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The Darkness that comes Before
- Thread starter Banshee16
- Start date
Pants
First Post
I love, love, love it.Banshee16 said:
In my mind, Bakker takes Steven Erikson and George Martin and crushes them into one outstanding story. His writing is impeccable (easily better than Erikson and probably more evocative than Martin's writing), his characters are well drawn (though, like Martin, most them are hard to connect with, 90% of his characters are just horrible people), and his world is interesting.
If I had to say anything bad about The Darkness that Comes Before is that it is very much a set-up book. It just sorta... ends, without accomplishing much beyond throwing the reader into the world with a few scraps of background info. But.... it was worth it. The Warrior Prophet was an amazing read.
Small The Warrior Prophet spoilers below...
The battle on the Plains of Mengedda is just an amazingly written battle. From the charges of the Fanim, to Saubon's fanaticism, and to the appearance of Skauros and the Cishaurim. Wow.
I highly recommend The Darkness that Comes Before... IF you enjoy dark, very unfriendly fantasy, with many well developed characters that aren't very likable, and some defintely graphic themes.
As mentioned above - I put Bakker in the category of epic fantasy's elite writers with Erikson and Martin, and his 'Prince of Nothing' possibly having the chance of being the best epic fantasy series completed since 1979. I reviewed the first book, The Darkness that Comes Before here.
Scott just displays a competence unusual in most new epic fantasy authors, and I'm eagerly awaiting the concluding installment, The Thousandfold Thought, in my mail any day, to see if Scott can cap off a really worthwhile series.
Highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy looking for a series with meat in it, and written by a talented young author.
Scott just displays a competence unusual in most new epic fantasy authors, and I'm eagerly awaiting the concluding installment, The Thousandfold Thought, in my mail any day, to see if Scott can cap off a really worthwhile series.
Highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy looking for a series with meat in it, and written by a talented young author.
Mhmm... I'm reading The Warrior Prophet right now (and I haven't read the first book, just the synopsis) but so far, I wouldn't say that the main characters are all that unsympathetic... And certainly not compared to some of Martin's characters.
That aside, I'm about 40% in and until now it's been one of the best fantasy books I've read in a while - and I went into it highly sceptical of whether he would be even remotely able to make a character as inhumanly perfect as Kellhus work.
That aside, I'm about 40% in and until now it's been one of the best fantasy books I've read in a while - and I went into it highly sceptical of whether he would be even remotely able to make a character as inhumanly perfect as Kellhus work.
A review
I just posted this review to a private blog I run with my mates:
Fantasy readers are a funny bunch; simultaneously we show the greatest stupidity and the greatest resolve when we go shopping for books. With so much bad fiction in this section of the bookstore, we must be stupid because we keep buying, hoping for the latest fix to be something different, but on the other hand it’s hard not to admire our resolve as we plough through endless series that lost their zeal a long time ago.
Vying for attention, publishers consistently brandish every fantasy book “ground breaking” and we, in the process, have become numb to the whole thing, favouring word of mouth over book sleeves.
The Prince of Nothing series is, actually, ground breaking, and wholly realized, and grand of scope and all the other things we’ve become deaf to. Despite readers distrust, it has to be said: This book is a masterpiece.
The Darkness That Comes Before is no easy read. Like so many other things worth doing, it requires effort and attention. In that way it reminds readers most of, dare I say it, Lord of the Rings, simply because of its many layers, strange spellings and long time line.
But it isn’t, thankfully, like that “other” fantasy milestone. The world of Eärwa is all politics and religion, backstab after backstab, and there is little “good” to counter all the murky “bad”. The prologue details the end of the world, in all its melancholy glory, and within the first twenty pages, your head is spinning with umlaut place names and synonym after synonym that leaves even a dutiful reader a little confused. Not an easy read at all.
The prose, however, is astounding and a little frightening almost. It’s dense, yes, but so textured and exquisite it’s hard not to smile as you’re eyes are led from one realization to the next. And before you know it, you’re halfway through the book, and now fully accustomed to the languages of the Three Seas (yet another synonym, this one for Eärwa), and the scope of the series dawns on you fully.
A new leader of the Inrithi factions - one of the major religions of Eärwa - announces a crusade to recapture Shimeh, the long lost holy city of Inrithism. In the maelstrom that follows, a sorcerer spy, a faded prostitute, a tribal leader, a prince of a bickering empire and a monk of a remote order of philosophers are put into play. Achamian, the sorcerer spy, is an agent of one of the magic schools fighting covertly across the world, but he no longer has any faith in its mission which hasn’t had a clear clue in thousands of years. Esmenet is the whore who falls in love with this tragic man, but she gets tangled into his web and then something dreadful happens. The tribal leader and the monk hooks up early in the story, but it is not an easy pairing and the fate of the world may rest on the outcome. The prince, meanwhile, plays his political cards, trying to extract value from the holy war about to ensue.
Confused? You haven’t even scratched the surface. Each character is way beyond a two dimensional stencil; full of hope and despair and doing things both good and bad the story pries their mind but never reveals their full intentions. We follow, wondering how it all ends. It’s a yarn, like all fiction, but behind it is a sensitivity and craftsmanship normally reserved for the classics. Fantasy, it seems, has finally met literature, and its outcome is the Prince of Nothing. Do not miss these books, fantasy fan or not.
