Wow. I found myself caring more about Seswatha than Achamian, and yet Achamian was by far my favorite character. Kellhus is interesting in the same way my Philosophy professor was interesting in college. At first, it was all new and fascinating. But then, about halfway through the course, those novel aspects of philosophy seemed to fade away. I realized that philosophy is eerily similar to religion. It requires a great deal of faith to believe what philosophers are saying, and they often express themselves in such a convoluted manner that I doubt they fully understand half of the ideas they are attempting to convey. I understand they are trying to explain highly complex concepts, but sometimes you just need to get to the point. Bakker's work felt like that to me. It was filled with highly complex ideas, but with very few clear points.

The last few pages featuring Achamian were the only part of the book that I felt was truly deserving of the praise the series has received. I hope Bakker takes the time to read his critics and adds some much-needed depth to this amazing world he has created.

His main ideas were indeed brilliant, and the parallels between his books and the Crusades were fairly interesting. However, there were no real plot twists, and everything happened exactly as it was headed throughout the entire book. So, there was nothing new or exciting to keep me engaged. I found myself falling asleep after just 30 minutes of reading almost every time and constantly having to backtrack. Sure, the book was complex, but I want to read a complex book that I actually care about. I will only pick up The Aspect Emperor series again if I'm in a very, very dry spell.

In my opinion, this book is not as great as the other two.

It is bogged down by the love story between Esmenet and Achamian. This love story seems to overshadow other aspects of the plot and makes the narrative feel a bit sluggish.

Also, Kellhus, in my view, is just not interesting. He is portrayed as someone who sees all, knows all, has no emotion, and possesses superhuman strength. It would have been much more engaging if he had started to experience feelings or if he wasn't so overwhelmingly powerful. But no, he is essentially a God-like figure, which makes it difficult for the reader to truly connect with him.

On a side note, Conphas seemed less smart and more whiny in this book. His character development took a bit of a downward turn, and his actions and behaviors were not as compelling as they were in previous installments.

Anyway, in my opinion, while there is great writing in this book, the storylines are rather poor. They lack the depth and complexity that I was hoping for, and as a result, the overall reading experience was not as satisfying as it could have been.

A truly stunning conclusion marks the end of this epic journey.

The prose within this work is nothing short of magically poetic. It is not only relevant but also exquisitely descriptive, painting a vivid picture in the reader's mind.

The characters are realistically painted, making them come alive on the pages. Their emotions, actions, and motives feel genuine and relatable.

The world-building is phantasmagoric, transporting the reader to a realm filled with wonder and excitement.

Overall, this is a highly recommended read for anyone who loves a captivating story with beautiful prose, well-developed characters, and a fantastical world.

Don't miss out on this amazing literary experience in 2022.

An incredible conclusion to what is easily one of the best dark fantasy series out there. This series has truly captivated readers with its unique and engaging world.

Misery is the name of the game here. The tortured world, filled with crusades and characters striving for something better, makes for a truly immersive experience. Despite the darkness, there is a glimmer of hope, which is both heartwarming and bittersweet.

Hey there’s that. Hope. It is a powerful force in a world so horrible, and it gives the characters and the readers something to hold onto. The book has all the mesmerizing intrigue as its predecessors, with dark mysteries, awe-inspiring battles, and magic.

The harrowing plights of its characters are truly heart-wrenching, but also make for a great read. If you are looking for some eventual happiness, best look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for one amazing journey through the darkest of adventure, you will not be disappointed.

I'm neither impressed nor satisfied with the conclusion to this trilogy.

Books 1 and 2 were truly remarkable. They were filled with intricate plots, deep and complex characters, and a wealth of profound philosophy. The dark and thrilling ending of Book 2 set the stage perfectly for the grand finale. Or at least it should have.

However, "The Thousandfold Thought" is a major disappointment. It meanders aimlessly along, lacking focus and direction. Finally, with barely a hundred pages remaining, the Holy War arrives at Shimeh. The long-awaited meeting between Kellus and his father is a huge letdown. It reminds me of Neo meeting the Architect in "The Matrix", but instead of being a moment of great significance, it's just several pages of garbage that result in a massive anti-climax.

