The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia

Book by Nintendo

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia is a collector's book about Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series, published in English by Dark Horse Comics. The 276 page book reveals the official timeline of the fictional events in the series, following years of speculation by fans. The book also includes artwork for the games, a short manga, and a foreword and afterword written by the series' producers. It is the first in an official trilogy of art books known as the "Goddess Collection" that was published by Dark Horse in partnership with Nintendo and was completed by the publication of The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts and The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia. Hyrule Historia topped Amazon. com's list of bestselling books in February 2013 and was Amazon's sixth best selling print book of 2013.

Hyrule Historia contains 276 pages of content that documents information about The Legend of Zelda series, including artwork and production notes. The first section, "The Legend Begins: The World of Skyward Sword", focuses on the world of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword due to the book being released alongside Skyward Sword in Japan. Images from the game, such as character designs, and commentary by the development team are also included. The second section titled, "The History of Hyrule: A Chronology" establishes the official timeline of the fictional events that take place within the series, Nintendo qualified the timeline by stating that "this chronicle merely collects information that is believed to be true at this time" allowing the possibility for future changes. A list of all official games in the series is included at the end of this section. Some spin offs are not included, although The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest, the Satellaview Zelda games and Link's Crossbow Training are mentioned. English book publisher Dark Horse Books inquired to Nintendo about working on a project together around 2009. However, Patrick Thorpe, who edited the English version, believes that fan demand was the real catalyst for the translation. but it has essentially the same content as the original. The cover for the English version was originally to include a brown background with artwork that included all the different versions and forms of Link. The intended cover was redesigned. The final English version featured a forest green cover. The series logo and a Triforce are embossed in gold. A collector's edition was also released. It had a limited print run of 4,000 copies and contains the same content as the standard edition. The limited edition features a faux leather hardcover that depicts the Gate of Time on the front and also has gold gilded pages. A digital version of the book was also included with a limited edition Wii U bundle featuring The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, which was released on 20 September 2013. The book was eventually released in digital format on 14 April 2020. Hyrule Historia was the first in a series of three books published by Dark Horse in partnership with Nintendo. The trilogy, known as the "Goddess Collection" was designed with the colours of the Golden Goddesses at the centre of Zelda lore, named Farore, Din, and Nayru. Dark Horse released The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts, a follow up art book to Hyrule Historia containing additional artwork and interviews, in February 2017. The third book titled The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia contains additional information about every title starting with the first game up until Twilight Princess HD and was due to release in April 2018, but was eventually published on 19 June. The final book in The Legend of Zelda series of art books titled Master Works was released by Dark Horse on 20 November the same year in North America under the subtitle Creating a Champion.

The book sold well. Preorders took the book to the top spot on Amazon. com's U. S. sales charts, moving Fifty Shades of Grey out of the top position. It spent three months in the top 100 books. and began at No. 1 on Publishers Weekly'''s Hardcover Nonfiction charts. and 17 February 2013. Publishers Weekly estimated that the book sold approximately 441 copies each day in order to stay in Amazon. com's top five bestselling books. Sunday Times estimated that the book had sold 9,255 copies in the U. K. as of 17 February 2013. Damien McFerran of Nintendo Life'' praised the quality of the content, stating that "it feels as if Nintendo has opened up its vaults and made available every single shred of information regarding the franchise". He commented on an imbalance in the coverage of some games compared to others, but noted that this is probably due to the higher availability of assets for the newer games. He considered the fictional timeline to offer a fresh perspective on each of the games and opined that this creates a renewed appreciation for them. Overall, he described the book as "a standout publication" and said, "even if you've only a passing interest in the adventures of Link, this should be a permanent addition to your coffee table or bookshelf".