A book blurb on the Waterstone’s retail site reads “A novel that takes places forty-five years after the Oblivion Crisis, which is the story of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion game and the expansion pack Shivering Isles. It partly bridges the gap for the next game, which is set 200 years after the Oblivion crisis.”

So, assuming “the next game” in Oblivion continuity isn’t a ZeniMax Online massively multiplayer online game, this might be a hint at an Elder Scrolls V. Although, to hear Bethesda’s Pete Hines tell it, that’s the natural conclusion anybody could draw from how well The Elder Scrolls IV sold.

Well spotted, Silver!

P.S. Yes, I read The Age of Unreason series. When I was a kid. So Keyes’ Star Wars work is how I think of him and I consider it a compliment.

Despite spending much of their time in London last week talking about Fallout, Rogue Warrior and WET, Bethesda’s Pete Hines couldn’t help but bring up the role-playing game as well.

“We’re not talking about the next Elder Scrolls, but that doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything with the franchise,” Hines said.

What they’re doing is working with Del Rey Books on a new series of novels based on the video game series.

Penned by New York Times bestselling author Greg Keyes, the novels will be original stories based in The Elder Scrolls universe, Hines said. The first novel, The Infernal City, will be published this fall.

The Infernal City is set after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and finds the citizens of Tamriel facing an uncertain future.

“Floating high above the land is a strange and mysterious city that is casting a horrifying shadow – wherever it falls, people die and rise again as undead. It is up to an unlikely duo – a seventeen-year-old girl named Annaig and the Emperor’s young son, Prince Attrebus – to rescue the kingdom from doom.”

Keyes wrote the Age of Unreason Tetrology, three New York Times bestselling Star Wars novels and the Kingdom of Thorn and Bone.

Hines said that Bethesda has already been given the first half of the first novel’s manuscript. And that Keyes is working with Bruce Nesmith and Curt Coleman, both of whom worked on The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall back in the day and on Oblivion.

“We felt this was a good opportunity for us to do something with a great new author,” Hines said.

“We’ve been big fans of Greg’s work for a long time, and we’re thrilled he agreed to bring his talents to The Elder Scrolls. We see these books as a natural extension of the franchise and think fans will love the stories and characters Greg has created.”