The whole experience of reading this book is three or four steps below that of "What Came Before". I seriously doubt I'll bother with the second series he wrote. It's clear that this trilogy didn't end on a high note, and I'm not eager to invest my time in more of his work.

The series plot truly compelled me to keep reading, mainly because I was eager to discover how matters unfolded for the mage Achamian, a character who was distinctly human and relatable. However, every shortcoming of the previous books is exacerbated here. The plot hinges on the superhuman powers of the most irritating character ever created, Kellhus, who is ponderous and tiresome. I reached a stage where I loathed so many aspects of the book that I would only read a few paragraphs every 50 pages to stay abreast of the plot, and would skim through sections where the only character I could tolerate at that moment, Achamian, was prominent.

I must admit that I have never despised a book to this extent before. There have been books that I found more tedious, but I simply didn't finish them. I would have hated this one less if I hadn't become so invested in the plot. Credit must be given to Bakker for that. If the plot weren't as engaging as it is, I would have abandoned the book long before facing its lengthy (and I mean 20 - 50 pages lengthy) discourses on freshman philosophy.

I suppose that if you fancy yourself as being profoundly philosophical, yet are not inclined to read actual philosophy, and enjoy imagining yourself as a superhuman capable of vanquishing any adversary and charming any woman, then you will probably like this book. Otherwise, there are far better options available elsewhere. Anywhere else, in fact.

Man, what a book!

Once again, it's another 5-star book for me. That makes it 3 out of 3 from Bakker. I'm not entirely sure if I can fully convey how I feel about this series, but I'll give it a try.

I'll begin with the prose. The writing and descriptions are once more beautiful. I didn't notice any repetitive or overused words or mannerisms, which is something that has often disrupted my immersion in other books or series. This book was highly immersive, transporting me into the world and keeping me there throughout my reading (mostly at night when the kids are asleep).

This brings me to the point that this is a very heavy or dense series, but not in a bad or boring way. It's dense in the best possible way, like a perfectly cooked steak that you just want to take your time with and savor the experience. The only series that comes close to this one, in terms of scope, worldbuilding, and characters that I both loved and hated to see hurt (and some that I wanted to kill myself!), is my all-time favorite series, Malazan Book of the Fallen. Bakker has made the characters feel so real, alive, and human that at times it was almost like reading a history of our own world, given the level of detail in the background.

Once again, the only comparison I can make is to Malazan because nothing else comes close. I've heard that you'll either love Bakker or hate him, and I believe I'm firmly in the "I'll die on this hill" group of readers, as this series is shaping up to be nearly as good as Malazan and one of my top favorite series. I'm extremely excited to continue with this series.

P.S. The encyclopedia in the last 200 or so pages on my tablet is packed full of myths, legends, place names, and their histories. It's like the coolest thing ever! I wish more authors would include something like this at the end of their books. While it's an optional read, it's so good. We get pieces of this information in the main text, but it's spread out in small parts, so it never feels like an info dump and leaves a lot for the reader to piece together. Having the encyclopedia is almost like a short stay in itself, as it adds so much to the main timeline. I just love it and everything else about this series.

Aside from the choreography of the final battle, which I didn't care about much as I'm not particularly fond of granular details about fights, and even less so of war fiction, this book ties up many loose ends and leaves the core concept open for the next books. As a slight spoiler, the next book implies that this trilogy is indeed written by Aka, as is heavily suggested. Of course, what we consume is not the actual book; in the fiction, we read a history of events solely from Aka's perspective. However, the tragedy sown from the first book is neatly reaped with the idea that the No God still comes, the Consort is still out there pursuing its ends, and the coming of a sociopathic, literally "conditioned" man, hollowed out of personhood and driven mad with accrued power, leaves the world in a far worse state. All to simply achieve his mandate. Although, how sane he is after the corruption of absolute power and the implication of his madness is debatable, given that the series is called The Second Apocalypse. So, as with this trilogy, the quadrilogy that follows retains the sense of immense dread.

