Strikingly original in its conception, ambitious in scope, with characters engrossingly and vividly drawn, the first book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series creates a remarkable world from whole cloth—its language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals—the kind of all-embracing universe Tolkien and Herbert created unforgettably in the epic fantasies The Lord of the Rings and Dune.

It's a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both 2,000 years past and 2,000 years into the future, as untold thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasûrimbor Kellhus—part warrior, part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence—from lands long thought dead. The Darkness That Comes Before is a history of this great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its conclusion.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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David de Vries’s audiobook credits include an American Library Association notable recording award-winner and an AudioFile magazine’s Best Audiobook of the Year. He has appeared on Broadway as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, and at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre as Dr. Dillamond in Wicked. Film and television credits include NBC’s I’ll Fly Away, Leatherheads, and Remember the Titans.

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