Many threads of the previous entry to the series were brought together at its conclusion, and this volume continues this rather original story with a more unified and committed spirit. It may be exactly because it was more straightforward and linear that I found The Warrior Prophet somewhat simplistic compared to The Darkness that Comes Before. Certainly other problems in the volume were compounded by the approach and came across too keenly.The battles are up to par and I continue to enjoy the way Bakker intersperses sweeping third person omniscient accounts between character viewpoints during such events. However I felt the courtly intrigues lacked a certain subtlety and depth thought assured for the series based on the previous installment. There were not enough changes of scenery, true enough, but this would not have been a worry had not previously promising characters also appeared flat and unremarkable (in even the Holy War scenes).Another objection I have is that what seems to be the author's own voice comes through with increasing strength through the book, pervading even the otherwise excellent character portraits and slanting them a certain way, almost compromising the diversity set up in the previous volume. Herbert and Tolkien, authors Bakker professes to be inspired by, were masters at tracelessly subsuming their own voice into a narrative, and it is here that Bakker falls short in this volume. It may be, given how the first did not suffer from this problem, that this installment was too rushed and the author didn't have time to refine some of the viewpoints.Bakker is at times preoccupied with the word (and perhaps the associated idea) 'intellect' (in a similar way that Goodkind is preoccupied with the naive Randian ideology that positively drips from his Sword of Truth series, though the present book is not nearly as bad as that). He doesn't seem to find it particularly necessary to be nuanced or clever about hinting at it either and this too compromises the diversity in some of the characterisations from the first novel. Nowhere is this more apparent than with Kellhus and the admiring eyes of those around him. An author should have some compassion towards his protagonist, but to seemingly worship him and what he represents in every perspective in much the same way is a sure path to disaster. It is overdone on the whole, but sometimes what Bakker is trying to convey comes through- particularly in Kellhus's own viewpoint sections, exactly because it is only in these that the universal admiration of him for this one thing is lifted. This is also where the truth of what this man Kellhus is comes through, perhaps even better than through the Scylvendi's perpetually suspicious eyes (who is also in a kind of stasis here, no matter that he tends to be more noticeably waxing and waning in his moods than other characters). These too-rare shifts can serve as reminders to the reader that the story need not spiral into utter predictability (doubts on which I think the success of the series hangs), though at times patience wears thin, not because things are going the protagonist's way, but because the character voices become muddled and colourless, valuing the same things in much the same way.The 'magic system' however, continues to intrigue, though I would be disappointed indeed if the mechanics of it haven't actually been thought out beyond vague epistemological references. Seeming great progress is made with Achamian's character, though it remains to be seen whether he degenerates to his former pathetic self on reuniting with the Holy War and the surprises in store for him there. Perhaps opinion will vary regarding Esmenet, but I felt she was made to yield to the shallow longings in her that she might yet have overcome just for the sake of turning her loyalties for plot purposes (confirming her former occupational epithet in a more fundamental way for as much as The Darkness that Comes Before seemed to try to distance her character from it and make her seem more). Not much that is notable was achieved with the Scylvendi, Ikurei Conphas or Serwe, though some side characters like Proyas and Xinemus are tested (but again there's a sense of faltering execution).While I felt this was a bit of an unimaginative stretch for the story, the first book well established that the potential for more is definitely here, and for all these faults The Warrior Prophet is still a worthwhile read if only in order to follow the series (not even counting the excellent prose of the narrative, still well-delivered here), which is thus far better than most popular generic fantasy titles available today. I only hope that Bakker continues to avoid the pitfall Martin now nests comfortably in, that of forcing circumstances a certain way (sometimes even nonsensically) just to keep things 'edgier' than ever. This series is certainly bleak in many ways, but it's the idea of what's happening, the inevitable rise of the eponymous character who is deceit embodied, unsuspected by those he is in the midst of and the illusions and conceits at work with these men and women that makes it so, more than a few sensational happenings in the backdrop of a familiar setting occupied by insufferably morally ambiguous or just whiny characters about whom a reader is hard pressed sometimes to bring themselves to care.
