Immerse In The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince Of Nothing, #1) Crafted By R. Scott Bakker Delivered In Digital Edition
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 wellconceived 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 prerationality.
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 newlydeclared 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 worldbuilding 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 prehistory 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,
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“The thoughts of all men arise from the darkness, If you are the movement of your soul, and the cause of that movement precedes you, then how could you ever call your thoughts your own How could you be anything other than a slave to the darkness that comes before”
Jason Deem's reimagery of the series covers.
. Which I prefer to the original covers which is half a face in a circle, .
This novel is one of those novels that are basically impossible to review, So excuse the word vomit, Like a Malazan book, this series goes in its own category of badassery and uniqueness, It cant be compared to just your standard fantasy due to the complexity and HUGE plot and backstory.
This whole entire world is new, unique and fascinating and you will not find another story like it, this is the reason why Im literally urging every grimdark fan to go read this now.
Seriously, you will thank me later, .
”Some events marks us so deeply that they find more force of presence in their aftermath than in their occurrence.
They are moments that rankle at becoming past, and so remain contemporaries of our beating hearts, ”
The Darkness That Comes Before is Richard Scott Bakkers debut novel, It was published inso obviously I amyears late to the fandom I wasyears old when this book was first published so Im kind of glad I didnt read it then.
However its never too late to become a mega fan of something so wonderful, . . right Anyway I have had this series on my radar for over a year now but was abit nervous to start it due to the things Ive heard from a few friends say in regards to how complex the system used in the story is, Bakker has basically created a whole entire vivid world, he has made his own special unique magic system, characters, names and religions.
There is a lot of descriptions cough BORING!! and half the book is actually just info dump.
The story dives a lot into the religion Bakker has created, so I can understand why a lot of people find this book confusing and boring which brings me to my next point.
I see a lot of DNF did not finish reviews for The Darkness That Comes Before stating that it was “boring” and “too slow”, I totally get these points.
. the start was freaking boring and so slow, I thought I was going to turnbefore it got exciting, however it did get extremely interesting and Im so glad I continued on with the story, I actually think I loved it by the end.
The thing that annoys most people is the story starts in the middle of the story with no background information given, so youre basically thrown in the deep end and its either sink or swim.
I personally found it super confusing and had to read some pages three times and it still didnt make sense, but yeah, cool shit happened so I stayed interested until the end, I was actually fascinated and couldnt stop reading which doesnt happen often.
I actually just really enjoyed reading it, it did have a few issues which I will talk about later and those issues did prevent me from giving this novel a full five.
However there were so many new and wonderful ideas presented in this novel and I absolutely love new stuff.
Drusas Achamian fanart by Quinthane
“Faith is the truth of passion.
Since no passion is more true than another, faith is the truth of nothing, ”
The Darkness That Comes Before is Bakkers first novel in a three part series, the books are about an unfolding religious war which brings the world to the brink of an impending apocalypse.
The story is told from multiple POVs from a cast of characters who are all on different sides of the war.
The thing that made me love the story the most is the fact that all the characters are grey.
No one is good and mostly everyone is an evil arsehole, what more could you ask for Oh and the fact that the magic system is basically the COOLEST FREAKING MAGIC SYSTEM EVER, however it is so complex, hard to explain and weird, it is basically based on abstractions powerful sorcerers can create lines and curves out of energy, weak sorcerers must rely on meagre resources like conjuring a dragons head to create flame and burn down a whole entire army
Cnauir fanart by Quinthane
Well anyway Im struggling to explain this story and write my own mini blurb so heres the actual blurb
A score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse.
The NoGod has been vanquished and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns.
. . Drusas Achamian, tormented by,year old nightmares, is a sorcerer and a spy, constantly seeking news of an ancient enemy that few believe still exists.
Ikurei Conphas, nephew to the Nansur Emperor, is the ExaltGeneral of the Imperial Army and a military genius.
He plots to conquer the known world for his Emperor and dreams of the throne for himself.
