The Darkness That Comes Before

I just finished this book last night. It is the debut novel of R. Scott Bakker and the first of a trilogy, the Prince of Nothing series. A very impressive effort. It has some of the basic fantasy tropes such as a world on the brink of disaster from an ancient evil, but is very different in many respects. The main character, Anasurimbor Kellhus, is almost superhuman having been trained by monks since in agility and intellect. It bears some similarities to darker fantasy stories such as A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin in that there are no white knights who are paragons of virtue. No, the characters all have very real flaws and come across as very human. It also owes a lot to the classical world with many Greek parallels especially in philosophy and to the history of the Catholic Church.

The story starts 2000 years in the past with all members of the royal family save one son dying in an abandoned fortress after a disastrous war with the No-men and the bestial Sranc. An order of monks, the Dunyain, soon come by and take the boy in. Flash forward to the present and Anasurimbor Kellhus, descendant of the royal family, is living in the same fortress. The fortress is in a remote part of the north, far from civilization, and Kellhus has never been out in the world, his existence consisting only of the Dunyain monks and their training. He receives a dream message from his father, though, the only person to have ever left the community. Kellhus decides he must find his father.

Elsewhere in the world great events are being set in motion. The leader of the Thousand Temples, the great church is about to declare a Holy War. The Emperor of the most powerful nation in the Three Seas wants to use the Holy War to increase his own power and wealth. The Schools, practitioners of magic and considered blasphemers, are concerned the Holy War will be declared against them as it has in the past. Achamion, from the Mandate school, is tasked with discovering the nature of the Holy War. The Mandate school's mission has always been to keep an eye out for the Consult, leaders of the No-god and unseen for 2000 years.

On his mission, Achamion encounters an old flame, an old student turned priest, multiple factions vying for power in the chaos caused by the Holy War, and Kellhus. A man whose name and story hint at the Second Apocalypse.

I can't wait to get into the next book. The Darkness That Comes Before is an excellent book, one of the best fantasy books I have read in a good while, unique and intriguing. Highly recommended.