It's apparent that Bakker matured greatly as a writer over the course of The Warrior Prophet. Many of the weak points from The Darkness that Comes Before (TDTCB) were not just improved upon, but were made strengths in this book. Most important are the major characters, whose motivations, fears and passions are explored in much greater depth. By the end, I found that I understood, appreciated and yes, even liked them much more than I had in TDTCB. Additionally, the philosophical musings from TDTCB are more effectively and cohesively refined, and don't feel as preachy. In essence, the reader's understanding grows and evolves along with the characters'. In this volume, Bakker doesn't shy away from his premise of deconstructing - and rebuilding from scratch - two of humanity's major religions (Christianity and Islam) to serve as the story's foundation and driver of conflict. In fact, he expands these themes even further, displaying ingenious imagination in taking the familiar and twisting it to suit the story's purposes. As was the case with the first book, the author utilizes striking, evocative imagery to great effect. There's also occasional use of omniscient passages that read like an epic written account of the Holy War. These do a brilliant job of expanding the scope of the story beyond that of the small circle of "main" characters, and at conveying triumph and tragedy on a massive scale. Of course it's not all religion, philosophy and history - there's a ton more action here than in TDTCB, and it's all outstanding. Bakker's concepts of magic have a depth, realism and "awesome factor" rarely seen, culminating in several mind blowing life-and-death sorcerous duels. One in particular...well, let's just say it brings the house down! And that's not even getting into the terrifying, bizarre grotesqueness of the "skin spies" with their abominably perverse masters lurking in the periphery. A couple of issues kept this book from classic status. First - the incessant and onerous name-dropping of seemingly EVERY minor lord and soldier in the Holy War. I mean, when a random (previously unmentioned) lord dies from an infected pinky finger, does the reader really need to know that he's "Myxyl'plx the Göat Deströyiêr, Grand Potentate of Azzüzyrréyz, jewel of the far-flung Eastern steppes, son of the legendary High Duke Apatöpotamÿs"? (OK, so that's an exaggeration - Apatöpotamÿs was only a lesser Grand Viceroy, not a High Duke). While the insane level of detail adds to the authenticity of the story (I guess), for the most part these bits are better glossed over. The fact that these anecdotes were most often recounted during the otherwise stellar "history book" chapters mitigated the annoyance factor a bit. Second issue - the final chapter before the epilogue, despite being beautifully written, felt rushed and unsatisfying given it chronicled (however briefly) the payoff the entire book had led up to. While I understand and appreciate what Bakker was going for in terms of the effect this chapter had on the overall theme of the story, in execution it seemed lazy and not quite believable considering what had taken place in the prior 20% of the book. For once it seemed Bakker took the "less is more" route when he shouldn't have. Quibbles aside, this remains a fascinating, incredibly epic series, with this second volume delivering on the promise of the first and improving the narrative in nearly every way.
What do You think about The Warrior Prophet (2005)?
The sequel to The Darkness That Comes Before comes swinging out of the gate, but it spends its creative energies pretty fast. The novel does deliver on the promise of the first book: we get to see the Holy War well under way, and the result is pretty exciting. But most of the story is spent taking characters in unsatisfying directions. The writing is still pretty solid, although Bakker really needs to cut back on his usage of the adverb "fairly."The biggest problem I had with the story here is Kellhus. There's no reason that he should be presented as a likable character. He's essentially a highly functioning sociopath with no emotion of his own. He has God-like charisma, and is so apt a fighter as to defeat a charging army with ease. He would make an interesting villain, but Bakker is determined to make him a sympathetic messianic figure in the tradition of Dune's Paul Atreides. Ultimately, though, all I could see in Kellhus was the dark fantasy answer to the Mary Sue: an all-powerful being that is irresistibly charming, unaffected by emotional turmoil, and who can read the author's script and use it to his advantage.I got particularly upset at Kellhus when he started derailing others' character arcs. The case of Esmenet was just sad. (view spoiler)[She starts out as a strong, independent woman, and her relationship with Achamian was one of equals, filled with deep understanding and respect. Yet Kellhus waltzes into her life and obliterates her agency. He manipulates her to love him more than she loved Achamian, then gets her pregnant so she will bear his heir. Ugh. It's like Bakker created this charming woman, but then felt the need to break and possess her through Kellhus. (hide spoiler)]
—Daniel Roy
