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R. Scott Bakker

Thousandfold Thought: The Prince Of Nothing Book Three Mass Market Paperback – International Edition, January 16, 2007

by R Scott Bakker (Author)

279 ratings

Book 3 of 3: The Prince of Nothing

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“A daringly unconventional series in the Tolkien mould.”
—Publishers Weekly

Only Shimeh remains. The Padirajah has been slain, and the heathen Fanim have fled in disarray. One final march will bring the Holy War to the City of the Latter Prophet. But so very much has changed...

The final reckoning is at hand. Faceless assassins will strike in the dead of night. Kings and emperors will fall. The sorcerous Schools will be unleashed. And Anasûrimbor Kellhus will at last confront his father. If Kellhus could subvert an entire holy war within a year, what has Moënghus accomplished in thirty? What is the meaning of his Thousandfold Thought?

Print length

688 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Canada
Publication date

January 16, 2007
Dimensions

4.25 x 1.5 x 7 inches
ISBN-10

0143015362
ISBN-13

978-0143015369
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R. Scott Bakker
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R.Scott Bakker
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R. Scott Bakker
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R. Scott Bakker
328
Paperback
65 offers from $3.90
R. Scott Bakker
689
Paperback
66 offers from $4.94
R. Scott Bakker
173
Paperback
57 offers from $2.00
R.Scott Bakker
292
Paperback
35 offers from $8.32
R. Scott Bakker
198
Hardcover
16 offers from $2.21
Steven Erikson
4,647
Paperback
84 offers from $2.48

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Bakker is the recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Fellowship, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Fellowship, and the winner of the Helen B. Allison Gold Medal. He is the author of five critically acclaimed novels, including the Prince of Nothing Trilogy, a series that Publisher’s Weekly calls “a work of unforgettable power.” His novels been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lives in London, Ontario with his wife and daughter.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Canada (January 16, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 688 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143015362
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143015369
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 1.5 x 7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,928,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #56,137 in Epic Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
279 ratings

About the author

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R. Scott Bakker

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My books are the sum of four decades spent wandering fantastic worlds and philosophical worldviews. In an age where algorithms sort everything, I belong nowhere. Some days I write in a three-piece suit, and others, in my underwear.

These are the characters closest to my heart, those trapped between warring tribes. I despise easy answers. I write of ancient wars and long-dead philosophers, extinct races and poets whose words crack walls as readily as hearts. I mourn the worlds I once believed in, and I fear the planet we have become. The themes in my books teeter on the radical edge of the most pressing issues of our day. Among other venues, my philosophical critiques have been featured on CBC Ideas and in The Journal of Consciousness Studies.

Customer reviews

5 star		58%
4 star		19%
3 star		15%
2 star		5%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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13th Floor Books

Bakker is awfully proud of his philosophy degree

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2019

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If, like me, you're more than a little weary of the multitudes of fantasy novels that are Tolkien knockoffs, cluttered with the usual Elf/Dwarf/Wizard/Magical Quest motifs, you might find yourself intrigued by something with a little more meat on its eldritch bones. Something more on the lines of Song of Ice and Fire, or Kingkiller Chronicles, or Wolfe's Book of the New Sun (and yes, I know, Severian's adventures are science fiction, but it may as well be fantasy for all the stuff going on in it). Sound good? Well, if that's the case don't bother with Bakker's work here. And that's a really disappointing thing to say, because there are things about this series that I do enjoy: the altogether evil creatures pulling the strings behind the scenes in the background, the main character of Kellhus and his use of cold logic to manipulate the people around him in order to fight the baddies, Bakker's different take on magic and the different schools of wizardry. What annoys the living spit out of me is Bakker's incessant need to stop the storyline every other page with a description of how much of a philosophical genius and living prophet that Kellhus is in the eyes of the people around him, how stunned they are by his presence, and so on. And then there are the names. 3/4 of the names of the characters and tribes and nations are confounding, confusing, and tossed off just for the sake of having another vaguely European/Arabic character that you only see in one or two chapters. During battle scenes, for instance, some lordling of some fiefdom will get mentioned as he goes off to fight some other lordling of some other fiefdom without ever describing WHO that character is, which side they are on, and exactly what the hell their action has to do with the rest of the story. These WTF moments happen so often that it's like reading part of the text of something like Gibbon's Rise and Fall without knowing what you're reading or having the requisite medieval history degree to understand what the hell is going on. One gets the sense that Bakker had all these characters listed down with a small history of them in his personal notes, so if he knew who they were why shouldn't we? All in all, this entire series works better as a rough draft rather than a completed novel. Too bad his editor couldn't wean him away from his philosophy dissertation and get him to stick to story and characterization. These three books could easily have been chopped down to one thick novel that packed a punch, rather than bloated with pseudo-intellectual nonsense. It's too bad, really. Maybe he'll turn out something really good someday, but not with this trilogy.

