Lord of Souls: An Elder Scrolls Novel [ペーパーバック]

I'm very fond of the Elder Scrolls universe. They have always seemed to me like the Shakespeare of fantasy RPGs, with sophisticated themes and lots of intrigue, politics and momentuous events that convey a sense of a living, breathing world that is advancing its own ends around you as you travel through it. Morrowind was thick with this sense, in Oblivion it was subsumed a bit by the rather too straightforward, generic main quest, but still there.

Lord of Souls is the second novel by Greg Keyes set in this universe, the first of which I have not read, but I wanted to read this one in order to glean whatever buildup to the upcoming Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim could be found. Written in a fluent, modern style, Keyes eschews some of the high fantasy tone of the games to portray more ordinary, relatable people. His characters are enjoyable, and what I relished the most is the sheer adventure quality of the action. It reminded me very much of how much fun I had with Terry Brooks' Shannarah series when I was a teen. The sense of wonder there is also in fine form here.

For anyone who likes the ES universe, this is a great find. Keyes is very authentic and detailed in his handling of the sometimes very alien world of Tamriel, and this will certainly serve to whet the appetite for the upcoming game.

[This review is based on an Advanced Reading Copy - 316 pages]

<Warning - May contain SPOILERS>

The Lord of Souls is the second and currently final book in the Elder Scrolls series written by Greg Keyes. Based on the award winning Bethesda video games, the story continues with our various heroes and their fight against the floating city of Umbriel. Attrebus and Sul are still searching for the legendary sword Umbra in hopes that it will aid them in destroying Vuhon, Lord of Umbriel. Annaig and Mere-Glim, still trapped in the floating city, perform their duties as cook and sump skraw just to survive. Colin continues to investigate the conspiracies against crown and kingdom. Lastly, two new Imperial characters, albeit rather minor, are introduced to the story. Mazgar, a female orc warrior and Brennus a human mage are part of an Imperial reconnaissance that aid in the flight of the Cyrodiil citizens as Umbriel approaches. As with the first book "The Infernal City," the timeline is still approximately 40 years after the Oblivion crisis. Here are my thoughts on The Lord of Souls;

Pros

+ More action this time around.

+ Great cover art.

+ Attrebus becomes a bit less of the cliché Prince. Inspector Colin gets more face time which was great as I really enjoyed his character.

+ Quick, enjoyable and easy read written by an accomplished author.

+ It's good to have another novel in the world of the Elder Scrolls.

Cons <Contains SPOILERS>

- Majority of the romantic relationships in the book still felt forced, instant and unrealistic.

- Again there were no maps included. A detailed world map of Tamriel can easily be found online but a map or cross section illustration of Umbriel would have been helpful.

- Author dissolves certain factions and introduces new ones while giving them little to no explanation.

- The use of "Coo the magical webcam" is still overly convenient for Attrebus and Annaig.

- More of "Iron Chef Oblivion." As I mentioned in my review of The Infernal City, I didn't find the idea of warring kitchens very interesting.

- Story continues to rely heavily on the lore and history of the Elder Scrolls world. Readers who didn't read the first book or haven't played the video games will most likely be lost with the author's constant references to places, races, people and factions.

The Lord of Souls continues very much in the same vein as Infernal City did. The writing and characters (old and new) are on par with the first book. If you enjoyed the first book you'll definitely enjoy this one. If you disliked the first book, then you'll most likely find this one unappealing as well. I will admit that the story doesn't do justice to the world of Elder Scrolls but I still found it enjoyable as a fan. With so much content to draw upon from the video game history I feel Keyes could have crafted a better tale. Despite the books shortcomings I did find it an interesting read and would definitely read another installment if they chose to do one. I'm crossing my fingers that with the upcoming release of the Skyrim video game perhaps a few more Elder Scrolls novels will follow.

...from being too scattered.

As an evil floating city lays waste to the land, several disparate groups attempt (in their own way) to stem the tide of undead that threatens the Elder Scrolls universe.

In the run up to the much anticipated Skyrim, this tie-in novel is the sequel to The Infernal City and continues the stories of Prince Attrebus and his compatriot Sul, Annaig (who has become a Demon Chef in Umbriel), the reluctant revolutionary Glim... as well as two Scouts, and a pair of Spies for the Emperor.

I have to say, while I did enjoy each plot line individually, throwing them all together in a single novel seemed to have the effect only of watering down the action and drama. Attrebus and Sul's brief adventure for the sword with which they hope to extract Umbriel (the demon, not the city) is alright, but I was much more interested in Annaig and her concoctions of emotion-based haute cuisine.

Then there's Glim and his budding relationship with an oddly harmless demon girl or the orc warrior woman (who's name escapes me at the moment) and her retreat to the capital... or Colin and his collaboration with another of the Emperor's personal spies that hovers on the cusp of being interesting. They all fall flat towards the end.

And that's a complaint about the entirety of the novel, really... every story, every encounter, every conflict, it's like they're half there and not fully fleshed out. It's like you're watching a compilation/recap episode of a series where they only show you the important snippets here and there. There's great stuff, but they're just thirty second (or, in this case, page) clips of the action, not well developed, fully formed stories.

I was especially disappointed with Colin's parts. It was great to see him and his opposite number work together both in the field and in bed, as he's the sort of character you want to see fall in love and live happily ever after (that's not a foreshadowed jinx, is it?), but it was a pain to see just how boring his investigation into that rogue noble actually was. It was all "insert clue A into plot device B." Aside from a few interesting concepts (like guard ghosts and demons), it left me hollow. Especially the plot twist at the end.

That said, what is there is passably good and worth a read, but only to pass time. There's nothing really spectacular or thematically important about the book. It's just something to kill spare moments with and whet the appetite for Skyrim when it actually comes out.