r. scott bakker's "prince of nothing" series is best read when you don't know what you're getting into. although there is a glossary in the back (as i discovered AFTER i finished the first book), the author doesn't ease you into the socio-political structure of the three seas. you are required to piece together the bureaucracy of inrithism, the customs of the scylvendi, the differences between the sorcerous schools. you get that an apocalypse is probably coming, that there's something dark and nasty in the north, but each time something fantastical finally reveals itself, it is shocking.
for example, an interrogation from the bad guys:
"with an inhuman, dragon gasp, the thing pressed its bruised phallus up against her stomach and washed her sunlit breasts with pungent, black seed."
pretty creepy, no? blood meridian type stuff, infants and all.
the sorcery in here is philosophical:
"if the compelled soul feels every bit as uncompelled as the free soul, then how can anyone truly know himself to be free?"
i would describe it as a nihilistic lord of the rings, and although i've never read LOTR (sorry! i got bored half-way through the hobbit in fourth grade), i'm pretty sure this is better. the books are at least as rich in history, character depth, and made-up languages.
originally designed as a trilogy, the books have expanded to two trilogies and a duology, the last of which cannot even be named because it is a spoiler. !!! what could it be? "The No-God, Anasurimbor Kellhus, All Along"
JK guys, but I am super-psyched for when the next book comes out!
you can chat with other Consultheads here:
http://forum.three-seas.com
I haven't heard of these books but they sound interesting. Have you read the Kushiel books? They sound vaguely similar.
ReplyDeletei have not. anyone have any recs for amazing fantasy series? i loved robert jordan when i was little, but that got OOC. my mom passed down all her darkover books to me when i was little and i was obsesssssssed.
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