Maithanet, mysterious and charismatic, is spiritual leader of the Thousand Temples, He seeks a Holy War to cleanse the land of the infidel, Cnaiur, Chieftain of the Utemot, is a Scylvendi barbarian, Rejected by his people, he seeks vengeance against the former slave who slew his father, and disgraced him in the eyes of his tribe.
Into this world steps Anasurimbor Kellhus, the product of two thousand years of breeding and a lifetime of training in the ways of thought, limb, and face.
Steering souls through the subtleties of word and expression, he slowly binds all man and woman, emperor and slave to his own mysterious ends.
But the fate of men even great men means little when the world itself may soon be torn asunder.
Behind the politics, beneath the imperialist expansion, amongst the religious fervour, a dark and ancient evil is reawakening.
After two thousand years, the NoGod is returning, The Second Apocalypse is nigh, And one cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten, . .
This novel is basically a huge Prelude for the other books in the series, so if you do decide to read it please remember to be patient and keep on reading because you are truly in for a treat.
BUT in saying that there was a few things that I didnt like about this book, firstly Im going to talk about the pacing, yes I have crapped on about how good this novel is and how patient you must be blah blah but honestly, the pacing is freaking terrible I was so bored and confused for majority of the book, everything is all over the place and I guarantee you will not have a clue what is going on until the end, even then Ill bet youll still be mildly confused.
Secondly, a lot of effort has been put into the world building and the charactization is truly amazing same of the best Ive ever seen but I just cant get past how SHOCKINGLY SHIT the names of the characters are.
I could not pronounce most of the names so ended up calling the characters nicknames, Thirdly, when going into this novel I heard it came across as extremely sexiest, I wanted to call bullshit but half way through I got sick of every male character stating how women were “weak” or teasing someone and comparing their weakness to a women, I also didnt appreciate the fact that every man in this book EXCEPT ONE, thought all women were whores.
. Yeah. DA FUQ. You think women are weak Fight me and Ill kick your arse mother fucker, . jokes but seriously, Im not a feminist but I got sick of hearing this bullshit, YES I understand these views are not the authors and are the arsehole characters he has created and YES I understand it is a cruel harsh world, however sometimes you get sick of reading that bullshit.
So yes if you are a feminist and easily offended by these themes you should definitely steer clear of this series.
It stinks of masculinity. Oh and I nearly forgot to mention that the only two female characters were a whore and a concubine and both were weak as.
Lastly I feel like he just wrote violent scenes for the sake of being violent and I feel like he was just sitting at his writing desk and got bored and thought “hey Im going to just add a torture scene here for fun and shock value”.
I love violence and I'm actually complaining that this was a tad too violent, .
One thing I absolutely adored was Kell insert hearteyes and all the praise in the entire universe he is an enigmatic, beautiful MONK, devoid of emotion and driven by purpose and stubbornness.
He exploits and kills everyone who gets in his way, master of manipulation and full time badass.
What is Kells true purpose Who knows, . . is he evil or will he be a hero secretly hope he is a villain and will conjure himself into a real person and marry hers truly.
Im certainly excited to find out everything about him, Such an intriguing character and a perfect example of grey,
Kellhus fanart by Quinthane
“The world has long ceased to be the author of your anguish.
”
So all in all a satisfying read, Bakker has a unique way of writing and I recently found out he is also a philosopher which totally shows through his writing.
Some of his dialogue is dense and definitely hard to digest especially for a simpleton like me, I had googled open the entire time while reading and also found some of his sentences forced.
There is a shit ton of sex scenes and they are extremely graphic just like the violence so if your made of rainbows, stay away.
. . this novel will literally rain on your parade and crush your optimistic view on life, But in all honestly it did produce some of my favourite book battles ever yeah I just went there and it was full of politics and court intrigue.
Recommended to fans of GRRM A Song of Fire and Ice Series and also fans of Steve Eriksons Malazan Series.
Ps. I havent stopped thinking about this book for a whole entire month,
Pss. Literally can't wait to keep reading this series because it's mind blowing good,
You can find this review and my other reviews at sitelinkBooksprens, .