i thought it was a great book lots of detail and had a great ending that left me wanting more

I enjoyed it, and I agree, a very good source of lore. I've been getting daydreams of playing Synod quests in TES:V. That would be amazing...

After rising though the ranks and paying dues, you too will eventually be given privilege to learn...levitation! Says that a guy in the Synod rediscovered how to levitate, and they also mentioned the members also have to pay dues.

Agreed. They should just nuke Tamriel entirely. At this point I don't really care. I've made my own ES historical canon after the Morrowind main quest and that's all that matters.

I want a t-shirt that says 'Nuke Tamriel'

Well, it's been a few months since I first read the book and the "shock and awe" of finally having the story of TES bumped ahead a few decades has worn off. I can now look at it more objectively and say that my opinion is virtually unchanged.

The characters, first. Some of them do come off as a bit flat, but really it's a consistency issue so far, where supposedly minor characters like Glim and Colin are more interesting than Annaig, who is supposedly the central protagonist.

The short length: Well, another TES series to LotR parallel is that this is clearly the first half of a single larger book which was divided for publication. This explains why the book doesn't so much end on a cliffhanger but feel like a chapter ended and the rest of the book is missing. It's likely a lot of the flat characters will get fleshed out more in the second half of the book.

The prose: Yeah, it's alright. A few misused metaphors like the blood vessels one, but it's better than saying intestines. Those make people uncomfortable. Sometimes he trips over it a little, but nothing too serious.

The plot: Well, in typical Keyes style this is a lot of smaller plots woven around a larger one all peripherally related. Colin is going after Vuhon's mole, Sul and Attrebus are trying to stop Umbriel from the outside in an archetypal hero journey (props to that), Glim is just trying to survive, and each is working towards a greater goal in the bit picture. Some people don't like the direction the book is taking the world in because it's written "by an outsider" which I'll talk more about later, but the thing is, Bethesda made sure that he didn't conflict with anything they wanted to do in the future. Let that sink in, Umbriel, Landfall, divided Elsweyr, the Mede Empire, all of that was either already thought up or doesn't conflict with ideas they already had.

Landfall: But the thing people seem to be focusing on most is Landfall. I was relieved that it happened the way it did, as rampant fan speculation held that all of Tamriel's surface would be rendered uninhabitable. This is much better as it does fulfill the technical requirements and does change up the landscape, but does allow for the Tamriel we all know to continue. Some people are disappointed by it happening (which a lot of us knew was coming since 2003) and still others disappointed that there is any Tamriel left as we know it. But see above.

The author: Greg Keyes is an acclaimed fantasy and sci fi author. Some people seem to have been or are still uncomfortable with the fact that he is "an outsider," that he hadn't been a part of writing previous TES titles. Well, the fact that he came in to the ranks of people who have written for TES starting at the novel isn't something that can be changed, but another fact that can't be changed is that one book is already out and the second is likely mostly finished, so deal with it. The lore is sound, and while there's no reason you should be forced or compelled to like it, declaring dis-continuity because it was written by GK and not MK is just being whiny. Grow up.

So my overall opinion is like a 7. A good book to read in it's own right but not great, but it's primary draw beyond that is that it's TES and that it works as TES.

PS: One last point here, who else caught the Attrebus was a fake beforehand? If you did, how? Mine was reasoning that Keyes does some sword fighting himself, but had Attrebus block with the flat of his sword and not the edge. He would have known that blocking with the edge may chip it a little, but blocking with the flat could make your sword bend and be useless, so he wouldn't have had Attrebus block with the flat if he could earnestly fight.

I enjoyed the novel. Interesting Lore stuff, fun Mage-butt-kicking stuff, and cool so-that's-what-its-like-to-be-an-Argonian stuff. Good times.

please make non-spoiler thread cuz im still reading it

just got it today

White Gold was built by Mer...

And men had controled it.

I enjoyed the book. Anyone know when the next one might come out?

Haven't the slightest. probably before the next game in the series, but that's not even a certainty.

Another vote for "I enjoyed the book". Still waiting for volume II that I believe will be better due to an author more experienced with this universe.

The book was excellent - Keen for the second half.

Is it going to be written by a different author then? I didn't know this.

I rather think he meant "Greg Keyes with 1 TES novel written will be better than Greg Keyes with 0 TES novels written".

Now, did you do that on purpose? I've been talking as though the two books are simply one half each of a larger volume, is everyone getting that vibe?

Exactly.

Well I have to admit that it really feels like that.

That seems to be Keyes' style. In his four-volume series 'The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone", each book that I've read so far seems to end in a cliff-hanger -- it's one gigantic novel that has been divided into four parts.

I wasn't crazy about the kitchen settings in Umbriel, but I can understand what that's really about: alchemy, and the alien nature of Daedra. I'm looking forward to seeing how Keyes wraps up the novel -- I liked the character Colin and want to hear more about the replacements for the Blades and Mage Guild that we've been briefly shown.
To me, one of the keys to the new Mede dynasty is that they might not have the gods' backing in the same way that the Septims did. The Medes are probably the best option for the former Empire at this point, but it's almost like the difference between understudies and established actors.

Well, Titus Mede did some ridiculously amazing things to gain the Empire. Maybe he's just not going into it, but his success has to have something to do with help from the divine entities.

Anybody know when the second one is coming out? I rather enjoyed the first one, and look forward to seeing how everything gets resolved.

Personally, favorite part was definately Attrebus' development with Sul's help. "Just who do you think I am?" was the coolest part of the book.

I watch a lot of Gurren Lagann, so I was really happy to see that as well.

No idea about the second book. Wish I knew.

And yeah, that's what I like about the Medes, they're basically just the most powerful outlaw family, so Titus crowned himself Emperor.

Picked up the book at the post office earlier today and finished it an hour ago. As far as fantasy goes, it's not bad. There's some weird stuff in it mentioned allready, so I won't dwell on that. The ending feels a bit off, but I'm not alone about that.

its alot of difficult words in it, im swedish but im good at english, really. there was Alot of stuff i didnt understand but i wrote all that down and looked it up on the webzz.

Also, i found one/two really wierd "built" sentences but i can only remember one could someone please help me with this, can you really write like this?

Sentence: but finally he knew it was best he go, so he said so.

it sounds really weird to me. the "it was best he go" part. shouldn't it be like, "Finally he knew it was best he'd go" or something. and other words i had problems with were like "Goblinesque" but i could guess what that was and i was apparently correct. but how do you say "Goblinesque" irl?

other than that it was a GREAT book imo but i dont read alot of books.

One of the only real gripes I have is that Keyes does tend to mess with syntax and normal sentence structure a bit, ostensibly to have it sound more refined but it just ends up sounding weird. You CAN phrase things that way, but it would usually be better not to.

And yes, Goblinesque is the easiest way to say Goblin-like short of just saying goblin-like. Again, see above.

allright but how do you say goblinesque?

like in real life speech.. write how its actually pronounced- is it "Goblinessk"?