Ocarina of Time: Book Recommendations For Your Favorite Temple

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Calling all Zelda fans!

If you’re anything like me, who has been playing Zelda since I was old enough to hold a Nintendo 64 controller in my hands, you have probably been not-so-patiently waiting for the new remake of Ocarina of Time to be released on November 5th. While I was originally on the fence as to why we needed a remake of an already perfect game, a game that has stood the test of time and still plays beautifully even with out-of-date graphics, the footage that was released in the most recent Nintendo Direct has completely won me over.

It’s the remake I didn’t know I needed but now so desperately crave.

So, back to my earlier point, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably also looking for something to tide you over while counting down the days until the Ocarina of Time remake is released. You could play the original game again, nostalgia is always a great remedy for problems like this, or you could read a book that will transport you back to your time fighting your way through your favorite (or least favorite, damn you Water Temple and your changing water levels) temple.

If that’s the case, then here are five book recommendations, one for each of the five main temples in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to read while you wait for the remake to be released.

Forest Temple: Hazelthorn by C.G. Drews

“‘Do not go into the gardens. Swear to me, Evander.’”

Those were Lord Byron Lennox-Hall’s final words as he clutched Evander, choking on the black froth leaking from his mouth. Words that proved impossible for Evander to follow, not when the gardens called to him like a siren song, terrifying and bewitching and hopeless to ignore. And even when he tried, it followed him—clung to him—like vines wrapping around his throat and pulling tight.

Something was wrong with the gardens, and Evander planned on finding out what. Maybe then he’d figure out why Byron Lennox-Hall died, because it was obvious it was no accident. But the mystery around his death was the least of his problems. Not with the entirety of the Lennox-Hall’s flocking to the Hazelthorn estate to fight for the fortune Byron left to Evander. Nor with the timely reappearance of Laurie, Byron’s grandson and Evander’s childhood best friend, his best friend who tried to kill him and bury him in the gardens of Hazelthorn seven years ago.

Secrets are everywhere and any of them could spell Evander’s death if he doesn’t figure out who—or what—killed Byron before it kills him too. Because Hazelthorn is a prize worth killing for, even if there is something terribly wrong with its garden. Or rather, because there is something wrong with its garden.

If you are looking for a story that encapsulates the vibe of an abandoned temple in the woods, overrun by nature and haunted by supernatural entities, then botanical horror is an excellent place to start! Hazelthorn perfectly embodies the idea of what happens when nature fights back and starts seeping into places it wasn’t meant to be.

Find a full review of Hazelthorn here.

Fire Temple: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Bilbo Baggins never wanted a life of adventure, but sometimes it’s the unexpected adventures that are the most important ones. When the renowned wizard Gandalf the Grey happens upon Bilbo’s quaint, little hobbit hole, his life is forever changed.

As the thirteenth member of a dwarven company on a quest to take back the Lonely Mountain, the home they lost to the dreaded dragon Smaug, Bilbo must find a way to survive against trolls, goblins, and even the mysterious and dangerous elves of Mirkwood. This is not the life he was built for, but perhaps the one he was destined for. Because, while a hobbit does make for an incredible thief, the only one who might be able to steal the Arkenstone from Smaug’s treasure hoard and return it to the dwarves, it could only be fate that lead him to a cave with a wretched creature and a single gold ring, forever changing the world in ways he is yet to discover.

While the majority of The Hobbit is the journey to the Lonely Mountain, I think it perfectly encapsulates the idea of having to face a deadly, fire-breathing legend in order to restore peace and save the day, the very essence of Link’s journey within the Fire Temple. And while Link has a bit more grit and experience under his belt at this point in his journey, he was also came from humble beginnings as a boy in a tree who dreamed about having a fairy.

Water Temple: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi does not know how he came to the House, nor who he was before, but life within its labyrinthian walls is one he has come to love, even if the House is a mystery within itself. The rooms are infinite, the weather forever changing, and sometimes the ocean trapped within its depths can rage out of control. But Piranesi has learned to understand the House as much as one can understand a mystery. He has learned its tides, its maze of hallways, the way it seems to communicate with him. He likes his life here, even if it’s all he has ever known.

