Official Lore Books

[Mway1]

http://www.bethblog.com/2014/10/21/elde ... ck-em-out/
Here you go guys! Enjoy

[AKB]

I don't think much of this is exactly new content, it seems more likely to be primarily a physical copy of some of the in-game books. And that's fine, a lot of people have told me over the years how much they've wanted exactly that. If you're in the market for a physical copy of the game books, I think you'd be pretty pleased with this project, but I can't imagine their being much new lore in them. Maybe, if Bethesda was feeling really sneaky, they might give hints at where the overarching story is going, but we'll have to wait and see.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I'm under the impression that two or more of the proposed (what, seven?) books will contain new content. Even the old content will be presented in a new fashion, with illustrations and a new layout. I'll be buying each and every one, personally. I'm a TES Lore fanatic, in case you guys never noticed.

[AKB]

Currently there is set to be five books (three in the Skyrim series, two in the Elder Scrolls Online one). The description of the ESO series is as such:

Step into the fantasy world of The Elder Scrolls Online with THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE: TALES OF TAMRIEL – a series featuring a vast collection of in-game lore and original art. The two bound volumes chart the ongoing struggles between the Aldmeri Dominion, the Daggerfall Covenant, and the Ebonheart Pact – as well as the deadly invasion of Daedric Prince Molag Bal. Each book features close to one hundred specially commissioned, never-before-seen pieces of art illustrating the lives, the land, and the lore of Tamriel at war.

So we know the artwork is new for sure, while the rest is unclear. As for the Skyrim series:

From the archives of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim® come the collected in-game texts, THE SKYRIM LIBRARY. This lavishly bound, three-volume series chronicles for the first time all of Tamriel’s history, and covers a multitude of Elder Scrolls lore – including the cultures, creatures, magic, myths, and more – illustrated with stunning art.

So you're getting the books, with the rest being unclear if it's new or not. A quote from Pete Hines seems to suggest is that at least some of the art has been previously created already:

“One of the most important aspects of The Elder Scrolls series is the lore,” said Pete Hines, VP of Marketing and PR for Bethesda Softworks. “To have so much of its history chronicled in this way, accompanied by art sourced from the games, is very cool We’re excited to be working with Titan on this project, and for fans to see how much detail goes into the worlds our development teams create.”

What we can take comfort in is that all of the content seems to be from Bethesda, and not from Titan Books (who seem to be responsible for production and organization, but not the content of the volumes themselves):

Omar Khan, the series’ editor, is delighted to be a part of this new project, “I’m very excited to play a part in bringing the in-game text from Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online to print. Using art and text from Bethesda, we were able craft these amazing tomes that truly showcase the exceptionally well-written and in-depth lore that is the foundation of The Elder Scrolls.”

“One of the most important aspects of The Elder Scrolls series is the lore,” said Pete Hines, VP of Marketing and PR for Bethesda Softworks. “To have so much of its history chronicled in this way, accompanied by art sourced from the games, is very cool We’re excited to be working with Titan on this project, and for fans to see how much detail goes into the worlds our development teams create.”

So, again, I'm not sure how much is new. I think this is more Bethesda teasing the waters for the market for physical books more than anything. If these books do well, I'm sure Bethesda won't have an issue with the creation of more books. It likely is also intended to keep the ES series in the news, since the books are scheduled to come out throughout 2015, with most fan estimates I've seen for the next ES game putting it in 2016 (note we're working off of fan theories now for this guess). I imagine it might be a pretty good lead up to the announcement to the next game. And if anything were to be new lore in the books, it would be best if it hinted at where the story was going next.

So if this is your cup of tea, and I know a lot of people want these books, then I sincerely hope you like them. I would like some hints at to the shape of things to come, but that's not necessarily what we're getting here.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I'd say they already tested the waters with Infernal City and Lord of Souls, even though those novels weren't everyone's cup of tea and these types of books are altogether different from those. What I'm hoping is that this is the beginning of expansions on licensed merchandise, period, especially of the lore variety. What would really be neat is if they released some core rulebooks for a tabletop game. There have been some very good DnD style games set in licensed fantasy settings, like Middle Earth, already. Tamriel is just ripe for that kind of thing, as a setting. It's tailor made for RPing and exploring.

[legoless]

ESO must really be setting them back if they're pumping out so many collectibles. I might pick up a couple of these if the price is right, but the other ESO publications have all been too overpriced for my taste.

[OblivionDuruza]

It seems like they're giving the impression that the ESO books will include new material, but really it may end up being that this new material is limited to art and illustrations.

Also, as an aside, I would have thought this was more appropriate for TES General, as we're discussing the real-world franchise here, not in-universe lore.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I'd say it straddles the line, especially if the books actually contain new or unique lore when released. This could be retained as a thread to actually discuss that.

[Mway1]

"100 new pieces of art" which in a way is it's own lore as much as a painting of an event counts as a primary resource for History essays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKFGSqEHAI4

[Pilaf The Defiler]

I'd consider visual lore to be lore just the same. A lot of what we consider lore is the aesthetics and landscape of the game. For instance, it's lore that the architecture in Cheydinhal looks a certain way. We know this because we see it in the games. There's not necessarily a piece of dialogue or a book about it, but we've walked those streets and thought "Now those are some beautiful houses, and they don't look like Anvil houses or Bruma houses, or Ald'Ruhn houses. They're unique."

[Minor Edits]

I'm going to buy a bunch of these and slip them into random containers all across town.

[Aarah]

The blurb suggests that all in-game text will be in the Skyrim editions, but it is unclear as to whether it will be only books in-game that pertain to lore, or just all the books - including ones like 'Uncommon Taste' or 'The yellow book of riddles' etc, which have nothing to do with lore.

[Dunmerdude]

I'm going to be cynical and say that this is probably another collectible cash grab of work that seems interesting but is actually just recycled assets. Gotta fund your doomed MMO project somehow.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

The blurb suggests that all in-game text will be in the Skyrim editions, but it is unclear as to whether it will be only books in-game that pertain to lore, or just all the books - including ones like 'Uncommon Taste' or 'The yellow book of riddles' etc, which have nothing to do with lore.

I'm curious to hear what you consider "lore". To me, it's words on a page. All the books in all the games are lore books, because lore is literally just literature. I see no reason riddles and recipes add any less flavor and distinction to a fantasy setting than books about the cosmos or history of Empires.

[Aarah]

I'm curious to hear what you consider "lore". To me, it's words on a page. All the books in all the games are lore books, because lore is literally just literature. I see no reason riddles and recipes add any less flavor and distinction to a fantasy setting than books about the cosmos or history of Empires.

I always thought lore was things relating directly to important points in history, like wars, events, people, evolution of races, settlements, religions etc.

That's cool if lore is everything in the game, as I probably prefer the random information on cooking and what-not to the more serious stuff.
So it seems like hopefully all the books shall be in the volumes?