The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia

Originally released in Japan as a tie in for 'Skyward Sword' and the 25th anniversary of the first Zelda game, 'The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia', is a gorgeous 276-page art book and covers the complete history of Hyrule. The book is already a best-seller even before its release due to pre-orders that sent it to the #1 spot on Amazon's sales chart, unseating '50 Shades of Grey'. As this was originally a tie in with 'Skyward Sword', there is of course, quite a lot of coverage from that. And I do mean, quite a lot! Lots of concept art and character designs from the game, even on some of the supplemental characters! The section of most interest to Zelda fans has to be 'The History Of Hyrule: A Chronology'; a complete history of the official The Legend Of Zelda timeline! Right from the beginning when the goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore created the world and left behind the Triforce, to the first game (but last game to be released) in the timeline 'Skyward Sword', all the way through until 'Ocarina Of Time'. After 'Ocarina' it does get a bit complicated though as the timeline then fractures into three! But it is well worth following as it is all very detailed. The next section documents 25 years of artwork, with never-before-seen original sketches and illustrations from all the games and gives an interesting insight into the character designs from the series. A special treat is the 32 page bonus 'Skyward Sword' manga by Akira Himekawa, actually based on the game, so probably only read it if you've played the game itself! So, is this tome worth getting? A very big YES if you're a fan of the series as it's all very in depth and very well put together! A welcome addition to any Zelda geek's bookshelf!

This book of The Legend of Zelda “ Art and character development is beautiful to behold. Too much eye candy to cover. It’s hardback and wonderful to just journey through.

Zelda is one of the greatest video game series of all time with countless entries over several systems yet one thing has remained a big mystery, the timeline! Easily the biggest thing about this book is the timeline that finally places all the mainstream games in order and finally put to bed the theories made up by fans. While it may have raised a few eyebrows at the time and some still refuse to accept it even today it has answered a question that needed an answer for a long time. While I personally don’t like the three split part as it raises more questions it is now official, so that’s that! So with that aside, the rest of the book contains a good in-depth history of each games story and lore with facts about each one. This is especially interesting to read for the earlier entries in the series as most of their stories are quite vague at best and this book helps to expand on them. It should also be noted that it works them into the timeline so somethings are changed a little to help them fit better. Even if you think you know all there is to know about the lore from the games you will find something of interest in this book. At the back of this book it also has a Skyward Sword comic that acts as a prequel to the game. While it is my least favourite game in the series it is still an interesting read. This book is simply put one of the greatest gaming books ever made and a Zelda fans dream come true. Worth every penny.

Opening this book is like opening a treasure chest in one of the Zelda games: dunununununununununununununununu...da da da...DAH!!! If you're a fan of The Legend of Zelda, you simply must have it. There is no doubt that you'll love it. If not for the hundreds of brilliant works of art that it contains, you should get it because it explains, in detail, the entire, previously confusing chronology of the series that fans have been puzzling over for the last two decades or so. It's set out in three sections: first is a huge amount of concept art from the development of the latest game, Skyward Sword, complete with cut characters, loads of different designs for the characters who did make it into the game (like Fi and Ghirahim), and interesting developers' notes to go with each picture. The second section is the history of the fictional world of Hyrule, which details all the events that have taken place in the series so far, sorting them into different eras and providing connections between games with a few little revelations (such as confirming the identity of the Hero's Shade from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess). The history was my favourite part to read, and there's so much of it that I've still not read through it all. The third section gives us some very interesting concept designs from all of the previous games in the series, once again, complete with redesigns and notes. Finally, in an extra section at the very back of the book is a new Zelda manga, which acts as a prequel to the story of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It's an enjoyable read, and the artwork is fantastic. A warning, though: you should make sure you've finished the story of Skyward Sword before reading the chronology and the manga, because they might contain some spoilers.

