"Many centuries ago, the world was nearly destroyed by the dark wizards of the Consult, and the High King's family was wiped out--or so it seemed. Then from the wild, uncharted north comes a mysterious and extraordinarily powerful philosopher-warrior, Anasurimbor Kellhus, descendant of the ancient High Kings. But the return of the king's bloodline is little cause for rejoicing. For Kellhus's appearance may signal the overthrow of empires, the destruction of the sorcerous schools, the return of the Consult demons--and the end of the world." - summary from Amazon.com

First of all, I am not an epic fantasy fan. I am that person who hasn't read any of [[Tolkien's]] books. I tried reading The Hobbit, only to give up 1/3 of the way in. I get frustrated by (what I perceive as) nothing happening. So, I just wanted to say this is the viewpoint I come from. Reading this book, it solidified my dislike of epic fantasy but I ended up finishing it and thinking it was better than my first impression. It is 600 pages(!) and I almost gave up around pages 100-120. However, I ploughed through and ended up getting caught up by certain characters and racing to find out what happened next.

I can't really do a good summary because there is so much going on, and too many characters. This world doesn't have elves, dwarf or the like, instead it's similar to our world around the First Crusade. There are different factions, tribes and religions. The prophet Maithanet declares war on the Holy City, Shimeh, which is analogous to Jerusalem held by the Muslims. The bulk of the story is various factions trying to control the purpose of the Holy War for their own ends, if they are prophets, Emperors, Schools of Magic or barbarians.

Bakker is very good at illuminating the games of politics that people play. I did like how Bakker was able to bring each major player to the forefront for their moment of glory, and then they fade back onto the chessboard. However, none of these players are women. This is the biggest criticism of this work, and extremely valid, is that the women are one-note and stereotypical. There is a total of three women in this whole book and two of them are whores. Yup. The last one is the mother of the Emperor, and she's seen as a Grade-A bitch by everyone. Even her son, who she masterfully schemed to put on the throne. Bakker makes the comment that she's always been a power behind the throne, but then he dumps her to oblivion after a few scenes. The two whores, they are set up to be people who will change the world, but one is certifiably crazy and so you don't like reading about her, while the other has the character of a doormat. This lack of any decent women characters is poor form.

This book is very ambitious and I would recommend it to lovers of this genre. However, it's not really for someone who is ambivalent to this genre, like me. But, I will read the next one because I really like Cnaisur, the Norse/Mongol-like barbarian warrior. His intelligence and his battle of wits with Kellhus makes this series worthwhile. ( )

I found this book to be an enjoyable and original fantasy although it did suffer a bit from pacing issues. It could definitely be classed as epic fantasy, but, even though it includes swords and sorcery, it is not your typical run-of-the-mill high fantasy.

The novel mainly focuses on three characters: Kellhus, a monk who studies circumstances and controls situations and people by understanding the intricate relationships between cause and effect; Achamian, an outcast, first because he is a sorceror and second because his school is ridiculed as fools for keeping watch for an ancient evil, and a spy for his school; and Cniaur, a barbarian general who reveres death and war. There are also a number of other characters who feature fairly prominently. In various ways they are brought together and drawn into a burgeoning holy war.

I am pretty sure that the pacing issues are a result of this being the first novel published by Bakker. The only other complaint I have is that the few female characters are pretty weak and one-dimensional. I am hoping that both of these issues improve in future works the author works to better define his voice. As such, I definitely intend to read at least the next book in the series. ( )

The Darkness That Comes Before is the first book in the Prince of Nothing Trilogy. The great cities of the north were destroyed over two thousand years ago during the first Apocalypse. The north is nothing but a wasteland full of crumbling ruins, barbarians, the inhuman Sranc and the enigmatic NonMen. From this land a lone monk sets out on a journey to meet with his father in who had left the order 30 years before.

As always, discovery is one of the most enjoyable features and therefore I will not delve to deeply in to the plot, but it is thick with the clash of religions, the politics of city states and empires and the commencement of the Holy War. As a total aside, it appears that Bakker drew heavily on actual history when writing this book. The Holy War seems to parallel the First Crusade, from the early march of the Vulgar Holy War (The People's Crusade) and it's destruction to the Emperor's attempts to use the Holy War as an instrument of reconquest (Alexius I Comnenus). None of this draws away from the book as daily life in a huge undertaking is made incredibly real and detailed.