This second volume of the "Prince of Nothing" trilogy is weaker than the first under every aspect.First of all, the plot fails to build upon the excellent foundations set in "The Darkness that comes before" resulting unmemorable and entirely predictable. If you've read the first volume then you already know everything that's going to happen here. Second, the atmosphere. Remember that awesome feel of brooding darkness with unseen demonic threats in the first book? GOOD! Hold tight to that memory because you'll find nothing of that here. The dark feel is now SO dark and SO lacking depth as to be almost comical and the Consult and its agents are reduced to cartoon villains with a penchant for raping anything with a hole in it (because they're evil). The narration entirely focuses on the Holy war, which after all the talk of demons and omens and Apocalypse feels horribly mundane.And then the characters.Oh, the characters.The characters in this book almost make me cry at the wasted potential. The Darkness that comes before introduced some very interesting characters: realistic, flawed and deep. In "The warrior prophet" Bakker took and turned them in a bunch of weeping cardboard cutouts flatter than Serwe's EEG. I'm assuming it was intentional because I just can't see how could someone so thoroughly ruin great characters such as Cnaiur an Kellhus by accident.In the first book Kellhus was an awesome protagonist/villain. He was subtle, smart, devious as fuck and I loved his Pov chapters because of the insights on his complex lines of reasoning.Now he's an obnoxious Gary Stu with multiple layers of plot armor that just steamrolls every opposition without breaking a sweat.His manipulative skills get ridiculously overpowered beyond any logic, to the point of being able to cause mass allucinations and rewrite people's memory just by talking. He's dying? That was his plan all along! *YAWN* About half of the paragraphs are there only to allow various pov characters to remind you how awesome Kellhus is, how everybody loves Kellhus, how Kellhus is great at manipulating people and on and on and on. At some point he actually abandons any pretence of subtlety and announces himself as the son of god or something.Needless to say, all this gets old fast. Really, really fast. Cnaiur keeps spitting and weeping and... not much else really. Esmenet gradually becomes another Kellhus-loving freak losing any hint of personality she had.Serwe... well Serwe was already completely braindead in the first book and nothing changed on that part.Achamian is the only one that's still vaguely interesting, except when he's fawning over Kellhus's awesome awesomeness (which is pretty much all the time).The battles are a borefest, little more than endless lists of irrelevant names. I actually had to force myself thrugh a couple of them and still I kept getting distracted by more interesting things such as the grain of the paper and the shadows on the wall.The one in TDTCB was nice so I'm not sure why he changed style so radically.Even the philosophy, which I found enganging and interesting in the previous volume, here consist of just a couple basic ideas repeated ad nauseam.Last but not least, this book holds hands-down the highest number of gratuitous sexual images in the history of literature.In every chapter there's mention of at least 4-5 phalluses and a number of rapes varying from 3 to a gazillion, 99% of which add absolutely nothing to the story.Sentences like "He took his sword, and felt his phallus harden against his breeches" are perfectly normal in the Warrior Prophet. This kind of shit is not only incredibly common, but at times gets so graphic and weird you'll really start wondering what the fuck was going on in Bakker's mind. Everything with a hole in it will eventually get raped. EVERYTHING. Men, women, children, demons, corpses, the ground (not kidding), wounds (not kidding, sadly), amputated body parts and so on. I still like the setting and most of the writing, although at times things got so abstract I had troubles understanding what the fuck was going on. (view spoiler)[Kellhus pluging his hand in his chest and then pulling out his heart that was Serwe's heart but people saw his heart nonetheless.WHAT.THE.FUCK. (hide spoiler)]
—Pietro
I want to give this 3.5 but Goodreads refuses to update it's rating system. This book didn't fail, but it was definitely not as good as it's predecessor, The Darkness That Comes Before. My main issue is that, while I believe The Logos has some power, it is too overpowered. There is a limit to what you can do with logic. I guess that seeing as the events of this book seemed to take over a year, it makes sense that Kellhus using the Logos, could have achieved SOME power. But not as much as he does. Of course there is some revelation (lol) in this book that makes you think if there is more to the Dunyain in general than what has been revealed...but it is still a stretch. This series is a huge criticism of belief. Of faith in god and the certainty that comes with it. Of how it's all men trying to achieve power and dominion over other men. And while I completely agree with that...Bakker does strike to the heart of the issue that belief leads to dangerous certainty...this book just wasn't as good as the previous one. The themes, sure. I'm completely with him on that. It just wasn't as well-written.And that does make me a bit sad. I don't want the next book to go that way. I really enjoy the story and especially the worldbuilding. It's very much like LOTR in that way; lots of mystery and ancient history. But the tone is similar to Mark Lawrence or Joe Abercrombie. I found Cnaiür and Conphas to be my favourite characters. I thought it would be Kellhus but...well he sounds badass online when people recommend it but when you're like 1400 pages into the series you understand his deeds and the reasoning behind them more so your opinion might change. I still recommend this series mostly due to the mystery.
—Akshar
