[Hairul Hafis]

the book just came out in Europe, and the UK, I got it yesterday over amazon UK (took about 3 days) and am currently reading through it.

[Julia Schwalbe]

So...

I really need that book...

Okay.
Umbriel is going up to Vivec from Lilmoth? Why? And how can Vile "catch" Umbriel again? Or whatever he does...

The Mages Guild split is interesting... It must have been because of something... Lemme think.

1. Hannibal Traven, a new archmage has banned Necromancy.
2. The Necromancers are angry and causes trouble.
3. A new guy in the Guild helps the Mages Guild in stopping the Necromancers.
4. Hannibal Traven does suicide to help the new guy kill Mannimarco and stop the necromancers once and for all.
5. The new guy suceeds and becomes The new Archmage.

Okay. The Mages Guild is severely weakened. The Empire falls apart. But why would the Mages Guild fall apart? Perhaps it would become more decentralized. The Mages Guild in other provinces gets more independant... But not that it would split up in two parts?
Hm...
This new Archmage... He propably...

Or wait a second! Perhaps there came no New Guy? The necros perhaps won at first? Unlikely.

The new Archmage propably left the guild pretty soon after the quest there. Otherwise we would know who he was. Which would be bad.

Or I dont know... Its so complicated... And so is the book if you havent read it...

[Heather beauchamp]

So...

I really need that book...

Okay.
Umbriel is going up to Vivec from Lilmoth? Why? And how can Vile "catch" Umbriel again? Or whatever he does...

The Mages Guild split is interesting... It must have been because of something... Lemme think.

Maybe you can send for the book through interlibrary loan, through a public library or college library for example.

From the sound of it, the Mages Guild has split into a secular organization and a religious one. Apparently, whoever succeeded Traven (setting aside the player character for the purposes of this argument) wasn't strong enough to keep the organization together, but that's just my take on it. The novel doesn't really say why the Mages Guild fell apart this way, though; I hope we learn more in the second book.

[Dark Mogul]

Just finished the book, and I have to say it was extremely enjoyable. I did not expect that kind of quality. Greg is really good at conveying emotion, and thought. I feel thoroughly enlightened by the amount of background stuff I got from reading it.

EDIT:

What do you think Sul summoned at the end?

[Red Sauce]

Just finished the book, and I have to say it was extremely enjoyable. I did not expect that kind of quality. Greg is really good at conveying emotion, and thought. I feel thoroughly enlightened by the amount of background stuff I got from reading it.

EDIT:

What do you think Sul summoned at the end?

Well, he has more experience with Daedra than most people. It sounded to me like some kind of particularly unpleasant "free" Daedra that really only someone like he himself or Vuhon would be able to identify, and 0only because of the time they spent living in Oblivion itself. So I am assuming unclassified Daedra.

[REVLUTIN]

Well, he has more experience with Daedra than most people. It sounded to me like some kind of particularly unpleasant "free" Daedra that really only someone like he himself or Vuhon would be able to identify, and 0only because of the time they spent living in Oblivion itself. So I am assuming unclassified Daedra.

Yeah, it sounds like it's something he has sealed away somewhere in Oblivion:

Pain jagged through Sul, crippling, nightmarish hurt that once would have paralyzed him. But He'd felt it before, and worse, and all he had to do was reach through it, past their confinement, through the walls between worlds to find it there, waiting. Angry. "Come!" he commanded. "You shouldn't have told me we were in Oblivion!" Sul shouted. And all around them glass whinged and shattered.

Either the pain is from breaking through the barriers, or it's a sacrifice to summon the creature.

[Etta Hargrave]

My current release timeline theory: we are given a title, cover art, and possibly a one-chapter sample in September or October, the novel is released in November, almost exactly a year after the first one, and potentially we are given TESV hints at the end.

[Taylor Tifany]

I kind of liked how Greg managed to have a natural explanation for the appearance of khajiits throughout each game, with daggerfall having humanlike khajiits and morrowind having more cat like, and Oblivion in between.

