I'm really not sure what to think about this series by R Scott Bakker. It's really well written, has depth and breadth. However, it is also violent, vulgar, and describes a place I really don't want to visit.

I guess that's the heart of the matter. I generally read to escape, go to impossible places, see impossible things, stuff like that. However the world that Scott describes is a pretty terrible place and I don't want to go there. I would in fact pay good money to avoid it.

The characters are not sympathetic either. The most sympathetic is mostly pathetic, and the least sympathetic is the most interesting.

Another annoying thing are the names and terms. All names are very orignal and very complicated and several of the names are very similar. Plus the characters have nicknames, are referred to by their proffession or place of origin. So there are 5 major characters, another 5 important characters and at least 20 supporting characters all with the above combinations. Plus countries and religions and military terms… The glossary at the end of book three is a significant portion of the book.

A large theme of the series is very interesting. Mr. Bakker is quite the philosopher and has some interesting philosophical theories. This aspect I rather enjoyed.

As you can probably tell I'm giving no spoilers, if you read this review or that series then you'll know what I'm talking about.

So despite a compelling story and a few interesting characters I guess I didn't really like the series since it holds more horror than hope.

• The Darkness That Comes Before
• The Warrior Prophet
• The Thousandfold Thought