The latest book by Greg Keyes crept up on me and was published even before I knew it was coming out. After his formidable Kingdoms of Thorne and Bone series, I didn't know what his next project was going to be, but the mystery is over.
Keyes has been hired by Bethesda Softworks to write two novels that take place in the universe of The Elder Scrolls, their famous series of videogames. The first one, The Infernal City, came out a few weeks ago, and I finished it last weekend. I have never played any of the games, and I didn't have a clue what that universe was like, what the races were, or what happened in Oblivion, an event the book references because Keyes's novel takes place after that particular story. But it was a Greg Keyes book, and I was therefore willing to give it a chance.
At 287 pages, TIC is a quick read, and now I'm eagerly anticipating the second part, because the story stops rather abruptly and I want to know what happens next. In true Keyes fashion, there are three groups of characters whose stories alternate in the different chapters, and the reader slowly begins to realize how those threads connect and intersect. The most interesting one (and also the most original one) is the main thread, in which Annaïg and Mere-Glim enter the infernal city of the title. The second one is a bit more traditional, and it stars Prince Atrebus on a quest to stop the aforementioned city, even though that's far from the only thing he has to deal with. The third one is the one that is given the least number of pages, and it follows Colin, a guy who works for the king and who is basically the one the crown sends to quietly dispose of enemies and threats --the fantasy equivalent of the black-ops, if you will.
Everything you've come to expect from Keyes is here: an interest in languages, compelling characters, good dialogue, lots of dangerous situations, high stakes, and plenty of travel. I loved it all, and I never felt I was missing out because I'm new to the Elder Scrolls universe. So, if you like Greg Keyes, don't hesitate and buy The Infernal City; and, if you've never read any of Keyes's books, don't hesitate and buy it as well.
4 comments:
Otro libro de Keyes que habrá que leer también. A ver si alguna editorial española se decide a traducir sus anteriores sagas y podemos comentarlas entre todos, porque, en mi opinión, hoy día no hay quien escriba mejor fantasía.
Keyes debería estar mucho más reconocido y gozar de mucha más popularidad. No comprendo qué es lo que pasa...
Pues sí, porque bien que se importan muchas otras mierdas. De todos modos, quizá con esta nueva saga sea distinto, al formar parte de un universo ya conocido y eso. Porque de Keyes aquí en España creo que sólo se pueden encontrar los libros que escribió sobre el Universo Expandido de SW.
Por cierto, una pregunta que llevo haciéndome desde hace un tiempo, Fel: ¿has llegado a leer aquella duología que le publicaron a Keyes por primera vez? The Waterborn y... bueno, no recuerdo el nombre del segundo libro.
No, no la he leído, aunque tal vez deberíamos.
De Keyes, en España, sé que se publicó Newton's Cannon, pero no sé si terminaron de publicar la AOU, o si la cosa quedó en el primero.
Finalmente, dado que mencionas sus libros de SW, tal vez hayan publicado sus novelas de Babylon 5, que tampoco he leído, pues jamás he visto ni un episodio de la serie. Claro que, dado que las escribe Keyes, creo que eso es lo de menos :)
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