9 people found this helpful

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Richard Hassel

Couldn't finish it. 30% into book 3

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2020

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This is pretty horrible. Too many fancy words to say nothing. I hate the characters more and more for every chapter I read. There's not one of them I like. That's incredibly rare for me. Author harps on and on about the same incessant don't-care topics. I'm sure there's a whole book in there on just whatshernames opinion on kellhus. I'm annoyed that I couldn't manage to finish, but also relieved that I've finally decided to stop trying. For what it's worth I recommend skipping this - the world might seem interesting, but the pretentious writing style brings it down.

4 people found this helpful

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Gnossis

The absolute best!

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2018

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I don't know if R. Scott Bakker is just brilliant or a top notch researcher. The philosophy, architecture, geography, psychology and much more that he sprinkles throughout his stories make his novels much more than typical fantasy books. These are not writings that one can just breeze through. Well, you can, but you will miss so much. There are passages that are just so thought provoking, that I sometimes have to set the book aside for a moment to contemplate what I've just read. The plots and sub-plots are skillfully woven throughout the stories, along with such well developed characters that you really care what happens to them.
I highly recommend this trilogy. Without a doubt, the best I've ever read.

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Chandler Robinson

What a great conclusion to The Prince of Nothing

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2020

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What a great ending to the first trilogy of the epic series that is The Second Apocalypse. The first half of the novel is a little slow compared to the previous entry, but the effort is well worth it. The conclusion, while disappointing to some, is satisfying in it's own way. I look forward to continuing this story with The Aspect Emperor.

One person found this helpful

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R. Guerrero

Half George RR Martin, Half Steven Erikson, and Half as Good

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2008

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I just finished the series, and I must say that it leaves me unsatisfied. For those who haven't read George R.R. Martin or Steven Erikson, I would have to say that this review is not for you, as I will be referring to both series since they are the standards of fantasy literature.

The series approaches the complexity of the George R.R. Martin's characters, dozens of complicated individuals, each with his or her own convictions and views of the world. Initially, one cannot tell who is right and who is wrong, as every person's view of the world has always been the right view. As I progress through the novels, the characters mature and evolve. However, unlike Martin's amazing character development, Bakker's is left half-baked. Kellhus. The all-knowing Kellhus is the asteroid that wipes out the evolution of Bakker's characters. It's so frustrating to see what could have been great multi-faceted characters like Proyas, Esmenet, Cnaur, and others obliterated into two-sided paper figures whose only conviction is to believe or not believe the greatness of Kellhus. Even more frustrating is most of the main characters: the great names, knights and thanes, serve no purpose but to die. Like clockwork, someone with a name must die in every battle. When one of George R.R. Martin's character die, it creates a shudder through the storyline - not only because it often so unexpected, but because one feels so much for the character, whether it's admiration or hate, of things left unaccomplished. Death leaves a hollow space in GRRM's world.