The Darkness That Comes Before is an adult themed book and intended for a different readership than the Harry Potter books. It is followed by The Warrior Prophet and future volumes yet unpublished. Other reviews are available here and here.
I just posted this review to a private blog I run with my mates:
Fantasy readers are a funny bunch; simultaneously we show the greatest stupidity and the greatest resolve when we go shopping for books. With so much bad fiction in this section of the bookstore, we must be stupid because we keep buying, hoping for the latest fix to be something different, but on the other hand it’s hard not to admire our resolve as we plough through endless series that lost their zeal a long time ago.
Vying for attention, publishers consistently brandish every fantasy book “ground breaking” and we, in the process, have become numb to the whole thing, favouring word of mouth over book sleeves.
The Prince of Nothing series is, actually, ground breaking, and wholly realized, and grand of scope and all the other things we’ve become deaf to. Despite readers distrust, it has to be said: This book is a masterpiece.
The Darkness That Comes Before is no easy read. Like so many other things worth doing, it requires effort and attention. In that way it reminds readers most of, dare I say it, Lord of the Rings, simply because of its many layers, strange spellings and long time line.
But it isn’t, thankfully, like that “other” fantasy milestone. The world of Eärwa is all politics and religion, backstab after backstab, and there is little “good” to counter all the murky “bad”. The prologue details the end of the world, in all its melancholy glory, and within the first twenty pages, your head is spinning with umlaut place names and synonym after synonym that leaves even a dutiful reader a little confused. Not an easy read at all.
The prose, however, is astounding and a little frightening almost. It’s dense, yes, but so textured and exquisite it’s hard not to smile as you’re eyes are led from one realization to the next. And before you know it, you’re halfway through the book, and now fully accustomed to the languages of the Three Seas (yet another synonym, this one for Eärwa), and the scope of the series dawns on you fully.
A new leader of the Inrithi factions - one of the major religions of Eärwa - announces a crusade to recapture Shimeh, the long lost holy city of Inrithism. In the maelstrom that follows, a sorcerer spy, a faded prostitute, a tribal leader, a prince of a bickering empire and a monk of a remote order of philosophers are put into play. Achamian, the sorcerer spy, is an agent of one of the magic schools fighting covertly across the world, but he no longer has any faith in its mission which hasn’t had a clear clue in thousands of years. Esmenet is the whore who falls in love with this tragic man, but she gets tangled into his web and then something dreadful happens. The tribal leader and the monk hooks up early in the story, but it is not an easy pairing and the fate of the world may rest on the outcome. The prince, meanwhile, plays his political cards, trying to extract value from the holy war about to ensue.
Confused? You haven’t even scratched the surface. Each character is way beyond a two dimensional stencil; full of hope and despair and doing things both good and bad the story pries their mind but never reveals their full intentions. We follow, wondering how it all ends. It’s a yarn, like all fiction, but behind it is a sensitivity and craftsmanship normally reserved for the classics. Fantasy, it seems, has finally met literature, and its outcome is the Prince of Nothing. Do not miss these books, fantasy fan or not.
The Darkness That Comes Before is an adult themed book and intended for a different readership than the Harry Potter books. It is followed by The Warrior Prophet and future volumes yet unpublished. Other reviews are available here and here.
I finished the the final installment, the forthcoming (in january) The Thousandfold Thought last night - powerful conclusion to one of the better epic fantasy sequences in a while. Full review within a week.
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The Bodhisattva
Fantasybookspot.com
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The Bodhisattva
Fantasybookspot.com
Last edited:
JoeGKushner
First Post
Glad to hear people are enjoying it. Just got the hardcover for $7.00 at half-priced books.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
I went to SFSite and read their review of it; now I have to find it.
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
It took me a couple of tries to get into The Darkness That Comes Before.
Scott's ideas are really interesting. TDtCB is one of the only fantasy novels I've ever read that actually contains philosophically interesting ideas.
But I wouldn't say he was as good a prose writer as Erickson. His action is often difficult to follow, and there's some pretty clunky passages -- especially in the early part of the first book, while he's getting warmed up.
His characters are impeccably etched, however, and he succeeds at giving you a clear notion not only of their personalities but of their SITUATIONS -- you really appreciate what life is like for these people.
It's hard to know who to be sympathetic towards as he refuses to allow anyone in the story the straightforward "hero" role. Which is a lot fun, once you get used to it.
Recommended.
Also going to be heavily plundered for my next campaign setting, I suspect.
Scott's ideas are really interesting. TDtCB is one of the only fantasy novels I've ever read that actually contains philosophically interesting ideas.
But I wouldn't say he was as good a prose writer as Erickson. His action is often difficult to follow, and there's some pretty clunky passages -- especially in the early part of the first book, while he's getting warmed up.
His characters are impeccably etched, however, and he succeeds at giving you a clear notion not only of their personalities but of their SITUATIONS -- you really appreciate what life is like for these people.
It's hard to know who to be sympathetic towards as he refuses to allow anyone in the story the straightforward "hero" role. Which is a lot fun, once you get used to it.
Recommended.
Also going to be heavily plundered for my next campaign setting, I suspect.
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