Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia the Top Selling Book on Amazon

The year 2011 was the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series, which happens to be my all-time favorite series in gaming and one of the reasons why I have devoted a lot of my life to gaming. Zelda fans had a fantastic year in 2011 thanks to the release of Skyward Sword, the start of the Zelda Symphony concerts and CD releases, and the 3D re-release of my favorite game of all time Ocarina of Time for the 3DS. Japanese Zelda fans had an even better year with the release of one of the coolest books I have ever laid my eyes upon, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia.

Hyrule Historia is a glorified art book that spans across the entire series' history that's chock full of official artwork, concept art during the creation phases of each game, and a ton of Zelda lore. The most important aspect of this book is that Nintendo finally explained the illusive and secretive Legend of Zelda timeline that has thought to be merely a tall tale to many gamers who questioned the timeline's existence. Not only do we get the entire timeline explained, but we are also given a lot of lore that makes the already magical world of Zelda even more memorizing. To the majority of the Zelda fanbase, this book is a godsend... yet only Japanese Zelda fans were able to get their hands on it, disappointing Zelda fans all around the globe.

Thanks to Dark Horse Comics, the Hyrule Historia has been translated into English and released to the American public on January 29th, 2013. It took a little over a year before U.S. Zelda fans were able to delve into it's secrets, but luckily for us the book's cover and design is much better than the Japanese release with a leather-bound, golden-paged limited edition also being released along side of it, both blowing the Japanese release out of the water. Like many other things coming out of Nintendo Japan (Xenoblade Chronicles anyone?), Nintendo of America didn't feel the need to release the book in the States until Dark Horse Comics picked it up and did the job for us. Well now I'm sure Nintendo of America is slapping themselves for not releasing it earlier because not only is the book the top seller on Amazon.com, the limited edition is basically impossible to find anywhere, selling upwards to $200 a copy on eBay.

This book is literally my prized possession at the moment, being displayed beautifully on my bookcase in my gaming room. My Zelda fandom is huge and everyone who knows me can tell you how much of a Zelda fanatic I am. I have had the book preordered for over five months and I found myself counting down the days until the mailman delivered my copy to me. I was shocked how gorgeously designed the book is and the overall quality of it. Dark Horse and Nintendo really put a lot of work into this book and it shows. I have only read a few pages of it so far but I cannot wait to read the entire thing. The Hyrule Historia is an amazing piece of memorabilia for gamers and should be owned by every Zelda fan out there. The standard book retails for $34.99 while the limited edition sells for $69.99.