There's a spectacular purple beech tree in my neighborhood, big enough to dominate an entire yard, spreading those strange pewter branches out over the street. Beeches are rare in an urban setting as they are sensitive to pollution and extreme heat, but this one is thriving. The true tree of knowledge, beech bark scars easily and will often bear arborglyphs for decades (think Tom Hearts Jane). The tree has another interesting connection to learning and literacy as it's the root word for "book" in many European languages. One of the earliest texts was written in sanskrit on a beech bark page.
First, a word about how I came to pick up the first novel in R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing historical fantasy series. In short, after finishing "A Dance with Dragons," by George R.R. I googled what should I read next. This series came up. I mention this because it might serve as a usual gauge for what to expect from "The Darkness That Came Before;" people liking Martin's mix of history, in-depth characterization, dark subject matter, and world-building will probably like Bakker's work. People not fond of entire chapters devoted to the Byzantine political maneuvers, a dozen pages of appendices on characters, maps, and language trees, or character names with umlauts should avoid this book. Basically, the story of 'The Darkness That Comes Before," follows a warrior monk by the name of Anasürimbur Kellhus, who during a quest to find his father, becomes entwined with a Holy War against a nation of fanatical monotheists. The story is...
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