Long-time Zelda fans who want to explore Hyrule on the page don’t have nearly as many options as some would expect for a video game franchise as old and beloved as The Legend of Zelda. Unlike many major game studios, Nintendo doesn’t collaborate with book publishers all that often. But the good news is that the official reference and art books that do exist are superb companions that can enrich your experience with the games. With The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom adding yet another brilliant adventure to the storied franchise, we decided to round-up the best Zelda books you can buy in 2024.
Most notably, Dark Horse and Nintendo collaborated on a series of books throughout the 2010s, and you can save on each one ahead of Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale. Two of the books are marked as Prime Early Deals: The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia for $20.60 (was $40) and The Legend of Zelda: Arts & Artifacts for $19.19 (was $50). These gorgeous hardcovers are rarely on sale for prices this low. Zelda Encyclopedia is an indispensable reference book covering 30 years of Zelda history, while Arts & Artifacts offers a fascinating look at the evolution of the franchise from a visual perspective. The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia is also available in a stunning Deluxe Edition that’s designed to resemble the original NES game’s cartridge and protective sleeve.
Though it’s not quite as cheap as those. two, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia is on sale for $23.60 (was $40). Hyrule Historia is the oldest in the Dark Horse series, but it remains a must-have tome loaded with Hyrule lore. If Zelda books needed to be connected to complete the Triforce, Hyrule Historia, Zelda Encyclopedia, and Arts & Artifacts would be those books.
Dark Horse’s series also includes two different editions of The Legend of Zelda: Creating a Champion, a beautiful book about the making of Breath of the Wild.
Many of Link’s memorable adventures have been adapted into family-friendly manga, and you can now get every volume by picking up two box sets. The original Legend of Zelda manga is available in a 10-book paperback box set and as a 5-book Legendary Edition Box Set with a treasure chest case. Meanwhile, the 11-book Twilight Princess Complete Box Set released in September 2024.
If you want to learn more about any of the above, we have detailed breakdowns of all of the officially licensed Legend of Zelda books below. With the holiday season fast-approaching, the books on this list would be great gift ideas for the Zelda fans in your life.
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The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia
$23.60 ($40)
The first book in Dark Horse’s Zelda book series, Hyrule Historia was published in 2013. Despite being a decade old, it’s still an incredible read with a bounty of information about the development of the series. It has a treasure trove of illuminating concept art and nuggets of lore for every game in the series through Skyward Sword. Hyrule Historia is an essential book for Zelda fans.
Hyrule Historia clocks in. at 280 pages and is available in hardcover and Kindle formats in the US. A paperback edition with original cover art featuring Link was published in Europe. Collectors may want both, but the hardcover edition matches the rest of Dark Horse’s series.
The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia
$20.60 ($40)
The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia is a lovely reference book that serves as a great companion to Hyrule Historia and the wider series in general. Published in 2018 to commemorate the franchise’s 30th anniversary, the 328-page hardcover book takes a close look at the characters, enemies, items, and places featured in the series from The Legend of Zelda (1986) through The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (2016).
The book, which is also available for Kindle, contains a huge database of enemies and items as well as an official timeline detailing when each game takes place in comparison to the rest. It also includes development sketches, numerous maps, and a bunch of lore–the additional lore is a big reason why it’s a great companion to Hyrule Historia. Zelda franchise producer Eiji Aonuma was interviewed for this book.
The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia is great for both long-time fans and newcomers. For Zelda veterans, it’s pretty cool to revisit 30 years of memories; if you’re a newer fan, this book will help fill in some knowledge gaps and perhaps even encourage you to explore older versions of Hyrule for the first time.
The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia: Deluxe Edition
$48 ($90)
The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia: Deluxe Edition and has a nostalgic design and essentially acts as the collector’s version. All of the content inside the book matches the standard edition, but you’re getting an alternate cover, unique slipcase, and very cool bonus.
