Destiny Grimoire Anthology, Volume I: Dark Mirror

Destiny Grimoire #I

by Bungie

Bungie presents the Destiny Grimoire Anthology Vol I: Dark Mirror, a must-have collectible lore compendium designed and assembled for Destiny’s devoted and enlightened scholars and lore lovers, as well as fans of fantasy and science fiction storytelling.

Destiny Grimoire Anthology Vol I: Dark Mirror focuses on the darker side of Destiny's lore, featuring stories of the Hive, the Taken War, the tale of Shin Malphur and Dredgen Yor, and more.

Until now, the myths, mysteries, and machinations of the Destiny universe were found hidden throughout the worlds – enticing threads that hinted at a greater tapestry. The Destiny Grimoire Anthology weaves tales from multiple sources together for the first time, casting new light on Destiny’s most legendary heroes, infamous villains, and their greatest moments of triumph and tragedy.

Each unique volume intends to illuminate a facet of the world, and the complete anthology will confirm and challenge players’ thoughts and assumptions on what it means to be a Guardian, offering new and differing perspectives on the cosmic war that rages between the Traveler and its ancient enemies.

Genres: Video Games, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Gaming, Ebooks, Reference

128 pages, Hardcover

First published December 11, 2018

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 5 out of 5]

This grimoire brings together all of the glorious little notes of lore that are scattered across the Destiny video games. It is sleek leather, dark and black like Oryx's heart and begins at the beginning: where else?

In truth, you can find all of this either in the game or probably online somewhere. There have been many Guardians who have sought to collect the lore of the Traveller and the surrounding worlds in one handy place, but sometimes that isn't enough. Sure, you can read all of this as you play the game, or look it up online, but for me that's not an option.

I started playing Destiny quite late in to the first installment after some girl on Subeta said she was playing it. I liked her (platonically), she seemed fun, so I decided to pick it up. That's the second time I've picked up a video game because a girl I like platonically has mentioned it. The first was Dragon Age. Ask me to tell you about my history with Dragon Age one day.

I never read the lore I pick up. Usually because I never pick it up in order, so having to remember each part and relate it to those parts it relates to is fairly annoying. And the lore system in Destiny 1 was pretty much abysmal: it wasn't accessible via the game at first, only online-except in little chunks called Grimoire cards. I also dislike reading more than 5 words off a screen at any giving moment. I'm a paper gel. And the idea of tracking it down online from a reputable Guardian sounded like hard work.

This is truly glorious, however. The binding (if you bought this in anything other than leatherbound you are no true Guardian of the Light) is stunning-though it can be a little cumbersome to hold when reading-and the illustrations are quite something: they add the atosphere and flavour that the game provides but in smaller, digestible chunks. I do wish there were more illustrations and I can not apologise enough for how I need Cayde-6 on every single page on anything Destiny-related.

And I will confess it now to my fellow Guardians: this is the first time I've actually read the lore. Yes, I know. But reading off a screen is not for me and having to find each individual pieces is also not for me. I am a completionist but only if there's a little ping at the end. But it is wonderful. Written really well: not in a novel style-of course not-but written in digestible chunks that give you so much information yet leave you hanging.

I would say, definitely, this book isn't for anyone who doesn't like-perhaps love?-Destiny the video game series. Usually with video game books I will say it appeals to people who enjoy artwork or video games in general, but this is pretty specific and will genuinely only appeal to the Guardians who haven't given up on the Traveller just yet.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Destiny is one of my favorite games of all time. It has tight gameplay controls and truly jaw-dropping set pieces and worlds. Unfortunately, the game's story is a convoluted mess with it's own alien vocabulary to boot. If you're hoping this anthology helps you understand the world of Destiny better, then you ought to lower your expectations.

