A Book Review: The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker (Prince of Nothing #3)

“Set aside your conviction,” Moënghus said, “for the feeling of certainty is no more a marker of truth than the feeling of will is a marker of freedom. Deceived men always think themselves certain, just as they always think themselves free. This is simply what it means to be deceived.”

        -R. Scott Bakker, The Thousandfold Thought

Written by R. Scott Bakker, Prince of Nothing trilogy reached its conclusion in The Thousandfold Thought. This saga, began with The Darkness That Comes Before, is a fantasy epic, and a vehicle, to explore the consequences of certainty and the human conditions. The story is set in an ancient world not dissimilar to our own pasts, vibrant with history, cultures and religions. Yet, just like our own violent history, Bakker's world is also bloodied by horrendous acts, committed by faithful, pious men and women out of sincerely held beliefs.

The Thousandfold Thought is remarkably shorter than its two predecessors. This book stands at a reasonable length of 481 pages. The question, did this book deliver a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, or was it a let down? To me, this book was hit and miss, while the book had its moments of brilliance, but overall, I opine the book is leaning more to the side of disappointment.

Synopsis:

Anasûrimbor Kelhus, the Warrior Prophet, is now the supreme leader of the Holy War. From the army camp to the besieged city streets, men and women sang praises for this new messiah, they look upon him with eyes full of wonder and awe.

"Hail Kellhus, the infallible prophet".

"Hail Kellhus, our Aspect Emperor".

The Holy War marches on, while the chants and songs for the Warrior Prophet shake the heavens. Their destination – The City of Shmieh, where the Holy War will finally confront and destroy their enemy, the Cishaurim.

My thoughts on this book:

Prince of Nothing trilogy is among the most thoughtful works in the fantasy genre. These books laid bare, the truth about belief systems, and the role they played in the history of a world that is very much like our own. Some parts of this trilogy reminded me of the crusader history, while other parts reminded me of the disturbing stories I read about from religious scriptures. There are so many take aways from these books, especially the first two installments; they were wonderful.

Yes, the first two installments in the trilogy were marvellous, but what about the last book?

The truth is, I did not enjoy the third book as much as I did its predecessors. The first half of this book maintained the pace, and the gripping story, from The Warrior Prophet. In this half, Bakker continued the stories of Kellhus, Achmain, Esmi, and Cnaur. There were many plot twists and shocking revelations. By the second half, however, Bakker suddenly departed from the narrative style in the first half (and the previous books). Instead, the storytelling began to jump from one POV character to the next, in very short successions. In the second half, each POV character's "segment" average to about 3 to 5 pages, and it made the book very confusing and difficult to follow. To make matters even worse, these characters weren't the major characters that we (the readers) have become familiar with. No, in the second half, Bakker introduced dozens of new characters, and new locations, to establish his new POV narratives. As a reader, I found it really difficult to keep track of these new characters and places, and the second half of the book often confused me. The last 150 pages, in particular, was the most confusing part of the book, and I am still not quite sure what I was reading.

It was only after I finished reading this novel did I discover, a massive, 150+ page appendix at the end of the book. I am guessing the author intended his readers to consult the appendix for the galores of new characters and locations that he introduced in the second half. Fair enough, so there is an appendix. In my opinion, if a story requires its reader to constantly consult the appendix by flipping to the back of the book, then it is not good storytelling.

Indeed, the storytelling, it is the bane for The Thousandfold Thought. Don't get me wrong, I still liked Bakker's prose and his characters, but in this book, the storytelling was especially poor and disjointed. Furthermore, the ending in this book was a let down. Why? Well, the previous two books, both massive in sizes, built up a promising and rich story, but this (arguably) concluding volume ended the story at a cliff hanger, with many threads unresolved. It felt like the author was kind of saying, "oh look, by the way, this ending is actually giving you a taste for my second trilogy".

This book may be disappointing, but it does not mean the whole trilogy is not worth reading. No, I think Prince of Nothing trilogy is intelligent. In our world, there are many people trying to sell us, certainty, in the guise of philosophy, but what they are truly selling us is philosophy with questions left out. True philosophy is a position of humility, it should ask more questions than providing answers, so it is the opposite to certainty. In many ways, Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy has good philosophy; its story is a vessel, for exploring the consequences of certainty, and it does so by asking great questions.