Destiny Grimoire Anthology, Volume II: Fallen Kingdoms

Destiny Grimoire #II

by Bungie

Bungie presents the Destiny Grimoire Anthology Vol II: Fallen Kingdoms, 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, Volume II: Fallen Kingdoms focuses on the times past as described in Destiny's lore, featuring stories of the Fallen, the Whirlwind, the Dark Age, and more.

Includes an in-game emblem code only available in the physical edition! 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, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Anthologies, Gaming, Reference

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2019

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues the excellent quality established in the first volume in terms of printing, binding, art, and writing.

Truth told this is now my favorite way to explore Destiny. My lady and I played over 300 hours over the course of a year for 2 and enjoyed ourselves/time immensely. However, we've both become increasingly nonplussed with the games as a service grind. Bungie's decisions the following year have made it fairly easy to avoid the next $100 worth of yearly DLC cycle. I did attempt to pick it up again here later last year but after a couple of days of just doing the same activities and such it was uninstalled again.

All that said, I will absolutely continue to buy these volumes as they put them out, especially if they maintain the ~$25 or less price.

[freddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Destiny lore gud.

[Hudson Christmas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it took me a bit to finish because of the end of school and all the work I have had to do recently, I loved this read. Am I a Destiny fan? Of course. And I loved every entry of Fallen lore contained in this book.

[Babs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of Guardian and Awoken lore as well as the Fallen stuff.

Fills in some interesting gaps about Siva and....Variks and the Scorn Barons. Eeeeee indeed!

Love the illustrations. Very epic.

[Daniel Hernandez Forero · Rating 5 out of 5]

The game is great, but is the lore where Bungie excels. I love it.

[Caleb Popham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insane how they can pull these loosely collected plotlines and fragments into an actually cohesive narrative. So fantastic.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to titan books for sending me this review copy!

Wow!

Some of you might not be aware of this but im a sucker for video game lore more so when it's a video game series that i adore like Destiny, I try to absorb as much as i can. The shame i found within while playing Destiny 1 that all the lore was not in the game but in an external website that i had to leave the game to read i was deeply saddened and wished that it was in the game. Now they did rectify this in Destiny 2 by adding it within the game only issue was the time line order of what grimoire (Destiny lore) i should read first this was the hard part, but now in this book it's all collected into one arching story line. This book focuses on the history of the fallen and following variks house of judgment as he struggles with questions of why and what if. This is volume 2 i haven't read volume 1 yet but knowing it tells the story of the hive and how much i enjoyed this book and it gave me a whole better understanding of the fallen i have to go out and read the first volume. And i can't believe that for this long i have been missing out on this greater understanding of the fallen that i wish it wasn't in lore nuggets but told with the actual game, but i can't grumble i now have the volume and im sure to buy the set for the vex and cabal next year and the year after! If your a Destiny fan do yourself a favour and go buy the first two volumes now you won't be disappointed i know i wasn't i have a deeper love for the world of destiny now.

5/5 Stars on GoodReads 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

100/100 GingerPoints 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[Angry Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that if Bungie could manage to put these stories into the game as it progresses, either as cut scenes or as character interaction, more people would see how amazing this world really is. Having to access backstory via grimoire cards and $25 anthologies when you've already paid $39-100 for a game seems like a grift, but the content was good.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading the lore behind the Fallen. Honestly, I think that I enjoyed this second installment more than the first one! It was cool to get a chance to get a glimpse into the history of them. Also, getting another perspective of the events leading up to the Foresaken timeline.

[Dododollydo · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, ‘Fallen Kingdoms’ felt like a mash-up of individual stories, rather than an anthology it claims to be. Mosaics had started coming together half-way through the book and, in the end, turned out beautifully.
There are stories of Iron Lords, the Fallen and the battle of Twilight Gap, Reef Wars, Scorn Barons and Variks the Loyal.
Variks’ part was simply superb (I might be biased as a ‘Forsaken’ campaign has always had a special place in my heart and resonated with me the most of all Destiny lore). The story is complex and touching: kudos to writers at Bungie. There is nothing quite as precious to the reader as compassion towards a character.
Illustrations are stunningly beautiful and production quality of the book is great, too.
I would certainly recommend ‘Fallen Kingdoms’ to a fellow Destiny fan!

[Chris Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting out on this I expected this to be predominantly lore on the Fallen/Elliksni. I did not expect to see the lore of their struggles juxtaposed with the Fall of the Iron Lords, or other cataclysms. It is to be noted that this book was published with Lore prior to the Beyond Light Destiny 2 expansion, and so a great deal of Elliksni lore was missed out on, especially when considering things like "The Season of The Splicer" lore.

