The Darkness That Comes Before

The Prince of Nothing, Book One

By: R. Scott Bakker

Narrated by: David DeVries

Strikingly original in its conception, ambitious in scope, with characters engrossingly and vividly drawn, the first book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series creates a remarkable world from whole cloth - its language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals - the kind of all-embracing universe Tolkien and Herbert created unforgettably in the epic fantasies The Lord of the Rings and Dune.

It's a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both 2,000 years past and 2,000 years into the future, as untold thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasûrimbor Kellhus - part warrior, part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence - from lands long thought dead. The Darkness That Comes Before is a history of this great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its conclusion.

©2003 R. Scott Bakker (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Too many characters with multiple names

I wanted to like it. There are just too many strange names and terms for an audiobook. Perhaps printed where I could stop and look up characters or concepts would have helped. I kept getting lost and couldn't gain more than a broad understanding of what was going on. The details were obscured by the foreignness of the setting.

An all time favorite

The series definitely has its issues, first and foremost how uncomfortable the cultural situation is in the three seas and beyond. Pre-to-just-slightly-post-Medieval in most of the worst ways.

On the other hand, I’m very fond of the way magic is handled, the way faith and the history of the world is rich and detailed, and of the light philosophy heavily salting the meat of the text, which is just layers and layers of political and religious conflict and subterfuge, broken up by the mysteries of the Dunyain, the reality of the gods and demons, and the unholy consult.

Great Book, Poor Reader

What didn’t you like about David DeVries’s performance?

Yes, this book is challenging, but Devries' reading complicates, rather than clarifies. Very little distinction between different characters' voices makes it easy to lose track of who is saying what. Choices on inflection make it sound like he himself has no idea what's going on. Paragraphs are picked up with no breaks, missing the fact that a new idea is starting.

I would often listen to a section two or three times before going to the text and finding it much easier to understand.

Any additional comments?

I'm really enjoying this story, but I'll have to somehow find the time to read the sequels without audio.

I never write reviews but I loved this

What made the experience of listening to The Darkness That Comes Before the most enjoyable?

This is a fully realized world. Great conflicts. Original characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Darkness That Comes Before?

Dark dark magicians.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I drive long distances and tend to listen in long blocks. I could easily listen for 6+ hrs

Too Fractured to Hold My Interest

While the author's prose was fine in terms of diction, the novel itself held little interest after the first few chapters. There was too much jumping around, often leaving some of the supporting characters demise undetermined. Also, there was many vague postulations about little known histories of past civilizations. Then there were lame philosophical metaphors professing of great portent that I found a bit unnerving.

Finally, the narrator's way of making seemingly every paragraph come across as something revealing and high importance was enough for me to decide to stop after less than an hour of listening.

Wonderful performance

I have read this series twice, yet the reading rendered it fresh to my ears. Excellent work.

Good book, better series

This was a fun introduction to the Prince of Nothing series! A lot of the other reviews gave this book a low rating due to it having a bunch of similar sounding names and difficulty separating out the characters. I haven't read the books, only listened on Audible, so I was a little nervous about getting confused. But although it took me about halfway through the book to remember everyone, it was definitely worth the wait! Such an interesting setting needs a lot of characters, so anyone willing to put in a little effort will be richly rewarded. The ending of this book has me incredibly excited to continue listening to this series!

It's complicated

Talk about intersticies. This is probably one of the most complex works of fiction I have ever read. It is a story so deeply and truly inhabited by its own characters that it leaves little room for it's readers. As if they are content to go about their lives, feeling no obligation to explain themselves to you. It is masterful, yet unapproachable.

an incredible and addictive experience

R. Scott Bakker has the ability to tell a story that is at once both brutal and poetic. He will at times mesmerize you and others give you cause to look away in shame. His storylines can be complicated but I would not say convoluted.

Strong worldbuilding, unlikeable characters

Would you try another book from R. Scott Bakker and/or David DeVries?

no

Any additional comments?

In the abstract, I appreciated what the author was doing here - he's clearly put a ton of thought into his world and his philosophy. The narrator I thought did a reasonable job with a (in my opinion unnecessarily large) cast of characters. That said, it felt a bit like having to suffer through a D&D campaign run by a medieval-studies major whose favorite movie was Idiocracy. The story came off as a smug dismissal of the value of anything but logic and probability. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that premise, pretty much every character is unlikeable or incompetent within the world or both. By the end, I was kind of rooting for everyone to die. Unfortunately, if they do all die, you won't find out for another three books and I've put in my time, so I won't be finding out.

Further, the characterization of women in general and in the specific is appalling. If you're into the rape-ier bits of Song of Ice and Fire, then I guess you'll like this book but for me it was a punishment to get through. I made it to the end but once there, found myself wondering why I'd bothered.