R. Scott Bakker

Bakker continues his epic fantasy filled with astonishingly reflective characters, many of whom can somehow spend half a page on introspection between every other line of dialogue without it ever feeling anything but gripping and exciting to read. The titular ice-cold logician monk continues to both chill and impress me, the tortured wandering sorcerer breaks my heart over and over, the brilliant barbarian chieftain's internal war of pride and self-loathing reaches new heights, and the show more political machinations are both believable and complex while (somehow) never really taking up all that much space in the narrative. Meanwhile, the Holy War that is the framework of it all marches on, horrifically brutal and genuine in its depiction. I've no idea how the final volume could possibly deliver on the promise of this, which somehow takes every great element in the first novel and builds them to new staggering levels, but I'm really looking forward to finding out. show less

There weren’t enough superlatives to describe the brilliance of R. Scott Bakker’s first volume in “The Prince of Nothing” trilogy, “The Darkness That Comes Before”. After such an astounding debut, I wondered if the second volume could match the intellectual depth and overall intensity of the first book. Well, “The Warrior-Prophet” more than lives up to the lofty standards set by the previous book, providing one of my favorite fantasy reading experiences ever.

Reading show more Bakker’s work is like being deliciously overwhelmed, caught in a stunning sea of nuances and detail that boggles the mind. It is akin to gazing at a great painting and finding yourself lost in the minute details for hours on end. It is the rare work where I find after finishing a paragraph, I pause to reflect on what I have read, digesting the various ideas and philosophical insights in the book. In that regard, “The Warrior-Prophet” requires active thinking when reading, coaxing the reader to confront and discuss these ideas Bakker presents, an aspect I greatly enjoyed.

The Holy War started by Maithanet, the Shriah of the Thousand Temples, continues its march southward to the sacred city of Shimeh. Immense and bloody battles ensue throughout the course of the book between the invading Inrithi factions and the heathen Fanim. Anasûrimbor Kellhus, a mysterious Prince, gradually asserts a greater influence on the Holy War by offering indispensable counsel to the Great Names administrating the war. Furthermore, Kellhus’ remarkably godlike actions and manner begin to transform him in the eyes of the Inrithi from a minor outlying figure into a larger-than-life prophet. But not everyone is pleased with Kellhus’ seemingly divine transformation and the power it brings him.

Drusas Achamian is a Mandate sorcerer traveling in company with Kellhus and their two consorts, Esmenet and Serwë. Tortured by apocalyptic dreams that he believes are prophetic, Achamian is convinced that Kellhus is necessary to the success of the Holy War and must be helped. But in assisting Kellhus, Drusas may have to sacrifice everything he has.

Bakker crafts a dark and profound tale filled with magnificent battles, glorious world-building, and an immense depth to his characters unseen in fantasy. Kellhus, who is unbelievably godlike in his abilities, is stunning. His penetrating intellect and manipulation of the other characters would come off as ludicrous in the hands of a lesser writer. But with Bakker, Kellhus is a dominating success.

The world-building is incredibly deep and innovative with a tremendously imagined historical background. There are some twists and turns, but the plot is mainly straightforward, concentrating on the massive battles of the Holy War. And it is in these war scenes that Bakker does some of his best work, presenting fantastically descriptive and bloody battles that rank up there with some of the best in fantasy.

Last Word:
“The Warrior-Prophet” is a stunner of a novel, a dark, delicious and deeply engaging masterpiece featuring an incredible amount of depth and painstaking detail. R. Scott Bakker’s “The Prince of Nothing” series is not just stupendous, it is becoming monumental. show less

This is a thumpingly big first volume of a three part fantasy trilogy and, while it contains all the problems of the genre, it also has some pleasant surprises.

Bakker is a remarkably good writer when it comes to evoking his world which is a wonderful recreation and rethinking of something Byzantine, Scythian, Tibetan, Mycenean and Persian.

Naturally we have a plethora of weird names and nomenclature but he provides both a map and a character and 'faction' glossary so confusion reigns for a show more surprisingly short time (though the map in the paperback edition contains horribly small print).

There is both sword and sorcery. The sorcery is, for once, genuinely 'believable' within the constraints of the universe he has created. The author has thought through how power and magic might compete and intersect.