This anthology breaks itself up into 5 sections. The first follows the Hive and will give you quite the history lesson on how Oryx came to be. The tales written in this section are peak world building that helps you understand how the Hive function and the intoxication of the Deep's power. The next few sections give background to two popular weapons in the Destiny universe: The Last Word and Thorn. I have to admit: the stories surrounding these guns were actually my favorite parts of the book. The next few sections give tales on Guardians messing with the Darkness (kind of ominous giving Beyond Light's story) and chatter surrounding these Guardians.

All in all, they're cool stories that surround the Destiny universe. But for someone new to Destiny? I'm not too sure this will be as an enjoyable read. This is clearly meant solely for Destiny lore fans. Which means if a truncated means of weaving a story that ultimately leaves with more questions than it answers, this is perfect. I suppose it's important to set the right expectations of what this book is before going into it: it's a collection of stories and lore pieces from the Destiny universe, not a woven narrative to help you understand the universe better.

I ultimately enjoyed it, despite how my tone may sound in this review. But if you're not a Destiny fan, don't go into this expecting things to make more sense. I suppose the same can be said of even Destiny fans looking to pick this up.

[Moises Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before indulging with the powers of the Light, one must acknowledge the existence of the Dark. Coming out of Renegades, I wanted to explore back the origins of what as Guardians have battled from one of the oldest foes in the universe. Yes, it reads as an anthology, and it skips some. At times, a bit confusing, but from the telling of the rise of the Taken King to the showdown between a Thorn and a Golden Gun, this was still a great start to show what Guardians have come up against and not only need, but must triumph over.

[Jesse Marek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun bit of lore. Only complaint is that it seems to jump around a bit. I'm sure it'll tie together with the other volumes.

[Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this 6 years after it had been released, there is a lot to compliment. With what has been revealed now as the game has progressed, it is incredibly interesting to see patterns emerge and small tidbits that explain and give detail into certain events. The story has great structure, it’s hard to find any loopholes or flaws in the story at all. It’s personally very intriguing to learn about some of the classic weapons and characters from the lore and have a much more detailed story of their life up to the present day.

Overall I’d say this book is fantastic if you want to learn about the darker stories of destiny and it won’t spoil any of the overall story for yourself if you haven’t already played the game.

[Chelsea Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read but only as someone who is already relatively well-versed in some of the lore of the Destiny universe; this wouldn’t make any sense or be enjoyable to someone who has never played the games.

But I did enjoy it - the Rezyl Azzir entries were my favorite - and I am looking forward to reading the other volumes.

Bookstagram - @chadlikesbooks

[Joshua Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of Grimoire cards from the game arranged to allow for a narrative that is focused on Oryx and the rise of the Hive. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection and look forward to future volumes.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was overall interesting but soooo confusing! There was parts that were so interesting but then they would get confusing and sometimes wouldn’t make sense and there was so many things that weren’t explained in the book. I did enjoy the writing style though and while it wasn’t a bad book necessarily, it was hard to fully enjoy it with how all over the place and confusing it was.

[Louie Herb · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all the mystery and wonder of the Destiny universe, it has never been more accurately captured than in its grimoire. The games could never do justice the themes and world building present, to any who love fantasy this is a good place to start.

[cigsrette.xo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book it's interesting; I dont know much about games especially the sone in particular. My boyfriend gave me his book since he knows I love reading and this is different.

[Ryan Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Destiny. I’ve put more hours into the game then I’d care to admit. It’s flawed in so many ways, but there’s a few things that keep me coming back. The gunplay is crisp, the raids are fascinatingly unique experiences and it has an extremely relaxing gameplay loop.

But one of the things I love the most is the story.

When the first game launched it was criticised for having a nonsense and barely there plot. This was an entirely valid critique as the game had rewritten it from scratch a year before release and failed to do anything interesting with the fascinating world it created. But the world it created was fascinating. Part sci-fi adventure, part gothic horror, part cosmic fantasy, the Destiny world is a mishmash of genres that shouldn’t work (and sometimes doesn’t). Elements of the world were teased in the game, but to get to the meat of it you’d need to go online and read the grimoire, an online encyclopaedia that delivered the secrets and lore of the world in bite sized chunks.

