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The Elder Scrolls library is a huge, and often overlooked, part of the games. I've been playing for years, but only recently began to read the books I find, rather than checking for skill-ups and then selling them off. I particularly enjoy the narrative books, since they're an easy read, but the history and lore books can be pretty great too. I've been wandering around Skyrim and assembling in-game collections of books to fit the personalities of each character, but they always include my favorite ones, some of which are: Chance's Folly is one of the first non-skill, non-plot books I bothered to pick up and read. It's about a double-crossing thief and a crazy Breton. The Real Barenziah is an account of Queen Barenziah's personal life. The original version included unnecessary graphic detail about Khajiit genitalia, but that's since been edited out. A Dance in Fire and The Argonian Account are stories about a merchant's adventures in Valenwood and the Black Marsh, respectively, and they provide a pretty cool outsider perspective on two of the weirdest cultures in the game. Palla is a cautionary tale about why it's not a good idea to attempt to summon your girlfriend's hot mother back from the dead until you're sure you have all the details correct. 2920, The Last Year of the First Era is a narrative about the Tribunal during Reman II's war with Morrowind. So I figured, while this subforum is still up, I might as well ask: which books have you been collecting and dumping on the bookshelves/basement floor of your Skyrim house?
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| # ? Mar 24, 2012 00:33 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 14:00 |
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I currently have my shelves filled with one of every spell tome I have. (Until I ran out of space on the shelves that is...) Then I stuffed the rest in a barrel by the door, next to my weapon chest and across from my misc bag. I read almost every book if it is the first one I found, then stuff it in my book barrel, I think I have almost a complete collection now.
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| # ? Mar 24, 2012 01:18 |
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In every single Elder Scrolls game I've played, I obsessively collect EVERY SINGLE BOOK on every character. Not all the books in the world, mind, but at least one copy of every book. I will admit my shame and say that I haven't read them yet, but my plan is that once my thief has amassed stupid amounts of wealth and the entire collected knowledge of the land of Skyrim, she'll sit back in her nice giant mansion surrounded by shiny objects and read leisurely through her entire library. ETA: To further this goal, there is a mod that makes unread books glow, which makes it so much easier to grab one of every book without lugging around extras or keeping a list open in another window.
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| # ? Mar 24, 2012 01:26 |
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Withershins is pretty amusing, but I wish there were more Herbane's Bestiaries to find.
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| # ? Mar 24, 2012 04:57 |
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Ahzirr Traajijazeri. You're welcome.
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| # ? Mar 24, 2012 06:39 |
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Even though I want to live in other houses, I always end up picking Markarth. Why? It has the most bookshelf space.  During my first game (now lost after a computing disaster) I built record collections using manuscripts from the game - i.e., all written material that was not books. The pride and joy of my archive was the Papers of Callixto Correum. I find it amazing/terrifying that Skyrim's sandbox is so expansive that it's even possible to play archivist within it.  As for favorite books, I like the Dreamstride. It should have an ability to convert to a blunt weapon because I am confident you could kill a man with it easily.
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| # ? Mar 24, 2012 09:06 |
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Marobar Sul's Dwemer-books were pretty good.
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| # ? Mar 24, 2012 12:21 |
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Here's another fan of A Dance in Fire It's really fascinating, with a touch of dark humor near the end. I really want some DLC or a game set in Valenwood now; would love to see Silvenar rendered based on the description in there.
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| # ? Mar 25, 2012 02:45 |
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The Lusty Argonian Maid. There's a mod that makes those books increase your one and two handed skills.
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| # ? Mar 25, 2012 10:56 |
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One that can never ever be forgotten after the first read: Surfeit of Thieves.  
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| # ? Mar 25, 2012 21:03 |
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Timall posted:The Lusty Argonian Maid.
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| # ? Mar 25, 2012 21:45 |
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I really like the story in The Cake and the Diamond.
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| # ? Mar 25, 2012 22:45 |
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Pilli posted:One that can never ever be forgotten after the first read: Surfeit of Thieves. Am I the only one who figured out where this was going when she figured out what everyone else's name was?
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| # ? Mar 26, 2012 01:24 |
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wtfuguyz posted:Am I the only one who figured out where this was going when she figured out what everyone else's name was? No, I would expect readers to get it quite before Heriah does; the punch is made obvious. The point is not the "surprise" at the end from a reader's point of view, it's her whole experience going from feeling joyful and relaxed to the sheer horror that has dawned on her in an instant, and the way it is written. "In her last living moment, Heriah finally..." I'll leave the rest out not to spoil anyone, but goddamn. Just putting myself in this woman's shoes, hello goosebump galore.
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| # ? Mar 26, 2012 01:40 |
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Arbitrary Coin posted:Here's another fan of A Dance in Fire
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| # ? Mar 26, 2012 08:42 |
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My favourite book is the one about the vampire hunter that is trained by a priest. I think it was called "Eternal Blood" or something similar.
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| # ? Mar 26, 2012 12:33 |
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A Gentleman's Guide to Whiterun put a smile on my face when I read it. I keep a copy in each home I own. Also the story of Red Eagle was good to read before actually doing the quest. Kinda made it a more epic trudge through a draugr filled crypt.
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| # ? Mar 26, 2012 17:02 |
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The Locked Room was a really fun read, especially since I found it next to a Master-level locked chest in a fairly creepy area.
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| # ? Mar 26, 2012 17:49 |
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I like the skill book series that includes Warrior, Thief, Beggar, etc. It has that fun "lovely serialized dime novel" thing going on.
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| # ? Mar 26, 2012 20:39 |
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lunatikfringe posted:Also the story of Red Eagle was good to read before actually doing the quest. Kinda made it a more epic trudge through a draugr filled crypt.