The Deluxe Edition’s cover art is designed to look like the gold cartridge of The Legend of Zelda (1987) for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. To mimic the cartridge’s finish, Dark Horse added glossy laminate and varnish to foil paper to create the embossed cover. The polypropylene slipcase resembles NES cart sleeves. To keep the cover in great shape when removing the book from its case, the interior of the sleeve is lined with velvet. It also comes with an old-school instruction booklet that’s as big as the “cartridge.”
Out of all of the books on this list, The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia: Deluxe Edition is the most lavish from a design perspective. You should definitely read it, but the book doubles as a beautiful piece of Zelda decor.
The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts
$19 ($50)
The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts is a 427-page hardcover book featuring a massive collection of artwork created across 30-plus years by the team of artists at Nintendo. Unlike the other two reference books covering the series at large, Arts & Artifacts does contain artwork made for Breath of the Wild.
Video game art books are pretty common these days. If a video game is the focus of only one book, there’s a good chance it’ll be an art book. Arts & Artifacts is one of the best video game art books you can buy; it showcases a wide variety of artwork across each console and handheld generation. Arts & Artifacts could aptly be described as an encyclopedia of Zelda art, as you’ll find a ton of character concept art, sprite work, box and instruction booklet art, and promotional images, among other categories. To complement the visual feast, the book contains commentary from the artists who made the pieces featured on these pages.
All of Dark Horse’s Zelda books thrive in hardcover format, but Arts & Artifacts, in particular, is one we’d definitely recommend in physical format. Looking at the illustrations on an iPad simply isn’t the same as flipping through high-end art paper.
Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion
$35
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild proved to be a major evolution for the franchise. Compared to earlier games, its scope was absolutely staggering. For many, Breath of the Wild and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, became the new benchmarks to compare future iterations–and open-world games in general–against going forward. If you want to take a look behind the curtain to see how the new era of the series came to be, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion is the definitive way to do just that.
Creating a Champion is a 424-page doorstopper of a hardcover–though it’s available as an ebook, too–published by Dark Horse in 2018. Perhaps most notably, the book offers dozens of pages of art by Takumi Wada, the lead artist for Breath of the Wild. It also has roughly 300 pages of concept and production art from other members of the team.
To accompany and contextualize the illustrations, Breath of the Wild’s lead developers detail the philosophy behind and evolution of the art. As you read through the commentary and admire the images, you can start to see how the largest version of Hyrule came to life.
The history and lore of this Hyrule is covered extensively, and it also contains interviews with multiple key creators, including franchise lead Eiji Aonuma, Nintendo art director Satoru Takizawa, game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and lead artist Takumi Wada.
Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion (Hero’s Edition)
$64 ($110)
Creating a Champion also has a premium edition that comes bundled with some extra goodies. If Breath of the Wild is your favorite Zelda game, you’re unlikely to regret treating splurging for the Hero’s Edition. A minimalistic yet stunning collection, the Hero Edition swaps artwork of Link and his allies for a white logo against an eye-catching blue backdrop. Not just any blue, though–this distinct shade of royal blue perfectly matches the Champion’s Tunic worn by Link in Breath of the Wild. The signature armor is presented to Link by Impa in Kakariko Village and triggers a memory of the royal blue-clad Champions across Hyrule banding together to defeat Calamity Ganon.
The Hero’s Edition can be stored and displayed in a royal blue slipcase with a silhouette of Link dressed in the Champion’s Tunic with his bow drawn. Inside the slipcase you’ll also find a box with a fold-out map and an art print. What’s especially cool about the print is that it’s a real-life version of the picture Link displays in his home. To round out this beautiful set, there’s a little compartment on the side of the case containing a replica glass Spirit Orb.
If you need to buy a gift for a Breath of the Wild fan, you can’t go wrong with Creating a Champion’s Hero’s Edition–unless they have it already, of course, in which case at least they can return it to Amazon for free and swap it out for one or two other books on this list.
Breath of the Wild – Complete Official Guide, Expanded Edition
$22 ($40)
Have you thought about returning to Breath of the Wild to see and do everything the open world of Hyrule has to offer? The official strategy guide is an extremely useful companion for your journey back into the wild.
