The Darkness That Comes Before: Book 1 of the Prince of Nothing

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Second, Ikurei Xerius III, the Emperor of Nansur, hatches an intricate plot to usurp the Holy War for his own ends. Much of what is now heathen Kian once belonged to the Nansur, and Xerius has made recovering the Empire’s lost provinces his heart’s most fervent desire. Since the Holy War gathers in the Nansur Empire, it can march only if provisioned by the Emperor, something he refuses to do until every leader of the Holy War signs his Indenture, a written oath to cede all lands conquered to him. former concubine whom Cnaiür has taken as a battle-prize; and Anasûrimbor Kellhus, Dûnyain monk and descendant of ancient kings, This has nothing to do with the narrator, he does a decent job with what he has it's just the story itself.

The forces of the Holy War begin to assemble in the city of Momemn, an army of the faithful unlike any ever seen, but also the focus The Second Apocalypse is a dark and philosophical fantasy sequence by R. Scott Bakker that is planned to eventually consist of three series of books.The Prince of Nothing is a series of three fantasy novels by Canadian author R. Scott Bakker, first published in 2004, part of a wider series known as "The Second Apocalypse". This trilogy details the emergence of Anasûrimbor Kellhus, a brilliant monastic warrior, as he takes control of a holy war and the hearts and minds of its leaders. Kellhus exhibits incredible powers of prediction and persuasion, which are derived from deep knowledge of rationality, cognitive biases, and causality, as discovered by the Dûnyain, a secret monastic sect. As Kellhus goes from military leader to divine prophet, Drusas Achamian, the sorcerer who mentored Kellhus, comes to realize that his student may well be the harbinger of the Second Apocalypse. Of course, the first caste-nobles to arrive repudiate the Indenture, and a stalemate ensues. As the Holy War’s numbers swell into the hundreds of thousands, however, the titular leaders of the host begin to grow restless. Since they war in the God’s name, they think themselves invincible, and as a result see little reason to share the glory with those yet to arrive. A Conriyan noble named Nersei Calmemunis comes to an accommodation with the Emperor, and convinces his fellows to sign the Imperial Indenture. Once provisioned, most of those gathered march, even though their lords and a greater part of the Holy War have yet to arrive. Because the host consists primarily of lordless rabble, it comes to be called the Vulgar Holy War. Coincidence or not, the Holy War forces Cnaiür to reconsider his original plan to travel around the Empire, where his Scylvendi heritage will mean almost certain death. With the Fanim rulers of Shimeh girding for war, the only possible way they can reach the holy city is to become Men of the Tusk. They have no choice, he realizes, but to join the Holy War, which, according to Serwë, gathers about the city of Momemn in the heart of the Empire—the one place he cannot go. Now that they have safely crossed the Steppe, Cnaiür is convinced Kellhus will kill him: the Dûnyain brook no liabilities. But their glorious isolation is at an end. After thirty years of exile, one of their number, Anasûrimbor Moënghus, has reappeared in their dreams, demanding they send to him his son. Knowing only that his father dwells in a distant city called Shimeh, Kellhus undertakes an arduous journey through lands long abandoned by men. While wintering with a trapper named Leweth, he discovers he can read the man’s thoughts through the nuances of his expression. Worldborn men, he realizes, are little more than children in comparison with the Dûnyain. Experimenting, he finds that he can exact anything from Leweth—any love, any sacrifice—with mere words. So what of his father, who has spent thirty years among such men? What is the extent of Anasûrimbor Moënghus’s power? and precipitated the Apocalypse. The Consult has been absent from the world for so long that, apart from Mandate sorcerers like