Chunks that are now collected in this book.

Unsurprisingly, considering the history of story in Destiny, this book is a mixed bag. I really enjoyed it, but I’m biased. In reality, this perfectly encapsulates both the strengths and weaknesses of Destiny’s storytelling techniques. And it can be illustrated perfectly in the two strands of plot this book tells.

The first tells the origin of the Hive. It’s phenomenal. The world building involved in their story is equal parts fascinating, tantalising and disorientating in its creation, feeling truly alien... but maintaining an emotional core. It takes what seem to be generic monstrous villains in the game and gives them understandable, almost empathetic backstories. You may not be rooting for Oryx, but finding out what twisted him to become The Taken King is fascinating. The fact that you only find this out in this book however... just highlights how much the games storytelling could (and did) improve. It’s worth the read alone, especially for fans of world building.

The other story thread is far less interesting. Drawing heavy inspiration from westerns, it tells the tale of fallen hero Dredgen Yor and his rise and fall. It also fleshes out the history of The Last Word, one of the best guns from the game. Unfortunately, this story is well told but relatively bland in comparison. It’s a typical tale of frontier justice and revenge, told too briefly to leave much of an impact. The effects of Yor’s final battle is also told and provides an interesting epilogue, but it’s still a mere morsel if a tale.

What saves this second half is the style of writing. In both parts the story shifts between first person narration, third person narration, internal monologues, transcripts and epistolary writings. It’s a compelling blend of styles that keeps things interesting even when the story does not.

On the whole, this is a good book for fans interested in science fiction or fantasy, and a great read for any fans interested in the series it takes inspiration from. But if you’re not interested in either, there’s very little to be gleaned from this experiment.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mike, are you reading four books at once? And one of them is a video game tie-in?"

Look, COVID-19 has made fools of us all in all kinds of different ways.

The storyline of Destiny - Bungie's followup to the juggernaut Halo series - is maybe one of the most formally interesting experiments in big-budget video games (in my opinion, at least). The main storyline feeds you the usual pablum-y "fight this bad guy" stuff, and then drops you the real WEIRD stuff in hidden collectibles throughout the game that are shockingly well-written (probably because a good chunk of it is the work of Seth Dickinson of The-X-Baru-Cormorant fame). There's outright short story-type work but tons of fun epistolary stuff too - transcripts of surveillance footage, excerpts from scholarly texts, letters to the player character, emails from artificial intelligences. The writing also embraces unreliable narrators and "show, don't tell" - the closest it ever gets to explaining exactly how the core conflict of the game began is in a series of letters from the archvillain itself.

Anyhow, Bungie sat down and put together the text story entries from the game in a series of these "grimoire" books that also come with some nice art from the art team. Dark Mirror is broken up into three parts that I will touch on briefly here:

- A Book of Sorrow: Maybe the point where the "Destiny lore is good actually?" train kicked into high gear, and one of the parts Dickinson definitely wrote (it's frustratingly hard to understand exactly who is writing what parts of the lore). Tracks the tragic evolution of the "krill people" into the Hive, one of the primary antagonists of the game.

- The Burden of Light/Shadows Beyond: The weaker parts of the book, a sort of Wild-West-ish story about three men and two legendary guns.

- A Vacancy: The coda to A Book of Sorrow, which is extremely short but just as good as the main body.

Overall, I gave this five stars because I think Dickinson's work is this weird, astonishingly good outlier and I'm biased by all the time I've spent with these games during the coronavirus nightmare, but it's hard to make a recommendation to someone who hasn't played the games - there is a lot of context that's lost if you're just reading this straight through. I hope Bungie is able to keep up their level of quality for a long time to come, though.