Breath of the Wild – The Complete Official Guide, Expanded Edition is a 512-page hardcover book leaves no stone unturned. Literally. It provides the locations of all 1,000 Korok Seeds–those hide-and-seek pros love living under rocks. Anything and everything you’d need to know to 100% Breath of the Wild, including its pair of expansions, is in this guide: all shrine locations, all puzzle solutions, all treasure chests, etc. It also offers tips and tricks for combat, an overview of the main quest line with recommended routes, and a detailed analysis of the monsters and items scattered throughout Hyrule.
The guidebook comes with a handy double-sided map of Hyrule with complete annotations. As a bonus, the book features 32 pages of concept art, split evenly between the base game and pair of expansions. This is the only Zelda book on this list with artwork for The Master Trials and The Champions’ Ballad, the excellent pair of post-launch expansions.
Even if you don’t need help in Breath of the Wild, the official guide is a cool book to have in your collection. Physical guidebooks for new games are very rare these days. During the Switch’s lifecycle, Nintendo has partnered with a publishing house to create guides for only two games.
The hardcover Expanded Edition is the only version still in print today. A Deluxe Edition of the original guide is only available from resellers these days. The Sheikah Slate cover art is gorgeous, but the book is over 100 pages shorter.
Tears of the Kingdom – Complete Official Guide, Collector’s Edition
$27 ($45) for Hardcover Collector’s Edition | $19 ($30) for Paperback
It’s probably not very surprising that the other Nintendo game that received an official strategy guide is Tears of the Kingdom, the 2023 sequel to Breath of the Wild. Nintendo once again partnered with game guide publisher Piggyback to create Tears of the Kingdom’s guide. It hit shelves two months after the game’s launch, giving players plenty of time to get lost on their own in Hyrule before consulting a guide.
The official Tears of the Kingdom guidebook is 496 pages and covers everything you need to know to 100% the game, including details on every main quest and side mission, shrine, cave, minigame, etc. It has a complete catalog of gear, from weapons and armor to crafting materials and Zonai Devices. Every enemy is detailed alongside advanced strategies for improving your combat skills. An awesome atlas covering all three major maps–Hyrule, Sky Islands, The Depths–can easily be referenced while searching for collectibles.
Tears of the Kingdom has more complex gameplay systems than its predecessor, including its heavy emphasis on piecing together objects to solve puzzles and traverse the world with Link’s Ultrahand ability. The official guide offers an in-depth look at this and all other new mechanics and features.
The Breath of the Wild guide is fantastic, but this one is arguably more impressive due to its sheer scope and how well the information is laid out.
Tears of the Kingdom’s guide comes in hardcover and paperback editions. The hardcover Collector’s Edition is naturally the more premium and durable of the two. It also happens to have gorgeous cover art featuring the Decayed Master Sword. It’s worth noting you can typically save five to 10 bucks by opting for the paperback. You’re getting a bargain with either edition.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Graphic Novel
$17 ($20)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past fans should definitely check out this charming full-color graphic novel adaptation of the Super Nintendo game. Originally published as a serialized comic book in Nintendo Power magazine, Viz Media collected the full run for this 196-page paperback. At the moment, A Link to the Past is the only Zelda graphic novel in print. It’s recommended for kids ages eight and up, so it would make for a fun gift for younger fans, too.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Complete Manga Box Set
$98 ($130)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Complete Box Set is the newest release on this list. Published in September 2024, this collection brings together all 11 volumes of Akira Himekawa’s superb manga adaptation of the 2006 GameCube and Wii adventure (remastered for Wii U in 2016). Each book is roughly 200 pages, with the full series coming in at 2,040 pages. The new box set comes with an illustrated display case to keep your paperbacks organized and an exclusive double-sided poster.
If you like manga and you’re a fan of the only Zelda game where Link can turn into a wolf, the Twilight Princess manga definitely should be on your list. Keep in mind that The Legend of Zelda manga is not a 1:1 retelling of the games; instead, think of this as more of a reinterpretation with the same foundation.
