Review of The Thousandfold Thought and the Prince of Nothing

[Cynical Cat]

The Thousandfold Thought is the third book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy and the third book in seven dealing with the Second Apocalypse. The setting can basically be described as the First Crusade plus magic, although that does a terrible injustice to the rich tapestry of Bakker's world. Suffice to say that long ago the Nonmen taught magic and brought civilization to the men of the North. One school of magicians explored the ruins of the Ark of the Inchoroi, a race that had fallen to earth in the Ark from the stars. The struggle with the Inchoroi had ended with Inchoroi apparently exterminated, all the Nomen women dead, and the surviving Nonmen immortal with brains that could only hold a few centuries worth of memories.

The sorcerers learned of the fleshwarping arts of the Inchoroi, the Tekne, and gradually became like them. The two surviving Inchoroi joined them and they collectively became the Consult. The resulting war, which destroyed the nations of the North, was known as the Apocalypse. At the height of it, no souled being could be born do to the dreadful power of Mog-Pharu, the No-God. Mog-Pheru was slain and the Consult broken and so ended the Apocalypse.

After millenia, only the Mandate sorcerers still believe the Consult exists. They are the only human holders of the Gnosis, the sorcery of the North. The weaker Anagogic sorcery is bronze to their iron. The charismatic new Shria (Pope) has called for a Holy War to recover the holy shrines from the infidels who hold it.

In order for the Holy War to succeed, one of the great schools must join the Holy War or it will be destroyed by the Cisharum, the sorcerer-priests of the Solitary God. The mightiest Anagogic School, the Scarlet Spires, puppet masters of a nation, agree to join as the Shria revokes the prohibitation against sorcery. The Four main characters join the Holy War.

Drusus Achamain (Akka for short) is a Mandate sorcerer and spy. He is sent to observe and report the proceedings. His occassional lover, the whore Esmenet follows the army and two strangers join. One is the charismatic stranger, Khelhus Ansanenbur who is a formidable warrior and a man who can read a man's soul on his face. He has been sent on a mission to kill his father, who lives at the final destination of the Holy War, but claims to be a prince from a distant northern city. His existence shocks Akka, as it was prophecized that an Ansanenbur would return to lead the world against the return to the Consult and known have been seen in millenia. Until now. The last is Cnaiur, the most violent of all men who had known Khelhus's father, loved him, and was betrayed by him. He is wary of the Khelhus's manipulative tricks, which his father used against him, but is driven to join him on his quest.

As the Holy War struggles forward and Khelhus struggles to master it, evidence of the Consult's continued existence and manipulations begins to be revealed. The intrigues of the great nobles, the Shria, Khelhus's father, the Consult, and the sorcererous schools all comes to a head in The Thousandfold Thought.

The series is damn good on so many levels and the book is a worthy ender of the trilogy. While settling many matters, it also sets the stage for events in the sequel duology. I highly recommend it.