking back, I can't think of a whole lot to recommend it, it was a blast to read. Take from that what you will, but somehow I still think it was a really good book regardless of everything I type after this.
(spoilers ahoy!)
This book has a lot of characters in it, and some appear for a truly miniscule amount of time (I'm lookin' at you, Keem from the prologue) before they are killed off or simply written out of the book for seemingly arbitrary reasons -- if there is a reason for it at all. It gives the book a feeling of vastness that it simply doesn't deliver on. It genuinely seemed as if Lesspa and her family would be pivotal characters in the second half of the book (or at the very least provide something of a love-triangle to add to the mix) but instead they contributed to a single (admittedly epic) chase scene and were then killed off. Alright, it was heavily implied that they were killed off. The point is that without the actual scope of a much longer book, it's extremely doubtful that their death will be resolved in the next book in the series. (could be wrong of course, I haven't read it as of the writing of this review.) Heck, the book would have improved drastically if Colin (one of the few main characters that DOES survive 'til the end) had been given twice as many chapters as he was given. As it is by the time the narrative switched to his point of view I'd long forgotten what he had done last time we'd seen him.
The same thing can be said of the back-story. Speaking as someone who has played Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim obsessively over the past four years or so, I had no bloody idea what was happening in the first few chapters of the book. The problem mainly being: when you're trying to write about a strange and alien place (which I think we can all agree Argonia undoubtedly is,) you have to first establish the norm of the area before introducing the wacky event that throws everything out of balance. Tolkien explained with careful detail that the nature of a Hobbit is to shirk all kinds of adventure just before sending Bilbo off on a dragon-fighting quest to show that Bilbo had something in him that was just a little bit more daring than his peers.(On a completely unrelated note, it makes me happy that not one word in the entire previous sentence set off my spell-checker.)
That simple bit of exposition would have made The Infernal City a hundred times better, especially at the beginning. Having a clear image of what Lilmoth City usually looked like would have made the weird hallucination sequence in chapter three a little less baffling, but not much time is spent on it before it is destroyed by Umbriel. Knowing more about the Hist tree and how it works normally would have made the entire first section far more interesting and understandable. Heck, knowing anything at all about half the words that are thrown about in the first half of the book -- An-Xileel, the Penitus Oculatus, the origin of the many curse words Annaïg spouts out at various times, etc. -- would have saved me a whole lot of confused interjections.
And if you can't explain these things in a few quick paragraphs, explain them anyway. I would have happily read this book if it was twice as long, as long as it spent as much time as it needed to tie up all those loose ends they left hangin' all over the place. Then again, I love big books and I cannot lie, and perhaps that wouldn't have been everyone's cup of tea.
(spoiler-ey bit over)
I have one more itty-bitty gripe here, and I'm really hesitant to lay the blame on the author in this case. There's something about Greg Keyes' writing style that has me convinced that we have a similar issue when it comes to writing. It seemed as though he had these incredible images in his head while he was writing this book, precise snapshots of a world that was all at once terrifying, alien, and breathtakingly beautiful all at once. But as wonderful as these pictures must have been in the author's head, the translation from mind to page was a little unclear and confusing. As much as I tried to immerse myself in this world I was continuously baffled by very long descriptive paragraphs that gave me no clearer an idea of the subject then when I began. Still, this got increasingly better as I read, and I admit in hindsight that it may have been a lack of interpretation on my part rather than Mr. Keyes'.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this book, you guys and I would probably recommend it to other Elder Scrolls fans, if for no other reason than to have someone to talk to about it.
Am I gonna read the sequel? You better "O-believe-ion" it!
...... I'm sorry. I'll leave now.
October 14, 2025
“He stood there for a long moment, letting language leave him, letting it all fill him as shapes, colors, smells. He had a profound feeling of familiarity and peace.
And sound—the musical piping of thirty kinds of strange birds, a distant voice singing in words he couldn't make out-and the wind, soughing through the branches as Umbriel slowly rotated.
And very faintly, the screams from below.”
Det var en svær start. Jeg kender slet ikke det her univers - og jeg synes ikke forfatteren har gjort sit ypperste til at få outsiders til at forstå.
MEN! Da jeg først fik fanget hvem der var hvem, og ikke gik for meget op i at forstå hver mindste detalje. Så var det faktisk en vildt god oplevelse. Kan kun forestille mig det er en endnu bedre oplevelse for dem der kender lidt til Elder Scrolls.
And sound—the musical piping of thirty kinds of strange birds, a distant voice singing in words he couldn't make out-and the wind, soughing through the branches as Umbriel slowly rotated.
And very faintly, the screams from below.”
Det var en svær start. Jeg kender slet ikke det her univers - og jeg synes ikke forfatteren har gjort sit ypperste til at få outsiders til at forstå.