As the only mainline entry in the series with an ESRB rating of T for Teen, the Twilight Princess manga was understandably written for a slightly older audience than the graphic novel above and the manga you’ll read about next. It’s recommended for kids ages 11 and up. Adults who want to read Zelda manga will probably enjoy the lengthy Twilight Princess arc more than the other adaptations, but you may want to start with Volume 1 before buying the complete set.
Twilight Princess Vol. 1Twilight Princess Vol. 2Twilight Princess Vol. 3Twilight Princess Vol. 4Twilight Princess Vol. 5Twilight Princess Vol. 6Twilight Princess Vol. 7Twilight Princess Vol. 8Twilight Princess Vol. 9Twilight Princess Vol. 10Twilight Princess Vol. 11
The Legend of Zelda Complete Manga Box Set
$57 ($105)
Before writing and illustrating the lengthy Twilight Princess series, Akira Himekawa–the pen name for creative partners A. Honda and S. Nagano–adapted seven earlier games in the series. These stories are more suitable for younger readers and are recommended for kids ages eight and up.
If you grew up playing The Legend of Zelda, the manga adaptations of Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages and Seasons, and Majora’s Mask offer a fun way to introduce your kids to some of the classics. Majora’s Mask can be a bit unsettling, so you may not want to show that one to youngsters if you think the creepy masks, Skull Kid, and the angry moon will frighten them.
All 10 volumes of The Legend of Zelda manga are available individually for around $10 each or together in a paperback box set. The latter tends to save you a lot of money overall, plus you get a double-sided poster. Here’s the full list, but before you buy any of them, make sure to take a look at the premium Legendary Edition Box Set below.
Ocarina of Time Vol. 1Ocarina of Time Vol. 2Majora’s Mask Vol. 3Oracle of Seasons Vol. 4Oracle of Ages Vol. 5Four Swords Vol. 6Four Swords Part 2 Vol. 7A Link to the Past Vol 9Phantom Hourglass Vol. 10
The Legend of Zelda Manga Legendary Edition Box Set
$86 ($125)
The Legendary Edition of Zelda’s original manga series has a decidedly more mature presentation. Just look at Ocarina of Time’s Legendary Edition compared to the standard paperback version. Legendary versions of the manga are printed on higher-quality paper and have thicker covers, which means they should hold up better over time.
The main difference in format here is that the Legendary Edition condenses the series into five books. If you’re opting for individual volumes instead of the box set, it makes sense to get one of these, as you won’t need to buy two books to read both parts of Ocarina of Time, Four Swords, or Oracle of Seasons and Ages.
The Legendary Edition Box Set is pretty awesome, though. The books come bundled inside a treasure chest storage box. It’s one of the coolest spins on the slipcase we’ve seen with a manga or graphic novel collection. It also comes with a double-sided poster. Individual Legendary volumes retail for $20, but you can sometimes get them for steep five or more bucks off.
Ocarina of Time Legendary Edition — $12 ($20)Oracle of Seasons + Ages Legendary Edition — $15 ($20)Majora’s Mask + A Link to the Past Legendary Edition — $18 ($20)The Minish Cap + Phantom Hourglass Legendary Edition — $18 ($20)Four Swords Legendary Edition — $18 ($20)
The Legend of Zelda: Official Sticker Book
$8 ($13)
For the young Zelda fans, this official sticker book has over 800 stickers. With that many stickers, parents are bound to start finding Zelda stickers all over the house. Published by Random House in 2018, this book has plenty of Breath of the Wild stickers as well as ones celebrating older Zelda games, too. Though the big draw here is stickers, it’s also an activity book.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Book of Adventure
Paperback – $8 ($10) | Hardcover – $11 ($13)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Book of Adventure is the second activity book for kids published by Random House. Originally published in hardcover in 2018, this activity book released in paperback earlier this year. While it does contain stickers, Link’s Book of Adventure is a more traditional activity book, featuring a nice balance of word searches, mazes, puzzles, memory games, and other activities. It also has full-color illustrations, and the overall quality is quite good for the price.