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  • The Darkness That Comes Before

  • The Prince of Nothing, Book One
  • Written by: R. Scott Bakker
  • Narrated by: David DeVries
  • Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (82 ratings)

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The Darkness That Comes Before

Written by: R. Scott Bakker
Narrated by: David DeVries
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Publisher's Summary

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.
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What listeners say about The Darkness That Comes Before

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Performance
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Story
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great performance, narrative falls short.

The narrator is fantastic, with many distinct voices, and a good tone for a story like this. R. Scott Bakker shows the beginnings of promise here with sometimes fantastic prose and interesting characters. However, I am left scratching my head at the pace of this story, or maybe where the story starts and ends. I am not a very big fan of action or battles in my fantasy, and I really do love a good slow burn focusing on characters and philosophy. This book is heavy on the politics, but not as heavy as I would have liked on the philosophical side of things, and I am left feeling like I took very little from the book.

This book felt more like characters passively watching things happen, rather than seeing characters actually do things. I want to be clear that characters do actually do things, but I still am coming away with the strange feeling of having seen any of our characters affecting the story truly.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An absolute masterpiece

One of the most impressive prologues I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Bakker's prose is an absolute pleasure to read and/or hear. Immersive reading for those who also have a hard copy is very beneficial with this series and its follow-up.

Keep in mind that this is not intended to be read as a stand-alone novel; you need to go into this knowing that the story merely begins here.

The Second Apocalypse is easily one of the finest fantasy works ever put to the page. If you can handle the themes herein, you will find no better.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

Literally starts off with a bang and just keeps getting darker.
Really believable characters and an extremely gripping story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Read twice and heard once!

I absolutely love the Prince is Nothing series. I read it years ago, but the experience on audible was great. I recommend this book to anyone, with a warning that it's a tough read

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

confusing greatness

the first time thru I had no idea who was who or what was what. I was utterly confused and disappointed.
the second time thru I know who the people were and what was going on it was great the second time.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Intricate and detailed. Unlike any fantasy book I have ever read. Absolutely gorgeous tapestry of woe.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not my cup of tea

I couldn’t get into the story or characters. Almost stopped listening on several occasions. It’s well written but disappointing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous

I have generally shied away from this genre, but this was awesome. The author creates a world a weaves a story like no other. Fantastic! The narrator was marvelous as well.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic and novel

The performance was great and I think the format made the book more easily consumable. The fiction is pretty dense, especially when jumping around to different factions and describing the world but felt manageable because of the pacing from the reader.

I don’t read much fantasy because I find a lot of the tropes derivative and annoying but this felt more like non-western fantasy and my only gripe in the end was some of the treatment and writing around women are pretty tropey sometimes.

However, the prose and originality of the story itself in the end left me feeling like it deserved full marks.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well told and voiced, interesting and vibrant

This was a very nice change from the middling and same-ish fantasy novels i have been finding of late. the writing style is interesting, a bit dense with the fantasy place names but they are memorable enough to not be confusing.

If you know much about the history of the crusades, this book draws heavily from that history, with many story beats being ripped directly from history. The peasants crusade in particular is almost beat for beat the vulgar crusade, including the motivations of the nobles involved, the only thing missing is a figure like John the Hermit.

Historical inspiration aside, its still a very good book with lots of political drama and intrigue which doesn't get too dense or convoluted.

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