Assuming Achamian lost, Kellhus turns to Esmenet, not out of any errant sense of lust, but because her extraordinary native intelligence makes her useful both as a subordinate and as a potential mate. The differences between the Dûnyain and the worldborn makes his bloodline invaluable. He knows that whatever sons he produces, especially by a woman of Esmenet’s intellect, will prove powerful tools. So he begins seducing her by teaching her to read, by showing the hidden truths of her own heart, and by draw­ing her ever deeper into his circle of power and influence. Far from proving an obstacle, her bereavement actually facili­tates his plan by rendering her more emotionally vulnerable and prone to suggestion. By the time the Holy War enters the desert, she has willingly joined him and Serwë in their bed. Despite its calamities, the journey across the desert pro­vides ample opportunity for him to exercise his otherworldly abilities. He rallies the Men of the Tusk with demonstra­tions of indomitable will and courage. He even saves them, using his preternatural senses to find well-springs beneath the sand. By the time the remnants of the Holy War fall upon Caraskand, thousands upon thousands openly hail him as the Warrior-Prophet. At long last he yields to the title. He names his followers the Zaudunyani, the ‘Tribe of Truth’. who enjoy being challenged, or those looking for epic fantasy that explores beyond the typical tropes and themes, it's very Moënghus begins to recount Kellhus’s journey, how he came to dominate the Men of the Tusk and the Holy War, but says that the probability trance failed him at the point where the caste nobility moved against him, the Circumfixion. Kellhus tells Moënghus about the visions, the voice of God and the halos around his hands. [2] Moënghus realizes that Kellhus has been broken by his trial, that he has returned to him a ‘madman’. Kellhus begins retelling the story of how Moënghus arrived at Shimeh after leaving Ishuäl. He says that his father made a mistake by taking the Psûkhe, as it is a metaphysics of the heart — of passion — something a Dûnyain would be weak at, and that this is why Moënghus had to ask for his son to help him. [21]Kellhus speaks with Nersei Proyas, one of the Exalt-Generals of the Great Ordeal, in his bed chamber. He tells him that the God has allowed him glimpses of the future, and that everything has unfolded in accordance with those glimpses thus far. He says that he has to make decisions he would rather not make alone, dark decisions. Kellhus commands Proyas to bow his head into the flames of his hearth, revealing that Kellhus is able to watch the Men of the Great Ordeal through his fire. Kellhus fears that if the Men of the Ordeal were to learn that the New Empire, the world they’ve left behind in hopes of saving, is slipping into ruin, his host would dissolve — collapse. So he forbids, on pain of death, all Cants of Far-calling. [23]

It touched me on an intellectual level. It is complex, dark with many characters. I found it better listening to the audiobook than reading it.and one of the sorcerous Schools; Esmenet, a prostitute in love with Achamian, who knows Achamian is in danger and wants to warn

Awesome book. If you like an adult-version of Bakker mixed with the depth of of Frank Herbert's 'Dune' then this could be for you. Forget Tolkien, Martin and anyone else. This is dark, complex and easily the best Fantasy series of books I have ever read. Outstanding. Standing before the exultant masses, he grasps the Thousandfold Thought. [13] The Thousandfold Thought [ ] This book I feel is one of them, we have a wide open world full of characters and deep history that's being built in the first book and the nightmare problem of the book is that it is telling multiple stories of something all at the same time and I'm sure that there's a lot of good in it, but the mere fact that you're meant to listen to this while relaxing or doing something else works in direct contradiction to what is being done in the book. Achamian, almost no one believes it still exists. But Achamian, to his horror, has found evidence that suggests the Consult isInterruption is weakness, young Kellhus. It arises from the passions and not from the intellect. From the darkness that comes before.” “I understand, Pragma.” The cold eyes peered through him and saw this was true. “When the Dûnyain first found Ishuäl in these mountains, they knew only one principle of the Logos. What was that principle, young Kellhus?” “That which comes before determines that which comes after.” The Pragma nodded. “Two thousand years have passed, young Kellhus, and we still hold that principle true. Does that mean the principle of before and after, of cause and effect, has grown old?” “No, Pragma.” “And why is that? Do men not grow old and die? Do not even mountains age and crumble with time?” “Yes, Pragma.” “Then how can this principle not be old?” “Because,” Kellhus answered, struggling to snuff a flare of pride, “the principle of before and after is nowhere to be found within the circuit of before and after. It is the ground of what is ‘young’ and what is ‘old,’ and so cannot itself be young or old.” “Yes. The Logos is without beginning or end. And yet Man, young Kellhus, does possess a beginning and end—like all beasts. Why is Man distinct from other beasts?” “Because like beasts, Man stands within the circuit of before and after, and yet he apprehends the Logos. He possesses intellect.” The first series, The Prince of Nothing, is set during a Holy War in a medieval world where Functional Magic exists and an obscure Ancient Conspiracy, Shrouded in Myth, is plotting The End of the World as We Know It. The characters who are embroiled in this conflict include a tired Badass Bookworm sorcerer, a cunning prostitute, and a mentally unstable barbarian chieftain.