Even if the reader doesn't particularly get on with the prose, this series is still doing something far more interesting than any other fantasy series I've read. Therefore, the attempt would still make it a five-star read for me. It does require a lot more from the reader, though. Hence, perhaps why Malazan is more popular despite being considered similar. The philosophy lies within the world itself and the character arcs. Especially with Aka and Esme. Both of them are the heart of the book, and the ultimate powers that use humanity as nothing but children due to their short memory and inability to change their power structures and core tenets. Ultimately, this makes them, as most dark fantasy is centered on, incapable of retaining any agency in their lives. The "evil" uses people as puppets and manipulates them like meat puppets, while the Dunyain pierce their beliefs and psychology and manipulate their every thought and feeling. Mankind is completely unprepared, despite having suffered a first apocalypse.

All the while, of course, this extrapolation can be applied to modern-day philosophy and power structures. Which similarly will never change and constantly create an endless destructive cycle for every generation so far. A "hero" would just be another belief system that would either be inflicted or repelled by the population. Things aren't looking too bright for what lies ahead beyond the manufactured holy war. But if you've made it this far, I don't think you're particularly looking for that.

Oh... this book.

Not only did it consume an eternity of my time to get through, but it also left me completely dissatisfied. Around the halfway mark of the book, I determined that it deserved only two stars. There was a fantastic final scene where Achamian discovers within himself the strong, vicious man I always knew he could be, which made me briefly consider giving it three stars, but ultimately, it just doesn't merit it.

Three books ago, I chanced upon The Prince of Nothing and was instantly captivated by its promise of wasted kingdoms, a dark history, sorcery, long-forgotten royalty, and the impending doom of a Second Apocalypse. I purchased the first book for these very elements; I continued reading for them; and yet, I am let down because I never truly received what was promised. Sure, the Second Apocalypse looms in the background, but it is not the driving force behind the plot in this trilogy. Instead, what propels the plot here is the Holy War and Anasurimbor Kellhus's ascent to the titles of Warrior-Prophet and Aspect-Emperor.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I can see the setup for the second trilogy, Aspect-Emperor. However, it becomes incredibly tiresome when there is nothing likable about Kellhus. Believe me, I've attempted to like him. I've never exerted as much effort to like a character as I have with Kellhus. But I simply can't. He's dreadful. And I don't mean that he has an unpleasant personality (because he has no personality at all) or that he's awful because he commits terrible deeds (although he does). What I'm trying to convey is that he's a terrible character. I've read three books in which Kellhus plays a prominent role as the trilogy's namesake (Prince of Nothing), yet I still know absolutely nothing about what motivates him. I don't understand what he's doing or why he's doing it, which makes it impossible to like him when he uses and manipulates the only character in this entire series worth liking: Achamian.

What truly damaged this final book, though, is the ending. It jumped around from place to place, person to person, and devolved into little more than a chaotic jumble of confusing images and events. I'm still not entirely certain what transpired during the last moments of the Holy War, and my brain still aches from some of the philosophical drivel that filled most of the pages dealing with Kellhus and his father. The ending, as a whole, was hasty and unsatisfying (aside from that excellent scene with Achamian that I mentioned earlier). It really seemed as if Bakker had already shifted his focus to the next trilogy and suddenly realized he hadn't concluded this one.

Also, I must add that I am painfully intrigued by the events of the First Apocalypse, the appearance of the Inchoroi, the tragedy of the Nonmen, and the return of the No-God. My longing to know more is what compelled me to read this far, but there's not much disclosed on these subjects beyond what's in the glossary. I'm tempted to read The Judging Eye in the hope of learning more about them and finally getting to the Second Apocalypse, but I've lost faith in Bakker. I'm still just as uncertain as I was after The Darkness That Comes Before.

I'm a stubborn optimist when it comes to books—especially fantasy as profound and intricate as this—but I'm just so disappointed. There is such great potential, but I don't think I can endure another few books of Kellhus, which is truly a pity. The world, races, and history that Bakker creates in this series are some of the most fascinating I've ever encountered, but it's a slow and demanding read that offers very little reward for your investment of time.