[Taylor Thompson]

I kind of liked how Greg managed to have a natural explanation for the appearance of khajiits throughout each game, with daggerfall having humanlike khajiits and morrowind having more cat like, and Oblivion in between.

all greg did was take advantage of what was already there. He just took advantage of novel format to fully present what was already part of the lore, specifically, that khajiit have varieties.

[Oyuki Manson Lavey]

all greg did was take advantage of what was already there. He just took advantage of novel format to fully present what was already part of the lore, specifically, that khajiit have varieties.

I didn't know that, that even better!

[Shelby Huffman]

I started playing the Guild Wars MMO a few days ago, and just realized some similarities between Keyes' Tamriel and the first GW game. SPOILERS for Guild Wars:

In the first GW game, the kingdom of Ascalon is beautiful (autumnal when you first see it) until the Searing, when it becomes a wasteland. After a couple of years of a losing battle against a warrior race, many of the survivors move to another land to start over. Granted that Vvardenfell wasn't all a paradise before the Red Year, I can see similarities.

The upcoming Guild Wars 2 is set 250 years after these events. Another reminder of TES V to me, since it's been rumored that the next game will take place a similar interval after the Third Era.

Just some thoughts today. It's as if Bethesda is echoing the GW story arc without realizing it, unless I'm reading too much into this. Those of you who have played Guild Wars may understand the similarities, though I'm still a newbie in the latter games.

[Nicole Mark]

What lvl of alchemy skill do you think Anna?g has? I know that Greg has written it as a real world concept, so nothing is by the numbers, but just give an estimate.

[Emily Jones]

I only hope that Sul doesnt die, hes awesome! i love the fact that umbriel is just a part of Clavicus Vile's Realm and Vuhon wants to set it free from Vile's magic walls.
Anyway, they want to obtain the sword of Umbra..its the same Umbra you got from the quest in OB? i got it and its one of the most powerful swords in the game.

[Kayla Bee]

I only hope that Sul doesnt die, hes awesome! i love the fact that umbriel is just a part of Clavicus Vile's Realm and Vuhon wants to set it free from Vile's magic walls.
Anyway, they want to obtain the sword of Umbra..its the same Umbra you got from the quest in OB? i got it and its one of the most powerful swords in the game.

Different Umbra. The original Umbra, I believe.

[Nichola Haynes]

Different Umbra. The original Umbra, I believe.

Its logic, because it would be confusing that way.

The thing is consuming me is why Vuhon needs the Golden White Tower, i jumped at the top of it with the paintbrush trick and didnt see nothing of interest , joking aside, do you guys think it haves to do with some manner to break the Vile's spell from Umbriel? i dont think other cause for it.

[lucy chadwick]

I hope that creature is some fearsome atronach. Much cooler than the Daedra.

[Jonathan Braz]

What lvl of alchemy skill do you think Anna?g has? I know that Greg has written it as a real world concept, so nothing is by the numbers, but just give an estimate.

I'd say it’s probably very difficult to compare the two. If you think of the games as merely a metaphor for the world of tamriel. Anna?g uses identification spells to determine what the ingredients do, so I would guess that that is the best thing to compare to the games.

I can’t remember exactly what was said in the book, and I can’t be bothered to go through it and find the specific section that talks about it, but her identification spell works out (I think) two effects of the ingredient (edit: that black stuff for the levitation potion) and can see that there is another but cant work it out. Which in Oblivion’s terms would place her level 25 - 49.

[Dan Endacott]

I'd say it’s probably very difficult to compare the two. If you think of the games as merely a metaphor for the world of tamriel. Anna?g uses identification spells to determine what the ingredients do, so I would guess that that is the best thing to compare to the games.

I can’t remember exactly what was said in the book, and I can’t be bothered to go through it and find the specific section that talks about it, but her identification spell works out (I think) two effects of the ingredient (edit: that black stuff for the levitation potion) and can see that there is another but cant work it out. Which in Oblivion’s terms would place her level 25 - 49.