Un livre à recommander aux fans de la saga Zelda mais surtout au dessinateurs, étudiants en art en quête d'inspiration pour leurs œuvres. De très belles images parsèment le livre. Les divers concept arts sont variés et bien présentés. La qualité du papier, la grande taille du bouquin permettent de profiter pleinement de l'univers Zelda haut en couleurs. J'ai acheté ce livre en version anglaise car la version française comporte des maladresses de traduction et possèderait moins de pages apparemment (d'après Amazon : 276 pages pour la version anglaise, 200 p. pour la française). Je suis passée par un revendeur. Le livre est arrivé dans les temps mais l'emballage a été négligé. L'ouvrage est donc arrivé avec quelques cicatrices sur la tranche et le dos mais rien de grave. L'intérieur est intacte.

What a treat this infographic type book

Like the Triforce, this Hyrule Historia must be taken together with the other two pieces--the Encyclopedia and Arts & Artifacts books which are part of this series. This is like a Zelda bible--the most essential, comprehensive, beautiful, and interesting thing you can own in your library as a video game fan, a fan of lore, a fan of art, and most importantly, a fan of the Zelda franchise! I loved every bit of it, the quality of the printed art is exquisite, the hardcover feel and triforce-gold print is high quality, the design and layout is excitingly inviting, and the entire package is created beautifully, aesthetically, and thoughtfully--all creating something I absolutely loved! Don't hesitate, and if you are a Zelda fan, buy it now and enjoy reading and looking at the greatest Zelda experience in a book!

En tjock och väl inbunden bok! Jag blev väldigt nöjd! Hade förväntat mej ett billigare och mindre häfte, men detta är en riktigt fin bok!

Ricevuto come regalo di natale, e ne sono rimasto non felice di più, sono un fan della sega e questo volume è un MUST HAVE per come me, che anche avendo solo vent'anni sono appassionato dal fantastico universo creato da Shigeru Miyamoto. Come scritto nel titolo il pacco è arrivato un po' rovinato ma per fortuna il libro non era danneggiato (a mio avviso Amazon deve ancora trovare il modo migliore per spedire libri). la copertina è rigida e testo e logo sono foil (dorate e riflettono la luce), all'interno le pagine sono davvero ben fatte, sono molto spesse cosa che al tatto è molto gradevole, L'albo è completamente in INGLESE ma non serve un madrelingua per capire ciò che c'è scritto. In questo libro comprende tutti i lavori di Akira fino al 2013 ovvero: -the legend of zelda (1986) -zelda II the adventure of link (1987) -the legend of zelda a link to the past (1991) -the legend of zelda link's awakening (1993) -the legend of zelda ocarina of time (1998) -the legend of zelda majora's mask (2000) -the legend of zelda oracle of ages/oracle of season (2001) -the legend of zelda the wind waker (2003) -the legend of zelda the minish cap (2003) -the legend of zelda four sword adventure (2004) -the legend of zelda twilight princess (2006) -the legend of zelda phantom hourglass (2007) -the legend of zelda spirit traks (2009) -the legend of zelda ocarina of time 3D (2011) -the legend of zelda skyward sword (2011) -the legend of zelda the wind waker HD (2013) -the legend of zelda a link beetwen worlds (2013) Tutto questo più un fumetto finale lo abbiamo in circa 240 pagine completamente a colori ed ad una qualità senza pari. Nell'albo è possibile scoprire molti segreti su personaggi, ambientazioni e creatori del gioco, in più ci sono i collegamenti cronologici dei videogiochi e le varie prove e bozze di molti dei principali personaggi tra quali: link, zelda, ganondorf, impa..... poi ci sono i concept art, i prodotti venduti per pubblicizzare il gioco, bozze di paesaggi, prove di colorazione, i vari npc, boss e nemici che è possibile incontrare e molto altro.... In conclusione ci vorrebbe troppo per dirvi cosa è compreso in questo mastodontico omaggio ad una delle saghe videoludiche più famose e amate della storia, e poi voglio lasciare a voi la stessa felicità che ho avuto io mentre sfoglialo le pagine e scoprivo sempre cose nuove. ✔️PRO: -prezzo (su Amazon) -copertina rigida -pagine molto spesse -qualità dei disegni eccellente -contiene davvero molto materiale utile ed interessante ✖️CONTRO: -peccato non esista una versione in italiano