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Read the first few pages of the Elder Scrolls novel photo

Publisher Random House has teased book fans with an excerpt from the upcoming Elder Scrolls novel, The Infernal City. If you're undecided on the book, written by Greg Keyes, then perhaps the opening scene will entice you or put you off. Either way, it's there for the reading, so go right ahead.

As a budding fantasy nut and a fan of Oblivion, I think I'll definitely be picking it up. In fact, I'm really tempted to start playing Oblivion again to jog my memory of the game world, even if I do have a tendency to ruin every character build I try and make. In any case, the book is looking somewhat promising, although it's hard to see how much of a yarn it will spin from just a few pages.

The Infernal City will be available later this month on November 24.








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19 comments | showing # 1 to 19
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Rucksack's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 11:06
Rucksack
Atrocious would be putting it mildly...yuck!
Roager's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 11:24
Roager
I glanced at it, and yeah, it seemed pretty awful...

Oh well, another bad bit of gaming-related merchandise is just a drop in the metaphorical bucket.
TehPeanut's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 11:35
TehPeanut
This kind of fantasy genre begins and ends with Salvatore and Weis & Hickman, where novels are concerned. And that's only because they're the least awful ones.

But yes, this does look awful. The first paragraph had me cringing as if I were reading fanfic.
Overcrowd's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 11:38
Overcrowd
Yeah, that was pretty terrible... I'd much rather read Rev's fics than that crap.
Cartman's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 11:47
Cartman
Yeah, peanut got it right, its basically just shitty fanfic.

God dammit.
Oncomouse's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 11:47
Oncomouse
The only videogame-related novels that are even passable are Bioware's Dragon Age Books, and maybe the Mass Effect books. Those at least are planned parts of the overall narrative and written the game writers. In Gaider's case, he was a published novelist before working at Bioware. And even then, those Dragon Age books are ok at best.

Now excuse me, I have to read my Worlds of Power Castelvania novel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worlds_of_Power
Cartman's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 11:53
Cartman
@Oncomouse

The gears of war books are awesome. Maybe thats just because I love gears of war, but whatevah
maxman14's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 12:23
maxman14
I felt like the start was pretty shit, but it started to pick up towards the end in my opinion. probably going to have to check this out.
Mantra's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 12:30
Mantra
This is horrible. They should have commissioned the writers of the in-game books instead: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Books_by_Subject
Jack8274's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 13:01
Jack8274
Stop thief, you violated the law. Burn that piece of shit or pay the fine.

... THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD
andycadaver's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 13:20
andycadaver
I'll look into this. It wasn't that bad, honestly. Did everyone even read the whole thing?
runtheplacered's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 13:52
runtheplacered
@ Roager,

"I glanced at it, and yeah, it seemed pretty awful... "

And that ladies and gentleman, is how you know if a book is good or not. You glance at it.

Haha, the day I take anybody on Destructoid's comment sections' word on a piece of literature is the day I apparently stop giving a shit about literature.

With that said, yeah it looked like horseshit, but I don't actually have any interest in Elder Scrolls' lore to begin with.
TehPeanut's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 13:55
TehPeanut
@Oncomouse

The Fall of Reach Halo novel is also pretty decent, as far as videogame novels go. I have to admit to having a very hard time reading the Mass Effect book, though.
ritterjcat's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 15:09
ritterjcat
"The Argonian was all silhouette, because behind him the white curtains that draped the massive bay windows of the study were soaked in sunlight."

Worst sentence ever. I'm a hardcore TES fan and I'll be giving this one a miss.
bluemeep's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 15:31
bluemeep
Eh. I've read worse. I'll probably pick it up for when I feel in the mood for some generic swords and sorcery.
buzzhonky's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 16:17
buzzhonky
@TehPeanut: I agree that the Nylund and Staten books are really well done for the Halo universe. They richly add to the lore and are well written.
Oncomouse's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 16:33
Oncomouse
I think video game novels only work to provide extra insight into a world you're already interested in. AS novels, the Mass Effect books are pretty weak. But I'm a big fan of the game so I'll slog through them for insight into the world. It's probably like that for other readers. I was maybe a bit too hasty before. If you like Gears or Halo, you'll probably like the novels more. That makes sense. I don't think there's been video game novel yet good enough to stand on it's own. But I don't know how many quality novels exist that are part of a larger franchise (movies, comics, games, etc.) that can really stand on their own. Oh well, it's good fan service at any rate.
Davedude's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 18:37
Davedude
... I liked it...
simpledespot's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/01/2009 21:38
simpledespot
Consider me "put you off'd".
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