The characters are another of the great joys of the book. Gone are the stock tropes that seem to way down so many fantasy novels. The characters are deep and drawn in shades of grey, with realistic motivations and surprises, like real people. The other major character in the book is the past. The past permeates everything and colors all the characters and events of the book's present. To my mind, this is no small feat being that Bakker only slowly reveals the past and yet it's influence is always persistent.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody looking for a complex, challenging, fantasy. ( )

There are very few books that are as ambitious as R. Scott Bakker's "The Darkness That Comes Before". Most authors would never attempt to create such a vast world with a deeply encompassing and vital intellectual history, and disparate races that have varying philosophical viewpoints and ways of perceiving the world. This novel, while a putative fantasy, is so remarkably well-conceived and executed that it feels more like a historical recollection of a lost world. In fact, Bakker liberally uses real Western civilization history and philosophy (with some aspects of Middle Eastern thought) and reshapes it especially for his world. The result is an absolutely brilliant fantasy novel that elevates the entire genre to a new level.

First, I will admit to being bias toward Bakker's novel. I studied philosophy both as an undergraduate and graduate student, so there is much here I recognize and appreciate from my studies. Let's just say, the complexity of Bakker's work is suited to my kind of academic geek, one who is deeply fascinated in the "why" of things, events and history. One who may be interested in Bakker's concept of the darkness that comes before, and what events result from that state of pre-rationality.

The novel is segmented into parts, each one following a different character and setting the scene for the second volume in the trilogy. Drusas Achamian is a Mandate sorcerer, plagued by the terrible and bloody dreams of his long dead predecessor. It is the Mandate school's mission to fight against the mysterious Consult, an organization whose existence has not been seen in decades. Achamian is commanded to uncover information about the plans of Maithanet, the Shriah of The Thousand Temples, the major religion of the region. Maithanet has recently declared the formation of a Holy War, a war that will take back the holy land of Shimeh. What Achamian discovers is a mystery that is potentially at the heart of this newly-declared Holy War.

Cnaiur is a Scylvendi barbarian, a survivor of the tremendous military defeat of his people at the hands of the martial prodigy, Ikurei Conphas. Soon, he meets Anasurimbor Kellhus, the son of Anasurimbor Moenghus, a man who, in the past, lead Cnaiur to terrible actions against his father that still torture his soul. Cnaiur and Kellhus make their way to Momemn to join the forces gathering for the Holy War, both with the agenda of finding Anasurimbor Moenghus.

Bakker writes with a depth to his characterization that is staggering. His characters are as complete intellectually, emotionally, and philosophically as you could possibly imagine. The world-building is unbelievable, as each region and race have their own history, reasoning, and stance to the events that unfold during the course of the novel. It is rather overwhelming and requires a great effort from the reader, but in the end, the effort pays off with a truly amazing fantasy experience.

It should be pointed out the majority of the novel is centered on setting the scene for the rest of the trilogy, to situate the reader in this finely imagined world. This setting up is, in a sense, the darkness that comes before, a pre-history that will be necessary to fully comprehend that which follows in the next two volumes. If R. Scott Bakker's "The Darkness That Comes Before" is any indication, what follows may be the greatest fantasy trilogy ever.

Last Word:
An amazing experience that will challenge for one of the greatest fantasy novels ever released. Bakker creates an incredible world, and populates it full of characters with such reality and intellectual history as to be staggeringly fascinating. This is absolutely must read fantasy literature. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/535806.htm...

Hmm. This didn't really do it for me. It's a big fantasy novel, the first (inevitably) of a series called "The Prince of Nothing", but I found the cultures and characters insufficiently distinguishable or engaging. Apart from the women, that is, though even there I was uncomfortable about their stereotyped roles (one querulous queen; one whore with a heart of gold; one naive concubine kidnapped by barbarian prince). I know other people have raved about this but I won't be looking out for the sequels. ( )