The Darkness That Comes Before

English language

Published July 29, 2004

ISBN:
978-1-58567-677-4
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(36 reviews)

The Darkness That Comes Before is the first book in the Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker. It was published in 2004.

3 editions

What a world

[edited from original to expand into fuller review] Proper epic fantasy - in fact, it’s dark fantasy written before the grimdark explosion, in a truly well developed world. We we follow the tale of three people who are instrumental in arranging a holy war reminiscent of The Crusades; one sorcerer, one warrior and a monk who’s trained in being able to perform miraculous feats of psychological manipulation.

We’re literally dropped right into a world that has so many religions, philosophies and political factions, and it’s difficult to get through the first chapters as there’s no exposition at all - I even had to find a version of the map online with dates on because it hangs together better if you at least follow the locations of the places referred to.

But if you persevere, there’s so much reward. Sure it’s dense and intense, especially with the hefty doses of philosophy …

Review of 'The Darkness That Comes Before' on 'Goodreads'

Scholarly Fantasy is not something you read every day.

The quotes at the head of each chapter remind me of Dune and pearls of wisdom scattered throughout the novel take it to a different level from the usual YA oriented Sagas.

The Darkness that Comes Before has a different emphasis, the swords and sorcery are there, but they are not the whole story, the schools of magic are not just about magic they teach the humanities,the swords don't clash yet, we see what comes before the battle.

Backer takes a big page out of history, and it is nuanced history.
Neither the characters nor the history suffer from the flatness that is so prevalent in the Genre.

Review of 'The Darkness That Comes Before' on 'Goodreads'

I've learned to trust the man who hates openly, and to fear only those who hate in secret.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I was excited to get in to a new fantasy series but I found it difficult to get in to the story. The worst parts of my "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series attempt (7 months in 2015 and I made it halfway through book 7) were found here. I don't mind being dropped in to the middle of the story and having the expectation to pick it up as I go, but I need something to keep me reading.

Learning about events that happened elsewhere or discussing a complicated history when characters are going between locations is a turn off. I don't need to be spoonfed the story but it could have had a smaller scope to make the story easier to pick up. …

Review of 'The Darkness That Comes Before' on 'Goodreads'

Amazing! I picked this book up at random based on it's cover art and couldn't put it down. The number one thing that I most appreciated about this book is that it is told by so many perspectives that right when you are starting to hate a character you fall in love with them. It got off to a fast start by assuming you have some knowledge of the world that isn't explained, which for some might be uncomfortable, but I thought it skipped a lot of the boring introduction that many large scale fantasy books seemed to be bogged down with. Much to the surprise of everyone I am also a huge fan of the Game of thrones series. Just as the marketers assured me, lol.

It also comes as no surprise to me that Bakker is a philosophy student. He brings up some interesting ideas without overcrowding the …

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