26 Dec, 2011
Title: An Elder Scrolls Novel: Lord of Souls: 2 – Paperback, 320 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Author: Greg Keyes
Publisher: Titan Books
The two Lord of Souls books bridge the gap between the Oblivion and Skyrim video games- well, sort of. Set a generation after Oblivion, it transports you to a world where the floating, bizarre city of Umbriel is making its slow and steady way towards The Imperial City, a hideous undead army in its shadow. Its up to a haphazard yet courageous group made up of various Elder Scrolls species to save the day. Although it touches briefly on the events of Oblivion, and a small part of the book is set in the country of Skyrim, you can enjoy it as a standalone.
The writing, style and pace of the story is perfectly adequate for a video game tie-in, although some parts felt particularly weak, such as large parts of dialogue. Think poor video game dialogue and that will give you a good idea of what I mean. Perhaps this will help endear the book all the more to some, but personally it made me cringe from time to time and reminded me of your average fan fiction level of skill. Where this book really shines is the action and battle accounts, which are well paced, gritty and very nicely done.
There is a very large cast of central characters and you will need a good memory for names from page one to keep up, especially if like me you haven’t read the first book. This does spread the story a little too thin, and makes it difficult to sympathise with the good guys since we don’t really get to know them all that well (especially Mazgar). That said, the characters are all likeable and I found myself rooting for each and every one of them from the beginning. The villains are suitably miraculous, wicked, and downright creepy in some cases.
Sister caught the first – a half-charred Dunmer man – right at the juncture of clavicle and neck, and the heavy blade clove halfway through his ribs and stuck there. Bellowing, she punched the next in the face as he lifted his heavy curving blade, and had the satisfaction of feeling the cartilage and bone crush under her knuckles.
The first chapter is poor and a lot of readers will probably jump ship here, however I would urge you to give it more of a chance as it quickly picks up. Likewise, you’ll probably easily predict the ending but that doesn’t diminish how well the story ties together at the end.
Lord of Souls presents the perfect quick and dirty fix for fans of the Elder Scrolls universe so long as you can let yourself go and not take it too seriously. If you’re looking for a highly polished fantasy escape book this isn’t for you, but if you’re after a likeable romp this is right up your alley. Players of Oblivion will find themselves reminiscing when they spot memorable places and items.
The Good
- Likeable, believable heroes
- Well paced and satisfying action
- Smart, well executed climax
The Bad
- Weak start
- Some clumsy dialogue
- Too many characters spreads the story too thin
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