I remember it, it's where she uses equipment to determine the primary, and secondary effects of the ingredient. She can't get anything about the tertiary, and quaternary effects. That could either be because of her skill or because of the quality of the equipment. :shrug:

But then there's the part where she manages to make an antidote (although of low quality) to a poison she doesn't even know what is, just by following her instincts.

[Mike Plumley]

@Daydark: Maybe she has really high Luck.

Actually, that would account for a lot......(her and her best friend manage to be the only two people in her hometown who don't get turned into zombies. She just happens to have an ultra-rare device that can call for help. The city where she gets trapped sees her hobby as the most valuable skill a person can have.)

[christelle047]

Now I also got the book and read it.

I love it, the only things I don't like is
-that Colin isn't really a main character of the (first part?) of the book and the long gap between his first and his second part
-and the cliffhanger end, of course. I was hoping for two novels instead of one consisting of two books. That also made this part too short.

I like the changes in the game world and the characters.

Now that I've read all the discussion threads about the book, if I remember correctly no one has talked about the fact that in the end it says Umbriel is dissapearing and Attrebus had the feeling of flying in all directions (this was described when travelling to Oblivion too). That makes me think Sul maybe somehow brang Umbriel into Oblivion again? But if that was the case in my opinion he would ntoeed too much power to do that, wouldn't he?

That sentence confused me the most about the ending. And why does he say "Not yet" to Attrebus?

edit: By the way, I had a hard time finding these discussion threads about the novel. When I search in the titles only with the words Infernal City I should find these threads, shouldn't I? But I got no results.

[Shannon Lockwood]

I seriously doubt (and sort of hope) that the next game will be affected by the plot of the book, but you really never know.

[Juanita Hernandez]

@Daydark: Maybe she has really high Luck.

Actually, that would account for a lot......(her and her best friend manage to be the only two people in her hometown who don't get turned into zombies. She just happens to have an ultra-rare device that can call for help. The city where she gets trapped sees her hobby as the most valuable skill a person can have.)

It's quite possible she has high luck, or someone powerful is watching over her.

Now I also got the book and read it.

I love it, the only things I don't like is
-that Colin isn't really a main character of the (first part?) of the book and the long gap between his first and his second part

Colin or Sul, is actually the closest to who, if the book was a game, the main character probably would be, I mean their "quests" seems to be the most main quest like.

[Suzy Santana]

snip

Umbriel is always in Oblivion. It's still in Clavacus Vile's realm, floating around Tamriel like a bubble of doom. That's why they lose substance, because of Vile's circumscription.

And again, to AwesomeDwarf being the book is canon it will likely have at least the same effect as one game to another.

Yeah, I like the book and am very eager for number two.

[Lauren Denman]

Umbriel is always in Oblivion. It's still in Clavacus Vile's realm, floating around Tamriel like a bubble of doom. That's why they lose substance, because of Vile's circumscription.

I know that, but why does it say at the end that Attrebus has this feeling he had when travelling to Oblivion and why does it say Umbriel dissapears?

Maybe Sul managed to get it from Tamriel to the rest of Clavicus Vile's realm.

[mimi_lys]

Anyway, the Mage's Guild has been replaced by a religious guild and a secular one. When Annaig mentions that a Synod mage has (re)discovered levitation, a Redguard mage tells her "And maybe if there was a Synod conclave within four hundred miles of here, you might have a chance of learning that, after a few years paying their dues." Keyes goes on to say the building in Lilmoth

omg, I don't remember that part, but you're telling me Bethesda & Keyes actually went with that stupid story of levitation being banned because the game developers made all the cities interior cells instead of exterior cells and couldn't figure out how to get them to load properly? my word, I've always thought that levitation act was the stupidest thing. Now I'm sounding like I'm complaining, which I guess I very well am.
It's funny how in-game, you can buy levitation and mark & recall spells at every corner trader store, yet in The Infernal City, nobody has a clue how to levitate or any of the mystic arcane arts. The whole story wasn't very practical. But then again, the application of magic in the universe of TES isn't practical either. I need to go read the story again. There's no news of a release date for the 2nd book yet, right?