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 01:48 |
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My favorite books were Vivec's loony philosophical allegories. I don't think they were in Skyrim though.
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 04:21 |
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Psalmanazar posted:My favorite books were Vivec's loony philosophical allegories. I don't think they were in Skyrim though. I was never a big Morrowind fan but they need to sneak Loveletter from the Fifth Era in with a patch or something. Its a real mindfuck (and will probably be decanonized after Elder Scrolls VIII comes out and takes place in the Fifth Era or whatever).
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 06:53 |
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Wasn't someone in the CHIM thread using Loveletter from the Fifth Era to hypothesize that Vivec was going to come back in a later game and cause another Dragon Break? I've read it a dozen times, but all I can get from it is that Tamriel's equivalent to the Industrial Revolution is going to be rad as hell.
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 11:28 |
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I remember reading one about a host who knew he had a spy who was using mind games and poison to rat him out and it was written from the perspective of the actual spy (Or one of several as the possibility may have been) and it was a really neat read.
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 12:19 |
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Catsworth posted:I remember reading one about a host who knew he had a spy who was using mind games and poison to rat him out and it was written from the perspective of the actual spy (Or one of several as the possibility may have been) and it was a really neat read. A Game at Dinner? I love that one.
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 12:42 |
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wtfuguyz posted:Am I the only one who figured out where this was going when she figured out what everyone else's name was? It is entirely possible that you were the only one!
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 13:10 |
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I normally don't read journals, but when I do, I read japhet's journal. Stay spooky, my friends.
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 14:45 |
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What was that one book about the dunmer who used orcish armor in a personal duel?
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| # ? Apr 16, 2012 14:10 |
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Baron Porkface posted:What was that one book about the dunmer who used orcish armor in a personal duel? Are you thinking of The Armorer's Challenge?
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| # ? Apr 16, 2012 15:45 |
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There is this one called How Orsinium Passed to Orcs but that one is about a Breton fighting in Orcish armor. I like The Mirror, it is a nice book with a rather obvious twist, but still fun read.
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| # ? Apr 16, 2012 18:32 |
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A friendly reminder that all the books of Skyrim are available in The Dovahkiin Gutenberg, an e-reader friendly collection. They make really good light reading on the bus or when you have time to kill somewhere.
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| # ? Apr 16, 2012 18:54 |
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Catsworth posted:I remember reading one about a host who knew he had a spy who was using mind games and poison to rat him out and it was written from the perspective of the actual spy (Or one of several as the possibility may have been) and it was a really neat read. The twist is that all of the people at dinner were actually spies for various other courts. There's no indication the only one who died was actually a spy. But Berenziah knew there were plenty of spies watching her, so she decided to scare them into submission.
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| # ? Apr 16, 2012 19:02 |
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I just came across and read The Horror of Castle Xyr, which is a one-act play and pretty suitably creepy.
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| # ? Apr 16, 2012 19:59 |
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If you haven't read them already, all of the books by Tavi Dromio own. Bone Part 1 Bone Part 2 Hallgerd's Tale Vernaccus and Bourlor Also, one of my favorites is the Black Arrow (Part 1 and Part 2).
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| # ? Apr 17, 2012 16:55 |
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I have played all of the Elder Scroll games except for Arena, and I have never done more then maybe skim through a few of the books. They seem interesting and all but I just can't seem to get used to the idea of reading a book in a video game. I do read all of the journals I come across to get more information of the quests i'm doing though.
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| # ? Apr 17, 2012 19:45 |
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Skyrim is my first Elder Scroll game and I have been gradually reading all of the books. Today I read one that I didn't understand and this seemed like an appropriate place to ask about it. The book "Arcana Restored" appears to be a guide on how to restore an object (Arcana?) using "pure gold" and a mana fountain. I am yet to come across anything in the game relating to the information in this book and it seems like it would be useful information for a quest. The wiki doesn't state it's related to any quest in Skyrim, so am I missing the point? Is there a Skyrim Ron Paul to get this "pure gold" from?
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| # ? Apr 19, 2012 04:00 |
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pacman posted:Skyrim is my first Elder Scroll game and I have been gradually reading all of the books. Today I read one that I didn't understand and this seemed like an appropriate place to ask about it. The book "Arcana Restored" appears to be a guide on how to restore an object (Arcana?) using "pure gold" and a mana fountain. I am yet to come across anything in the game relating to the information in this book and it seems like it would be useful information for a quest. The wiki doesn't state it's related to any quest in Skyrim, so am I missing the point? Is there a Skyrim Ron Paul to get this "pure gold" from?
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| # ? Apr 19, 2012 06:03 |
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I was really amazed at all the drat books there were in this game, and I was even more astounded that I would take a break in smashing through a dungeon full of vampires and monsters to hunker in a corner and read. The historical ones were good, but I tended to collect the ones that were either historical fiction or just outright fiction. I think Withershins is just about my favorite, though. The whole thing is so surreal and clever, it almost reads like a sidequest. I kind of wish it was.
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| # ? Apr 19, 2012 20:55 |
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Ulfr's Book is where it's at. Ulfr posted:... The Tale of Dro'Zira (Don't do drugs, Cubs,) and I enjoyed the, "A Dance in Fire" series. Besides Uncommon Taste, are there any other cookbooks (or at least close to it,) I should be looking out for?
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| # ? Apr 19, 2012 22:11 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 14:00 |
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Kolb and the Dragon is a Choose Your Own Adventure book and thus the best book. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Kolb_%26_the_Dragon Also: hilarious fantasy racism quote:Kolb stopped at the tavern to rest before fighting the dragon. High elves ran the tavern, however, and poisoned his mead so they could steal his gold.
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| # ? May 22, 2012 05:39 |
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