The Prince of Nothing also bears great similarity with Erikson's Malazan series, particularly Coltaine's long march from Seven Cities. The desperation and hopelessness of that retreat is so palpable that it left the taste of gritty desert sand in my mouth. In some ways this novel is very similar, although Inrithi's armies are attacking, not retreating. The toll of the battle road is comparable in both books. However, while Erikson's story progresses smoothly, Bakker's journey suffer innumerable rest stops. Every chapter is inundated with, as another reviewer wrote, "unending explanations of the greatness of Kellhus". By the third book, I actually found myself skipping sections of "the greatness of Kellhus", something unthinkable in a GRRM or Erikson book lest you miss an important part integral to the plot. After reading "the greatness of Kellhus" dozens and dozens of times, I find that it is not necessary, there was nothing that was not already stated.

Thus, I find Bakker's book somewhat combination of both GRRM and Erikson. It aspires to Martin's characterization and Erikson's plot progression, but falls short in both. However, since GRRM is taking decades between books, and Erikson's latest is not out yet, I recommend this series as a decent substitute to satisfy some of your cravings. Just be warned, it will not leave you hungering for more bread from Bakker's bakery. RG

9 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Sharon C.

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2016

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Excellent series, highly recommended. Good plot, excellent character development.

Eoin Lynch

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2017

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Not quite as good as book 2 but still great.

Philzee

After Warrior - The Thought May Disappoint...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2006

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Okay - so we all know that the first book - The Darkness That Comes Before - was a metaphorical slap in the face that woke us all up from the generic, linear fantasy of recent years. Then along came The Warrior-Prophet which, in my opinion, was a literary masterpiece. So, with this in mind, my expectation for TTT was huge. This may account for my utter disappointment with the third story, but I can't help but feel that the story is inferior to what has come before it.

All of the ingredients are there: the Holy War finally makes it to the Holy City of Shimeh, there to reclaim what the heathen have abused. Kellhus and Cnaiur come face to face with their quarry in a war of words that would boggle the mind of Einstein. And good old Achamian, much abused, jilted and misunderstood, faces his nightmares of the First Apocalypse whilst he struggles to warm the cold shoulder his beloved Esmi shows him. Mix all of these up and you should have a satisfying conclusion (or at least extension, if this turns out not to be the last book) to the story. But for me it just fell flat. Way too much proselytizing and internal conflicts that obviously make sense and add depth to the characters in the mind of Mr Bakker, but just come off as a confusing and annoying to the reader. I read and re-read paragraph after paragraph to try and get the meaning of the internal struggles of all and sundry and just ended up completely frustrated.

I'm sure the story has tension, I'm certain the Consult get what they deserve, and I'm positive the No-God gets his well deserved comeuppance, it's just that I couldn't understand most of the cryptic fits of excellence the book has to describe them.

It would be churlish to say the writing isn't as good - so I won't, but I failed to find any of the poetic flow or clever use of alliteration that was found in the second book; a few sentences shine out, but far too few.

Was it brought to a satisfactory conclusion, I hear you ask? Well no, but then I think they'll be a fourth book - scrub that - I hope they'll be a fourth book, as everything just seems to be hanging in mid air. Yes, most of the story-lines appear to be resolved, I say appear, because it's all dressed up with the cryptic conversation and explanations that just rob the story of any clarity, so mush so that I never really knew what the hell was being accomplished or resolved.

Annoyingly enough, I enjoyed the last couple of pages the most -after all the hullabaloo has died down there's an odd moment of real tension between Kellhus and Achamian that almost makes the cryptic diatribe that preceded it worth reading the book.

Maybe a second read is warranted. Here's hoping book 4 - if there is one - reclaims the certain indefinable allure that so captured me with the first two.

9 people found this helpful

JS

Not the end.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2012

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This has been a good series, even though it can drag slightly with the discussions between Kelhus and his cuckold wizard. It's dark, nasty, and brutal, and it never really lets up from this tone.

Also be warned: though this is the end of the trilogy, it is not the end of the story. I will read the next series, but I think I need something in the meantime to cheer me up a little.

Andreas Ondris

This is hands down one of the best book series ever written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2015

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This is hands down one of the best book series ever written. Itś magical! The language, dept of character, story line etc it fantastic

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