If you like Destiny, this is a good read. If you've never played Destiny/want to get into it, Start with Volume 1 (which is about the Hive) and watch a recap video on the lore to current as a -lot- of it is not in the game anymore, which is painfully disappointing.

[Eadrinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really nice to finally feel like I have some understanding of the plot of Destiny II: Forsaken. If you don't take the time to read the lore from this series, you really miss out.

some things you learn from this book:
- a bit about the war for control of the Reef/Tangled Shore between the Fallen and Mara Sov's Awoken
- some about the Fallen/Eliksni houses and how the Scorn were made
- how the Barons and Uldren Sov broke out of the Prison of Elders

I docked one star because I would have liked a bit more lively presentation from the book itself, it feels a little stark, which I guess fits the tone of the game itself.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The name of this volume holds more weight when you realize it is multi-layered. Within the world of Destiny, there are the Fallen, but the Iron Lords were also a Kingdom that fell, and the list goes on. If you are a fan of the world of Destiny this is a must-read, but don't let that sway you if you've never picked the game up. These volumes hold so much world-building it hurts, in a good way. So pick up a copy all you fantasy fans, because it really does give you some great material to think on, while also leaving you wanting more.

[Matt Vallee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second Grimoire Anthology book is the same high quality as the first but better in almost all respects. The first laid out some of the best stories in Destiny, namely the Books of Sorrow and Dredgen Yor. This book focuses on the Fallen starting all the way back with the original Guardians (Risen) through Twilight Gap, the Iron Lords/SIVA, the Barons of the Tangled Shore and a good deal about Variks. Two thumbs way up for any Destiny lore fan.

[Nikolai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having not played Destiny during Destiny 1 or the beginning of Destiny 2, some of the history here of the Fallen/Eliksni and Scorn went a little over my head. I recognized some of the names as enemies I’d run into in the game in some form or another, but there were so many names of various Fallen and the entire recounting of the war between Fallen and Awoken really wasn’t that interesting to me. The final bit with Variks and the prison of elders is what brought me back into it finally.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, to delve into the Fallen and Scorn lore of this universe is a spectrum of appreciation levels, some entries enthralling to read, others more bland, like written with grey lettering over light grey paper.
Overall appreciable.

[Brendan Leipelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fallen are the least interesting corner to read of, but Variks' side of Forsaken is noteworthy for the fallout. Volume 1 was much better and 3 looks very promising with Exo origins and Deep Stone, but this still gets a blanket 3 stars because of the artwork and base inclusion.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think this quite hits the high highs of volume 1, but it's still a lot of fun revisiting this stuff.

[Brandon Ezell · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book explains even more lore but from the fallen perspective

[Remus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great view into the world of destiny and the lore behind the main characters

[Luke Hauser · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good source for destiny lore, it dives into why the fallen/eliskni are were they are and even answers a few questions players had about a certain fan favourite character.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one more than Volume 1, mostly because I find the exploration of Fallen lore much more interesting than just "Taken are evil".

[Siim · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of the Destiny universe, this is a timely anthology book, as it is the time of Episode: Revenant. It includes Fallen, Awoken, Cayde-6, and Prison of Elders.

[Abdulwahab · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who has spent thousands of hours in the world of Destiny, but has fallen off since, this book managed to illustrate the aspect of Destiny i've fallen in love with the most, the lore.

It nearly lost me towards the middle, but towards the end, it manages to leave behind a satisfying conclusion.

The illustrations are expertly crafted. Each one of them managed to leave behind a visceral, punctuating feeling.

I appreciate what the team at Bungie managed to pull off here.

[Rob Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume II has a lot more padding than Volume I, a lot more window-dressing lore that is there to explain why the developers have you shooting bad guy A in location B, because honestly not that much has been written about the Fallen. The Scorned Barons are also fundamentally uninteresting cartoon villains. However, it ends on a really strong note: Most Loyal, the best story in the past three years of Destiny writing. The earlier half of the book about the Iron Lords and SIVA provides some continuity if you're reading back-to-back from Volume I, and contrasts nicely with the second iteration of "Fallen out for revenge" in the later parts, but it's rather thin if you don't already have fond memories of the video game.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this volume as much as the previous.
Focuses mostly on the history of the Fallen, which I never found particularly intriguing.
Hoping for one of the next volumes to dive into the history of the Vex!

[Iain Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read for those interested in the lore and behind the scenes of what you see in the game