Bakker's The Prince of Nothing series

[duchess of malfi]

Am I the only one who felt "The Darkness That Comes Before" was hard to get into?

I gave it a try last week but Bakker's style just didn't grab me at all. Some interesting ideas, but perhaps not as accessible as some authors. Still, I'm willing to give it another chance at some point.

I got a little frustrated with the first book. Every time I started to really start getting interested in one setting, plot, and group of characters, Bakker would abruptly switch everything on me.

By the end of the book, he does start weaving all of the plots and characters together.

After that weaving happens, the narrative flows much more smoothly for the subsequent books.

I am really glad I stuck with it; I find Bakker to be a truly remarkable writer.

[I'm Murrin]

I had some trouble getting into the prologue at first, but I pushed on and got past that pretty quickly. Everything since has been great.

[duchess of malfi]

I had some trouble getting into the prologue at first, but I pushed on and got past that pretty quickly. Everything since has been great.

Oh yes. I have the feeling that this trilogy by Bakker will be like Donaldson or Dune or Tolkien for me - something I will come back and reread again and again over the years and still keep discovering new facets to it and new brilliance in it.

[Ainulindale]

Just wanted to give people a heads up (if this is innappropriate, by all means moderation remove it with my apologies)) I'm a owner of Fantasybookspot.com and I just announced the March contest at FBS, and the title says it all, the winner of the draw (announced March 5) will win hard cover editions of all three books in The Prince of Nothng trilogy autographed by author R. Scott Bakker. Yes, that's The Darkness that Comes Before ( I reviewed here), The Warrior Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought (which I reviewed here), delivered to your door, personalized by the author.

This contest is open to all, for more detals check out this thread, and get it on a great chance to either introduce yourself to the Bakker experience with the entire sequence, or for those of you already have it, to get a brand new set, autographed by the author!

Good luck to all participants.

[Findail The Appointed]

Oh yes. Cool I have the feeling that this trilogy by Bakker will be like Donaldson or Dune or Tolkien for me - something I will come back and reread again and again over the years and still keep discovering new facets to it and new brilliance in it.

I agree, I kind of blasted through the series. I tend to do that on a first read of most books. Now that I am through, I definately feel the urge to re-read. I find that on the first read, I focus on the plot and storyline, leaving the fine details for the subsequent readings. There seems to be a LOT of history involved in this series that might not have made a lot of sense or seemed of major import at the time, but after knowing how the storyline develops, those details will come into better focus and resolution on second consideration.

I still pick out details and foreshadowings in the Covanent series even after 30+ reads, that further enhance my understanding and enjoyment of the books.


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[danlo]

bump

[Zarathustra]

Are you trying to tell me something, Danlo? Like I shouldn't have created a redundant thread?

[danlo]

No, I just like to bring up added discussion...

[Holsety]

I got my eye pulled by this book in a bookstore a few days ago, never expected there to be a topic about it here.

The swapping of narrators within a particular story was one of my favorite aspects. In particular, the switches between Conphas and Xerius; Conphas' astonishment at various ploys of Xerius are followed by the revelation that Skeaos was the author; then, when a truly remarkable strategem is introduced, I expected it to be Skeaos' but discovered it originated with Xerius instead. In that part of the book in particular, the characters are constantly mistaking the capacities of the others.

I'm not a big fan of Khellus in spite of all his mental wiles and skill in battle, but most of the others have caught my attention, and I'm hoping for more from him as I get through theh last hundred or two hundred pages and into the next books.

[Zarathustra]

Kelllhus doesn't really develop until the last 1/3 of the book. If you're just going by the prologue, then there's not much to like about him yet. Well, I liked him from page 1 simply by the way Bakker handled him, but that's purely from a writer standpoint. I immediately liked the way he was more aware than normal, and in a completely believable, natural way. Nothing supernatural about it. Just more awake than everyone else.

The only thing I didn't like about the prologue was the first paragraph or two that throws half a dozen strange names at us with complete disregard for our lack of perspective. Give us a minute to settle in before you start recounting 2000 years of historic names!

[[Syl]]

Akka's the man.

[Brinn]

Yah...DO NOT make him mad!

[Zarathustra]

I'm about 200 pages into book 2. This is quickly becoming my second-favorite fantasy series, second only to Donaldson's work. No, screw that, I can't put LOTR at 3rd place. But this writer is definitely better than Tolkien, 2nd only to Donaldson, so I can say this is my vote for the second best writing of any fantasy series I've ever read. Fantatastic.

The scenes he chooses to show what he needs to show . . . I'm in awe. I mean, we knew he had to increase Akka's distress, increase the reality of the war, increase Kellhus's manipulations, but these scenes he chooses to accomplish these tasks are breathtaking. I didn't know how he was going to do it, but now that I've read it, I can't imagine it being done any better. The fight between Kellhus and a certain knight (around the bonefire) was cooool.

Kellhus really is the perfect character. What a vehicle for badass writing. I'm so jealous of this creation. I keep worrying that Bakker is going to overuse him, but then he does something unexpected like the bonefire fight--something which nonetheless arises natually and inevitably from what has gone before--I forget about those worries. Use the hell out him!

[Brinn]

Glad to see you're continuing with this series Malik and that your enjoyment continues unabated. The amazing thing is that Kelhus still has a few surprises to offer...Keep reading!!!!

And continue to post about it. I enjoy reading your critical analyses!

[Encryptic]

Am I the only one who felt "The Darkness That Comes Before" was hard to get into?

I gave it a try last week but Bakker's style just didn't grab me at all. Some interesting ideas, but perhaps not as accessible as some authors. Still, I'm willing to give it another chance at some point.

I should say that gave it a try several months later in 2005 and found it much more engaging the second time around. Read it and the second book back-to-back, then I just picked the series up again since I got a hold of The Thousandfold Thought just yesterday.

About 160 pages into The Darkness That Comes Before at the moment, and I'm remembering why I dug the books so much when I gave them a chance.

[lucimay]

nice to see you around encryptic!

[Encryptic]

Good to be back.

I finished TDTCB this morning and I've got about 100 pages into my re-read of The Warrior-Prophet so far. Definitely a series that improves upon successive readings, like Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, among others.

[Holsety]

I finished TTT a few weeks ago, and as far as Kellhus goes...

Spoiler

I'm glad to see there's at least a possibility that Kellhus has actual emotions, and Bakker having Akka step off in anger'ish feeling.

Generally...<3 teh akka.

[Zarathustra]

I finished book 2 yesterday. Outstanding. I can't believe he wrote this in a year. Every single scene had a purpose, moved the plot and the characters forward to a discernable goal. And every scene worked as a scene on their own. I was continuously stunned after each one, how he quickly hooked me into the change of POV, and then revealed something pivotal to the plot within a handful of pages or less. Over and over. The book read like 100 micro-stories, each which left me paradoxically satisfied and insatiable for more. Absolutely no fat in a 600 book. That's quite an accomplishment.

I've just got one problem. Sorry, spoiler time.

Spoiler

Though I could see the Christ parellels early on, it bugs me how explicit Bakker made these parellels. Kellhus is "crucified?" Or, should I say, "circumfied," since he was killed on a circle. He even mentions his new standard in battle is the "circumfix." Instead of "crucifix." Come on. That's just too damn blatant.

But I still love the story and the characters. I wish the ending had been a bit more climactic--but after so many battles and fighting, I was kind of relieved that it was short. And I like how much of the narrative culmination was entirely character driven. No dragons, demons, or gods coming out of nowhere to give a wham-bam ending full of spectacle (one of my complaints with Gardens of the Moon, btw). Bring on book 3!

[Brinn]

Huzzah!