His weaknesses? His women simply do not stand up to scrutiny as characters. There is a bit of Gorean adolescence in there - the 'whore with the heart of gold' is just not what women are like, perhaps regrettably to many a male fantasist.

Similarly, there are times in the central parts of the book when it is almost as if he was rambling through his world. You might have to kick yourself to keep going at late mid-point - but I suggest you do so because it all starts to drive forwards again quite soon.

His literary vision is cinematic. He describes very much to the point and scene after scene can be visualised as if it were 'Game of Thrones' but a 'show' where you can actually see the minds working. This is an achievement.

Scenes at court and scenes of battle are remarkable well written. The battle between the ambitious Nansur heir Conphas ('Byzantine') and the Scylvendi ('Hyperborean') is massively engaging and many set scenes reach the same filmic level of clarity.

I am not sure if I will have the time to read and review the next two 600 page plus tomes but if you are inclined to fantasy or sword and sorcery literature and have a smidgeon of intelligence, then I think it is very well worth you trying this writer and this series.

As for the 'message' (and I think there is one lurking in there), you do not need to worry too much about it but Bakker is clearly a 'thinker'. The book opens with a quotation from Nietzsche who happens to be favourite philosopher.

In fact, I dislike the faux religious quotations at the beginning of each chapter - they jar - but I can see where he is going and why this book is 'setting up' a story which is going to have more depth in later volumes.

Even in this volume, the hint is of fantasy literature as a means of analogising the way we face the abyss at the heart of our relationship to being. Heavy stuff though I still prefer to read the German philosophers.

The Scylvendi Conan-like Cnaiur is a more perfect representation of the philosophy of a Conan if Conan's nature was to have had a philosophy. The sorcerer Drusas is a man we know in all our modern dealings with men who give service to things they believe in absurdly.

The central figure is Anasurimbor Kellhus, a warrior monk, whose expression of an existentialist zen-ism will appeal to anyone with what I call a 'martial arts sensibility'.

I am not a Kellhus man - I am more a Cnaiur at heart, certainly not a Drusus Achamian - but Kellhus' search for meaning (which will not be satisfied in this first volume) is clearly the heart of the trilogy.

The 'monsters' are few but wonderful. There is a dark force in here straight out of Nothingness itself and the feral Sranc are drawn as your worst nightmare were you ever to be left alone in woodland.

The one thing perhaps I found missing was some physical description of the peoples who populate Earwa (Bakker's universe) which was often left to statements made in passing late into the back of the story.

Nothing too elaborate was required but it might have stopped one from creating an image from healthy prejudice only to see the image shattered in a sub-clause buried in a passing comment. show less

One of Bakker's many impressive talents in these books is the ability to spend page after page on the inner life of virtually any character, without it feeling like it hurts the pacing or halts the story. Somehow, the story seems always to progress, even when a character is busy having thoughts -- thoughts he or she has often had variations of dozens of times before, to boot.

The world building is also staggering, as evidenced by the 100+ page glossary in this third volume where the first two show more only had some small name and place registers. It includes several page long retellings of ancient wars, nations and organisations, often done with an in-world charm and sense of realism by sprinkling in things like how this event has lead to a common idiom, or by haughtily insisting some minor detail of common misconception is true when the reader of the novels know surely it is not. Putting this extended glossary here, when the reader has already familiarised themselves with the main cast in two thick novels and presumably no longer simply need an overview of who is who in the story, is another small stroke of genious. Though I'd recommend pausing, perhaps a third or so of the way into the actual novel, to read through the entire glossary. It contains no spoilers for the third volume as far as I can see, and the background information should be helpful, especially with giving context to Achamian's dreams and Esmenet's reading.

To get back to the actual narrative, it delivers satisfying conclusions to nearly every character's arc (well, there was one minor one that left me slightly wanting, but it worked), and sets up another, much larger conflict on the horizon without that feeling like it cheats this of a proper ending. In fact, the end scene is so magnificently Biblical in intensity and feel, I think it will stay with me as a masterpiece of iconic fantasy -- akin to Gandalf facing Durin's Bane at Moria, the faun by the lone lantern greeting a small girl in the snowy woods of Narnia, or the fate of Eddard Stark.

Be forewarned, though, this series is grim, cynical and brutal. And if you want happy endings, look elsewhere. show less