I took a look at some of the numerous existing reviews of this book before attempting to pen my own. And I came across what I believe might be the most inane criticism of this book: "This book seems like it was written by a five-year-old." Whether one is fond of this book or Bakker's work in general, there is simply no rational way to uphold such a claim. Just consider the vocabulary, which far exceeds the writing abilities of a significant number of college graduates. Then throw in the complex sentences with multiple layers of meaning, the lyrical and poetic language, and the breathtaking complexity of the world-building. You end up with something that few authors can achieve. It seems more likely that that review was written by a five-year-old.

That is not to suggest that this book is without its flaws. Bakker has a penchant for using convoluted metaphors when a concise and straightforward manner would suffice. He loves to imply rather than clarify. One of his favored techniques, when transitioning from one character's viewpoint to another, is to begin with a pronoun instead of a proper noun, leaving the reader to infer from the context which viewpoint has just been established. There were numerous occasions when I failed to notice the shift in viewpoint and had to go back and reassign the previous few paragraphs to a different character.

I liked this book more than the previous one, although I haven't been able to precisely pinpoint the reasons. Perhaps it has to do with the greater focus on the characters and less on the tedious horrors of war. That's not to say there is no warfare; in fact, there is a veritable abundance, especially in the last third of the book during the siege on Shimeh. The carnage is unrelenting, with many characters being slaughtered, and ultimately no one emerges victorious. Meanwhile, the god-like character Kellhus has entered some sort of trance state, and I still don't truly know if what he was doing was real or solely taking place in his mind, or perhaps in some kind of alternate reality. Maybe I overlooked something that made it clear, but given Bakker's general evasiveness, I wouldn't be surprised if that is left as an exercise for the reader.

By this point, it probably goes without saying that the depth of world-building in this book is astonishing. The complexity of the societies and cultures, the religions and philosophies, the factions, the names and languages, and dozens of other elements are presented with meticulous levels of detail. Bakker clearly put in an enormous amount of background work to create a painfully realistic world. At times, reading this book felt like a chore, but I'm glad I persevered through the entire trilogy.

I have rather mixed thoughts about this book, and isn't that ironic?

The writing quality of this book is perhaps the best in the fantasy genre when it comes to themes and prose. It contains very heavy stuff intertwined with nihilism.

However, the problems I had with the book are more on the technical side.

Firstly, the battle scenes. I felt extremely detached and uninterested in them. Although they are epic in nature, they feel very repetitive, almost as if I'm reading a history novel. I desired to be more engaged, like in a Joe Abercrombie book.

Secondly, the characters. This book lacked humor. Esmenet disappointed me in terms of her development. I was certain she would gain more depth, but in the end, it seems she just remained the same.

The plot overall was epic, but the pacing was rather strange. It had a very slow start, and then at the end, there was an overwhelming amount of information that was crazy and confusing.

Overall, the story is truly epic, and in some ways, Bakker is a genius. But this book did give the impression of being rushed, and overall, it feels like the weakest in the series.

By the way, a quick note about Kellhus as a character. We are constantly told how unique he is, but I had a difficult time understanding why. We are repeatedly informed about how smart and unique he is, but I had a hard time believing it. I just didn't see it being reflected much in practice. It felt a little lazy to make him awesome in every aspect without much effort.

"It is their nature to believe as their fathers believed," the darkness continued. "To desire as they are desired... Men are like wax poured into moulds: their souls are cast by their circumstances. Why are no Fanim children born to Inrithi parents? Why are no Inrithi children born to Fanim parents? Because these truths are made, cast by the particularities of circumstance..."

This is an excellent conclusion to the bleakest fantasy series I have ever read. The Prince of Nothing trilogy is incredibly dark, yet I am hesitant to simply group it as "grimdark." Bakker's excellent prose truly shines throughout. The characters are deep and complex, adding layers of depth to the story. The climactic action scenes are nothing short of spectacular, making this trilogy one of my absolute favorites.

This series also has an excellent approach to sorcery, which is both fascinating and unique. The action scenes are some of the best I have ever witnessed in a fantasy series. I strongly recommend this series, but be prepared. It is not for the faint of heart. Do not expect hope to prevail easily. Instead, be prepared to be immersed in a world of darkness and despair, where the characters must struggle to find meaning and purpose in the face of overwhelming odds.