[Jucá · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, you should take my 5 stars rating with a little bit of salt, but I truly mean it. I've first started playing Destiny just before The Taken King was out, thanks to a random guy who indicated it to me in a store. And, well, since then I've been a fan of Destiny Lore. There's something truly special about the way they build their worlds and they stories, they believe in it, and it shows, it feels real, it feels POSSIBLE.

The first volume of the Grimoire Anthology just touches the surface of the Destiny universe, but at the same time, it tells you a lot. I like the way they curated the stories for this first volume, you get to see the ascendance of the Hive, with Aurash, Sathona and Xi Ro all the way untill they become Oryx, Savathun and Xivu Arath. You get to know the origins of the Deep (Darkness) and of the Sky (Light), and it is written is SUCH A GOOD WAY, that you can't help but fall in love with the Hive God Trio, even with all the slaughter and power-thirstiness. Hell, you'll even ask yourself if the Light is really the "right" way.
Then you get to know the incredible story of The Last Word and Thorn and their respective owners, a story about light and darkness again, but different; With this story they also tells us a little bit about how humanity and the traveler came to be together, and how the Last City was born.
Then we get to see a little bit of the aftermath of the gunmans's plot before the book ends by also telling us of what became of the Hive God.
It ends with a nice touch, leaving us wanting for more.

And if you play destiny, you know that there is MUCH more to come.

If you love Destiny, you should definitely read this.
If you never played Destiny, you too should read this. Trust me, you'll love it.

See you fellow guardians in Volume 2!

- Jucahh

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until now, the myths, mysteries, and machinations of the Destiny universe were found hidden throughout the worlds – enticing threads that hinted at a greater tapestry. The Destiny Grimoire Anthology weaves tales from multiple sources together for the first time, casting new light on Destiny’s most legendary heroes, infamous villains, and their greatest moments of triumph and tragedy.

I'll be honest this volume is not as great as the second volume, this books main focus is the hive and the book of sorrows, the issue being is this books makes the hive seem like there lore is tiny, when actually it's quite vast and expensive. The reason for that is they focus on one part of the hive, then turn tables and focus on two legendary Guardians and their weapons "Thorn & The Last Word" and then they bring it back to the taken king at the end and his defeat, they leave out so much lore, even the little stuff where they could talk about the different hive times (thraws, acolytes, knights, wizards) sadly not just little mentions here and there. Now i know im not making this book sound that great, when to a die hard Destiny fan like myself it is thats why i gave it the 4 stars, i guessed i just wished and hoped for me, after reading volume 2 and i now see the improvements they made i was kinda hoping that this would of been the same. But oh well it looks amazing next to the second volume and seeing where they are taking the series next in volume 3, well i can't wait, me and my ghost are ready.

4/5 Stars on GoodReads 🌟🌟🌟🌟

95/100 GingerPoints 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[gil madrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Destiny has always been my favorite fictional universe. It's everything I love distilled into a single, beautifully crafted mythos. This anthology reminds me why I fell in love every time I flip through a page. The lore is always spectacular in a way few franchises ever achieve, blending mythic scale with intimate tragedy. Every story feels like a shard of something ancient and immense. A universe shaped by gods, ghosts, guardians, and the consequences of impossible choices.

What this book captures better than anything else is the tone that makes Destiny so addictive. The feeling that you are peering into a history written in the margins of a dying universe. Characters like Toland, Osiris, Jaren Ward, and the Shadows of Yor feel largenr than life yet painfully flawed, and their stories echo with that familiar mixture of hope, obsession, and the hunger to understand forces beyond comprehension. The way the narratives interlock is masterful. It never feels like the worldbuilding is simple.

I could talk about the lore for ages. There is something intoxicating about how Bungie writes despair and faith, how they explore the corruption of power, the resilience of Light, and the fragile, complicated humanity of Guardians who refuse to bow to inevitability. This anthology deepens the universe in a way the game can't. It's a reminder of why Destiny means so much to me and why its world continues to capture my imagination.

[Hammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una recolección de los mitos formativos de la Colmena, el origen de Thorn y un vistazo cercano a la corrupción de uno de los Guardianes de leyenda.

No es un libro que vaya a explicarle nada a alguien que no tiene conexión con Destiny desde antes, pero eso es obvio. Nadie va a comprarse un libro sobre la historia profunda de fondo de un videojuego sin estar ya metido en su universo.

Y como alguien que devora cada pieza de lore que nos tiran, estas antologías están hechas al 200% para mí. Esta en concreto tiene el origen de una de mis razas favoritas y una de mis historias favoritas, cubriendo a la vez la capacidad de contar una historia enorme y trascendental junto con otra legendaria pero de un calibre mucho más personal. El mito de la creación y una historia de venganza inspirada por los westerns, dos conceptos lejanos entre sí en prácticamente toda categoría que demuestran en un solo libro lo que tanto adoro del universo de Destiny: Dentro de sus confines hay espacio para historias de múltiples géneros con infinitos tonos.

Así que nada, dudo que meta a nadie al juego o el universo, pero no es su objetivo. Su objetivo es recopilar piezas de lore que estaban desperdigadas y unirlas de manera cohesiva para quienes ya nos enamoramos de ellas. Y en eso sobrepasa toda expectativa, con una calidad fantástica de construcción y arte precioso de tapa a tapa.

[Chris Roundhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Destiny 2 is a game I have spent more time with than any other. And I think that one of the most frustrating things about the game is how rich its lore and world building is within its narrative. That should be a selling point but the problem is that it is buried in in-game lore books which you typically unlock and reading chunks of lore in your game window is not always the most ideal way to digest some of that detail. This leaves the "lore telling" to great YouTubers like Byf and Myelin. And that's where these Grimoire Anthologies come into play. I believe Myelin himself contributed to this first volume, a collection of those lore entries from within the game laid out to detail a unique narrative. This particular volume focuses on one of my favorite races in the game, the Hive, as well as details about exotic weapons like The Last Word. For fans of the game, these are excellent things to have and display on a shelf. They look beautiful and feel good to hold and look at. Really enjoyed this one.

[Samantha Canesi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really well put together, and does almost read like a novel.
I was a tiny bit bummed that the first bit we get is the Book of Sorrows, the BoS is amazing and a really cool read but I was hoping for more of the stuff involving various odds and ends, a little more like earning the Grimoire Cards. I mean I suppose the beginning is debatable but in my head Oryx is so far into the story already that its seems weird to start there in my opinion. Otherwise though it makes sense as far as what bits of the grimoire fit together in something narrative.
The pyshical book is beautiful it makes me think of encyclopedias, which I think is perfect and I kind of can't wait to have a little collection of them. I do hope they eventually get to all the Grimoire and not just the big fan favorite pieces.

[Matt Vallee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a huge Destiny fan since the D1 beta and this book gathers two of the most interesting lore stories to date: the Books of Sorrow and the tale of Dredgen Yor. While the stories themselves have been available for years through grimoire cards or various fan sites, having them collected (and in order) in print is nice.

I would have rated the book higher if it wasn't basically those two collections and nothing else. While there are technically two other chapters, they aren't nearly as fleshed out as the first two. Some new and/or full color art would have been a nice touch as well. All in all, a good book for a Destiny fan and I'm looking forward to reading Volume II in the future.

[Garron · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to look at this book from the lens of what it is, the lore of a video game. For that reason, this rating is less about the writing and story, because the people buying this book will already know it, and more about the book itself. This book covers lore from D1.

The book comes with beautiful pleather cover that had gold printed titles and images. It is also stitched with a symbol. It feels great. The pages are think and and dyed giving it an old feel. The construction of this book leaves it feeling more of a piece of art than anything. The illustrations are very well done in chromatic, which suits the aesthetics of the pages they are found in.

