Major video game franchises like Halo, Gears of War, and Mass Effect draw in extra dough while feeding fan cravings with supplement material in the form of novels.  Add Elder Scrolls to that list, because Bethesda is climbing aboard the bandwagon.

Bethesda has joined with Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books and also responsible for the Star Wars novels, to publish two novels based on the award-winning game series we know and love as The Elder Scrolls.  The books will be written by New York Times best-selling author Greg Keyes, who also penned three Star Wars novels in the New Jedi Order series.

The first novel, titled The Infernal City, will be published in Fall 2009 and takes place after the events of Oblivion.  A shadow floats above the land of Tamriel, and wherever it descends, people die to be brought back as undead.  Not surprisingly, a young boy-girl duo, consisting of the Emperor's son and a 17-year-old girl, are brought together by unlikely events and must rescue Tamriel from -- you guessed it -- certain DOOM.

“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,” said Pete Hines, VP of public relations and marketing for Bethesda Softworks. “We see these books as a natural extension of the franchise and think fans will love the stories and characters Greg has created.”