MEN! Da jeg først fik fanget hvem der var hvem, og ikke gik for meget op i at forstå hver mindste detalje. Så var det faktisk en vildt god oplevelse. Kan kun forestille mig det er en endnu bedre oplevelse for dem der kender lidt til Elder Scrolls.
August 17, 2021
4/5 because this book's average is painful to look at. The Infernal City has been on my bookshelf for a couple of years now, and I finally decided to pick it up after rounding off the Oblivion game for the first time. I don't read all that much fantasy so I don't know how much weight this carries, but this is one of the most unique fantasy worlds I've ever read about. Greg Keyes found a perfect mix of the utterly weird Elder Scrolls lore, boiling it together with classic fantasy elements and likeable characters to make a delicious soul-filled worm-vapor-island cake.
December 27, 2020
Pro tip: don’t read novels based on video games
May 26, 2025
Ugh so fun seeing all the references and learning more about the world. The Luc character was literally bibble from Barbie in my mind
July 28, 2012
I'm sorry, I am waaay too lazy for a summary.
I didn't have high expectations for this because it is based on a video game series and I've never read anything by the author before. I gave it a shot because I love the Elder Scrolls games and crave more stories from that universe.
I liked it. It's well written and I enjoyed the plot. I even became generally attached to the two main characters.
Despite all of that, it only gets three stars from me because I can't deal with the change in narration (each chapter is from a different perspective). There are a few minor characters that wouldn't show up for a while and all of a sudden they are telling the story again. Who are you again? Why do I care that you are sneaking around killing people?
I didn't have high expectations for this because it is based on a video game series and I've never read anything by the author before. I gave it a shot because I love the Elder Scrolls games and crave more stories from that universe.
I liked it. It's well written and I enjoyed the plot. I even became generally attached to the two main characters.
Despite all of that, it only gets three stars from me because I can't deal with the change in narration (each chapter is from a different perspective). There are a few minor characters that wouldn't show up for a while and all of a sudden they are telling the story again. Who are you again? Why do I care that you are sneaking around killing people?
July 27, 2016
Elder Scrolls Oblivion was one of the most memorable games I have ever played, both because of its story and its immersive environments. An afternoon hike in the Colovian Highlands, watching the sunset over Nibenay Basin from the tower of a ruined fortress, sleeping in Skingrad's West Weald Inn on a rainy autumn night... those who have played the game know what I am talking about. Therefore, I was excited to learn that there were several novels based on the Elder Scrolls world, and I hoped they would recreate (at least some of) the magic and the feeling of the game. Well, dream on. The book is very dull, with hardly any game world references or details, a nonsense plot, and none of the atmosphere that made Oblivion so great.
August 18, 2010
This book is fantastic for the Elder Scrolls obsessed person but not so much for a fantasy reader. The world of the Elder Scrolls could indeed make a wonderful fantasy series, if it were properly explained and things...but the book itself is great, I found myself smiling at references to say, Umbra, and Morrowind, but was dissapointed to find out that Vvardenfell itself had been destroyed. How dare they! And this is more of an aesthetic point, but I swear my cover was really weak and floppy, if you get what I mean, hoho.
September 25, 2022
I don’t really understand how this got published. This had to have been a cash grab novelty item, because I don’t think it was even meant to be good. Umbriel felt more like it belonged in a comedy space opera than the Elder Scrolls lore. I almost think the Umbriel story was written first, pitched around, and then worked (VERY) loosely into the lore after the fact for the sake of this book.
Justice for Glim who was relegated to side kick and then largely ignored for most of the story. Shoutout to the weird, sudden, and unnecessary budding romance between a 22 year old man and a teenage girl. Three cheers for the constant refusal to explain the actual lore of the book or its characters in any significant way. Also, I’m assuming this duology was meant to be one story that got lengthened and split (for money), because everything about the Colin character was useless, out of place, and unfinished.
This was often irritating, rarely interesting, and so far past the realm of plausibility within the universe that it just felt absurd. And my god, the Empire bootlicking from half the characters was immediately tiresome. The conversations around Argonians felt at best thoughtless and at worst willfully problematic. Twenty pages in and I was 100% certain what I would see upon googling the author. I was correct. It shows.
Justice for Glim who was relegated to side kick and then largely ignored for most of the story. Shoutout to the weird, sudden, and unnecessary budding romance between a 22 year old man and a teenage girl. Three cheers for the constant refusal to explain the actual lore of the book or its characters in any significant way. Also, I’m assuming this duology was meant to be one story that got lengthened and split (for money), because everything about the Colin character was useless, out of place, and unfinished.
This was often irritating, rarely interesting, and so far past the realm of plausibility within the universe that it just felt absurd. And my god, the Empire bootlicking from half the characters was immediately tiresome. The conversations around Argonians felt at best thoughtless and at worst willfully problematic. Twenty pages in and I was 100% certain what I would see upon googling the author. I was correct. It shows.
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