This is a must have for any video memorabilia or anyone who loves the destiny lore.

[Melayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of Destiny Lore generally found through Grimoire cards. It is great for fans of the game who have read all the cards for free online or those who have not and want an easier way to digest the information those cards provide.

The reason I gave the anthology series a 4 out of 5 was the final two “chapters”. The first 2 were excellently curated and really helped tell the lore that you only get glimpses of from playing the game. The final 2 however did not feel like they were completed.

Hopefully we will see more of these anthologies. I have been wishing for books based on the game since it came out. Thanks to all those involved!

[Jackson Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like the universe of Destiny created by the popular creators of Halo, Bungie Inc.? If your answer is yes, then this anthology is a must-read. It contains so much lore that it's unbelievable. I cannot wait until the second volume of this amazing anthology is released. My only problem is the fact that the entries that have things such as 1.0.1 had names. It doesn't state who is speaking. I also wish it had like author notes at the bottom of each entry. However, those are the only complaints that I have for this anthology and the fact that any book only has 2 errors is awesome, which is the reason why I gave it 4 stars. If those errors were fixed, then it would be an easy 5 stars.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't often venture out into the world of videogame lore. In point of fact, I've only done it once before, and with the same developer.

And yet, here I am, taking on the first Grimoire Anthology for Destiny.

And the experience was incredible.

For those who have played anything within the extended universe of Destiny, the extended world was always hinted at, but never really delved into fully.

This first volume takes a look at the the Hive as a species and dives into a cursed weapon passed on thought the ages.

The Story is so perfectly captured and such a great gateway into the grander world of Destiny. This is a must buy for a fan of the games.

[Carrotkhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had gotten it for my son, who's a big fan of the games, and he offered to let me read it. It was actually way more interesting than I thought it was going to be. Watching the game being played made it seem like it was just a mindless shooting/puzzle game. It's written in the manner of lost/fragmented religious text with occasional intercepted transmissions.

While I still have no interest in playing the game, the way that the pieces were written and give a framework of a story/genre/mythology was very artistically done.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this volume. Reading it is like piecing together the meaning of primary sources, without having read the history book's interpretation: it's up to the readers to draw their own conclusions. There are actually two main stories here. 1) the origin of the Hive and the rise (and fall) of the Taken King, written history book style by a member of the Hive. 2) the origin and end of Dredgen Yor and the rise of the Shadows of Yor, written in a combination of narrative and transcripts.

[Chance · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My Ghost brought me up out of the long black, led me to a gun, told me I was a warrior. She said I was supposed to protect humanity. I told her I didn't see much reason in fighting for people who'd never given one damn about me. She said I was special. I told her if that was true, she wouldn't have found my bones in the back-end of nowhere. Didn't know who I'd been before she woke me up, but I knew enough to know I was no hero."

[Dan Moyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mostly fantastic collection. Some stories just didn’t catch me. I think the first part set a style and intrigue standard that was tough to match going forward. But all in all, I like the pick-apart nature of the Destiny Lore, that emphasis on mystery and interpretation, which leads to heavy investment, and left me thinking on it for days after.
My favorites included: The Books of Sorrow and the Vacancy.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dark Mirror is an anthology of stories based in a universe I know nothing about. As a result, the large majority of this collection didn't make any sense to me. I do have other volumes, so perhaps things will become clearer as I forge ahead with more volumes of stories about this universe.

[Christine wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a big fan and player of destiny this book was tremendous. The story behind destiny is amazingly intriguing and intricate. This is just volume one but I was amazed and overjoyed to read it. This book has amazing stories and the language is a masterpiece. I would give this book 6 stars if I could. I loved it that much.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I you haven't played at least 1000 hours of Destiny, I wouldn't recommend this book.
If you have, then it's a must-read and extremely rewarding.
I never paid any attention to Destiny's Grimoire while playing the game. This book does a fantastic job to present the Grimoire in a beautiful and chronologic fashion.