The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker

''Compelling... Keeps the pages turning. The final cinematic scene, of a vast landscape filled with enormous armies, nicely sets the stage for book three of this daringly unconventional series in the Tolkien mold.'' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY''A journey unlike any other you have experienced. Part Dante''s "Inferno" and part Conrad''s "Heart Of Darkness", this is fantasy literature like you''ve never read before.'' - BlogcriticsA score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns...A veteran sorcerer and spy seeks news of an ancient enemy. A military genius plots to conquer the known world for his Emperor but dreams of the throne for himself. The spiritual leader of the Thousand Temples seeks a Holy War to cleanse the land of the infidel. An exiled barbarian chieftain seeks vengeance against the man who disgraced him. And into this world steps a man like no other, seeking to bind all - man and woman, emperor and slave - to his own mysterious ends. But the fate of men - even great men - means little when the world itself may soon be torn asunder. Behind the politics, beneath the religious fervour, a dark and ancient evil is reawakening. After two thousand years, the No-God is returning. The Second Apocalypse is nigh. And one cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten...A startlingly original and assured epic fantasy debut. A tale of conspiracy, holy war, empire-building and intrigue set in the most vividly imagined fantasy world since Tolkien''s Middle Earth.Books by R Scott Baker:Prince of Nothing TrilogyThe Darkness That Comes BeforeThe Warrior-ProphetThe Thousandfold ThoughtAspect-EmperorThe Judging EyeThe White Luck WarriorThe Great OrdealThe Unholy ConsultNovelsNeuropathDisciple of the DogLight, Time, and Gravity