But Piranesi isn’t alone in the House. There is also the Other, who meets with Piranesi twice a week to discuss what they have each discovered within the House. But, while love and admiration of the House motivates Piranesi, the Other is driven by his pursuit of the “Great and Secret Knowledge” hidden within it. They don’t quite see eye-to-eye, but Piranesi is happy to keep exploring the House for the Other, if only because he values its power. Worships it, even, as an artist worships the world he paints.

When Piranesi stumbles upon evidence to suggest another person is living within the infinite rooms of the House, mysteries start to become unraveled. The deeper he traverses within the House, the more he must come to terms with who he was before being born into this World and whether or not this is a sanctuary or a prison of his own making.

Piranesi is the perfect book for anyone looking to delve into a forgotten, mysterious temple under the sea. Just like the Water Temple, the House is full of ancient, labyrinthian hallways, the changing tides of the sea, and a secret power lost deep within its walls.

Shadow Temple: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Gideon Nav wants one thing: to be free of the Ninth House and its Reverend Daughter, Harrowhark Nonagesimus, who is as psychotic as she is brilliant (and she is very brilliant). But doing so proves to be impossible when Harrow, bone witch extraordinaire, has made it her life’s mission to ruin Gideon’s life.

Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel, a glimmer of hope that comes in the shape of a deal. One final act in the service of the Ninth House and Gideon can be free. All she has to do is pretend to be Harrow’s cavalier primary so she can enter a deadly competition to become the next Lyctor in service of the Emperor. All-powerful, immortal, and too busy carrying out the will of God to care about Gideon Nav and her dirty magazines.

And that is just too good a deal to pass up, even if it could spell Gideon’s death before she even tastes the freedom she so desperately craves. And worse, that it means spending close and personal time with Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Gross.

When the two unlikely allies arrive at Canaan House, a decaying, haunted mansion that houses more secrets and more dangers than either of them are prepared for, it quickly becomes evident that neither one of them will walk out of this alive if they don’t learn to put aside their differences and work together.

While Gideon the Ninth is told through Gideon’s humorous and often crass lens, the story within it houses just as many horrors as the Shadow Temple. Do you like necromancers? Monsters? Deadly mysteries? A haunted mansion that hides the horrors of a time long forgotten? Then Gideon the Ninth is the book for you.

Spirit Temple: The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

The Hirana has become Malini’s prison. Though it was once a magical place, flowing with the deathless waters that granted the Ahiranyi temple children their strange yaksa powers, it is now a burnt husk of what it once was. Fearing the powers of the temple children, they were massacred and their temple burned. And now Malini is exiled there, trapped in its highest tower and forced to live a life of loneliness and isolation because of a failed coup against the Emperor, her brother.

But when Malini witnesses a fight between a temple servant and one of her maidservants that makes the dangerous trek to clean Malini’s chambers every night, things begin to change. Because this maidservant used the ancient, forbidden magic of the Ahiranyi temple children that were killed in this very place.

Priya had only taken the job to be one of the Hirana’s servants in hopes of finding the deathless waters that were lost within it. But with her secret discovered by its royal prisoner, she makes a deal. She will help Malini escape and take her rightful place as Empress in exchange for Ahiranya’s independence from the empire. Both desperate for what they want, is an easy deal to make, and soon their destinies become intertwined in ways they could never have imagined.

Together, they have the power to change the fate of the entire empire. That is, if they can survive.

Journey to the ancient temple, the Hirana, and a world inspired by the history and epics of India in The Jasmine Throne. Nothing says the Spirit Temple more than an abandoned temple in the sands that houses an ancient power. If the Spirit Temple is your favorite, then try The Jasmine Throne and follow Malini and Priya as they fight to reclaim their powers and save the empire.