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The Prince of Nothing, by R. Scott Bakker
I just finished reading The Prince of Nothing, which is a three-book trilogy by R. Scott Bakker. Christopher A. praised it as one of the better fantasy series of recent years, and I understand where he was coming for, but it never really grabbed me.
The strength of the series is that it offers up a relatively original fantasy world. It was somewhat overshadowed by Tolkien in the first volume as a Prince from a lost kingdom descends from the north in a world where ancient battles were fought and are about to reignite, but it increasingly found its own way.
However its biggest weakness was that it was very, very slow. I feel like Bakker is one of those authors who really needs editing and doesn't get it. This trilogy was originally conceived of as a single book, the first part of a trilogy. Now with that first book having expanded into a trilogy, Bakker has said the whole series will turn out to be maybe 7 books or maybe 8 or maybe 9. The Wheel of Time, anyone? And, I think that lack of focus showed in the books, where nothing happened for 100 pages at a time.
I did like some of the characters and I find their stories intriguing. I also liked the Crusades-like setting of these particular books. And one of the main characters, who can read and manipulate people is pretty neat. Likewise, truly mighty sorcerers is pretty unique. But there were also many too many characters that I never really got to know.
So, it was really a mixed bag, and as with The Wheel of Time (of which I read two books), I think I'm going to give up on this one. I got some bit of closure with the ending of this first trilogy, and I think that'll do it for me.
Crossposted to Xenagia.
The strength of the series is that it offers up a relatively original fantasy world. It was somewhat overshadowed by Tolkien in the first volume as a Prince from a lost kingdom descends from the north in a world where ancient battles were fought and are about to reignite, but it increasingly found its own way.
However its biggest weakness was that it was very, very slow. I feel like Bakker is one of those authors who really needs editing and doesn't get it. This trilogy was originally conceived of as a single book, the first part of a trilogy. Now with that first book having expanded into a trilogy, Bakker has said the whole series will turn out to be maybe 7 books or maybe 8 or maybe 9. The Wheel of Time, anyone? And, I think that lack of focus showed in the books, where nothing happened for 100 pages at a time.
I did like some of the characters and I find their stories intriguing. I also liked the Crusades-like setting of these particular books. And one of the main characters, who can read and manipulate people is pretty neat. Likewise, truly mighty sorcerers is pretty unique. But there were also many too many characters that I never really got to know.
So, it was really a mixed bag, and as with The Wheel of Time (of which I read two books), I think I'm going to give up on this one. I got some bit of closure with the ending of this first trilogy, and I think that'll do it for me.
Crossposted to Xenagia.