The Darkness That Comes Before cover art

The Darkness That Comes Before

The Prince of Nothing, Book One

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The Darkness That Comes Before

By: R. Scott Bakker
Narrated by: David DeVries
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About this listen

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. Epic Fantasy Science Fiction
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all I will say is I loved it so much I'm getting a tattoo of a symbol within the book. bakker is literary genius. this is definitely a book you would want to actually read rather than listen to, I think only listening it would be confusing.

one of the best books and series I've ever read.

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If you’ve read hundreds of books in your life, you’ve just found the pinnacle. If it confounds, know you’re about to become more. This is the greatest story ever written. I’m not sure Bakker is even human.

A test of intellect

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This fictional world is fairly interesting, based on the crusades but in a magical world. However it was lacking something. I found myself getting bored quite a bit. The ending was also fairly lackadaisical for me. Women are very stereotypically treated in this book, which is fine, but hard after reading something like Malazan. Hoping the other books pick up the pace a bit.

get ready to go on the crusades I guess, but not many exciting bits.

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Similar to Lord of the Rings, it can get dense at times. Bear with it though, it will be confusing as the author plunges the reader right into the story. But as the story continues and it becomes more clear it gets much better.

Just as much philosophy as fantasy, a great book for those with time.

Difficult to get into, but great once you do.

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It's a bit obnoxious in the philosophical parts, but I knew that going in. The female characters are very very dull so far, but I'm hoping that changes throughout the next books.

Good narration, fairly gritty

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This book's biggest issue as many other reviews have mentioned, is the sheer avalanche of lore that the author heaps upon you in the first half of the story. It wasn't until three quarters of the way through the book that it started to come together and make sense. I think this is a good book, it just requires a bit of dedication to get past the half way mark.

Slow Burn

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This waste of time seems written by a man who believes himself far more intelligent then everyone else. But couldn’t decide wether he wanted to be a poet or a storyteller. Ultimately fails miserably at both. I only wish I had taken the advice of the previous reviewer

Pretentious rubbish

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struggled to finish and almost DNF too many times. the women were very poorly betrayed and I felt very offended while reading any female POV, which were only a couple and were in my own personal opinion very negative and degrading. I will not be reading book #2. not for me

not for me

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I tried. I really tried. I like complex storylines, multiple plots and complex characters. But this just didn’t hang together. The character development was chaotic and introduced far too many concepts without context. Shame. The good bits were great. But the rest was painful. Did not finish.

DNF

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I abandoned this book after about five hours. Only the second audio book I have abandoned in three years.

A lot of people, ok, 4, but people I respect. Literally a lawyer, a banker, a doctor and an astronomer all loved and recommended this book. The guys I play DnD with twice a month. We all read fantasy fiction, and they highly recommend this book.

I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps I'm an intellectual lightweight, perhaps it's a book you need to read rather than listen to. I found it confusing, heavy on deep detail but narrow on engaging plot. If you like R.R. Martin, Abercrombie and Rothfus but disliked The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, this book may not be for you.

I would love to rate this book higher given that some very well red guys loved it, but it wasn't for me..

A lot of people I respect loved this book. Not I

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