Elitist Book Reviews

How to start this one. [[sigh]] Seriously, I have no idea. This book was just such a massive disappointment. Well. That was actually easier than I thought it would be. Just say it, I guess. Now I can go have a breakdown.

THE WHITE LUCK WARRIOR is the second novel of Bakker’s second trilogy set in the world of Earwa the Three Seas. The Prince of Nothing Trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy series. Both Steve and Nick are of the same opinion. After reading those first three books, I was really excited to hear that we’d be getting more of this story. Two more entire trilogies, in fact. I have to say, though, that after making my way through THE JUDGING EYE, my compatriots and I were less than enthusiastic about things. Regardless, I decided to reserve my own judging eye (eh? eh?) until a later date and continue with the series. Right now I’m regretting that decision quite a bit.

THE WHITE LUCK WARRIOR follows three main story-lines, much like its predecessor. We have the progression of The Great Ordeal, a massive, multi-national army pressing into the northern country, to where the evil of the Consult waits to be destroyed; the progression of Achamian and the Skin Eaters, as they drive toward Sauglish and what Achamian hopes will be the undoing of Anasurimbor Khellus; and finally we have Khellus’s wife, Esmenet, who has been left behind to try and keep the empire together.

Bakker’s prose is, of course, really well done—that’s nothing new—so even the really dense chapters that have little to no dialogue in them, race past your eyes with ease. His use of italics and ellipses though…atrocious. Horrific. Ludicrous. It’s like he was trying to make the book mysterious and somehow life-altering by using those two methods alone. Forget about the story, isn’t this mysterious? Isn’t this life-altering? Seriously over the top and destroyed my ability to enjoy what plot there was in the book. They got in the way BIG TIME!!!!!! and were COMPLETELY ANNOYING!!!!!! (Kind of like TextInAllCaps and LotsaExclamationPoints...)

The first half to two-thirds of the book is almost completely given over to travel across the wilderness, be it from Achamian’s group or The Great Ordeal. In the case of The Great Ordeal, we learn the names of seemingly every captain and general and head honcho in the bunch. Names and titles and countries and over and over and over. And flags and standards and armor and UGH. Enough already. Give us some story! From Achamian and Mimara we get navel-gazing after navel-gazing thought as they plod on and on and... Granted, what else are they supposed to think about while traveling through the wilderness or the jungle or the mountains or wherever else they may be? Between these two story-lines, readers are getting The Slog of Slogs, indeed (a reference from the journey these two separate groups are taking). Sound interesting? Wait, there's more.

Thankfully, the entire book wasn’t consumed by the Slog of Slogs. Outside of it, though, plot development felt very minimal. In the last 150-200 pages or so, things finally get moving. There's development of Esmenet's situation, which I enjoyed once things started happening, though the time spent on Kelmomas's storyline after everything goes down was disappointing in particular. After the slow plodding and detailed renditions of everything else in the book, the development of his character during this part of the story felt very rushed and like it had been given very little attention. In fact, he mostly just tells us what happens to the kid. That's a pity too, as after finishing everything it seems to me that Kelmomas is going to play a very important role in things, indeed. Perhaps the most disappointing was the extremely minimal role that the White Luck Warrior played in the book. After his introduction in THE JUDGING EYE, I had some high hopes, but the way he ended up being handled reminded me of how frustrated I was after finishing THE BRIAR KING and finding out the minimal role the title character played in that book. Of course, every book in that series was disappointing, but that's beside the point.

Then, surprise of all surprises, the climax of Achamian's story arc AGAIN revolves around another "tribute to Tolkien"? Are you freaking kidding me? After the end of The Judging Eye, I would have thought Bakker would go somewhere else for some source material, but no. Stick with the classics, I guess. Oh well.

I remember watching two separate interviews with Bakker. The first one was completed sometime during his process of writing the Prince of Nothing trilogy. He talked about how he’d write and rewrite the scenes with Khellus, agonizing over whether or not he was getting the character right, as Khellus was supposed to be so much more intelligent than anyone else. So much smarter than even the author that was writing him. Effort. Strain. Work. And I loved every bit of it. The second interview was taken just after The Judging Eye was released, I believe. I don’t remember much about that one except for a single comment Bakker made, describing his writing process as "throwing a lot of sh*t on the walls and seeing what stuck". (That's a quote!) For me, that says it all. I’m done with Bakker. For those readers that can handle all the Slog for such little progression, interesting and good or not, I wish you the best. As for the rest of you? Stick with his Prince of Nothing Trilogy and then look somewhere else. This round just ain't worth the price of the ticket.

Recommended age: 18+, as before with his stuff, though there's significantly less adult content this time around
Language: Regular and strong
Violence: Lotsa, lotsa
Sex: A couple scenes, fairly strong

And, dependent upon how your tastes roam, links to the Forum for Bakker's books and Bakker's blog

Sometimes, no matter how much you like an author, their latest book ends up being a disappointment. NEUROPATH, by R. Scott Bakker, fit that description for us. As you all well know, we love his Prince of Nothing series. NEUROPATH is Bakker's attempt to put his spin on the thriller genre.

It is evident within the first 20 pages (probably less to most people) that Neuropath is written with a very strong bias and moral (if there is such a thing...dun dun DUN) bent. This book, while a mystery/thriller, is not the typical fare in the genre. There are lengthy discourses about free will vs. determinism, what free-will is exactly, identity issues, and the possibilities of contemporary neuroscience.

Perhaps, before going on, we should reassure readers that the questions and information Bakker poses in this novel are presented (purposefully) in a way that makes them seem, not only plausible, but probable. However, contemporary neuroscience cannot do what is inferred within the context of the story. We want to give this reassurance because this book is scary. Very. Scary. It is the most dismal, disturbing, and gut-wrenching fiction book we have read in a long time. The only things we have read that have topped on the uncomfortable stomach-turning scale have been nonfiction.

NEUROPATH follows the Point of View of Tom Bible, a psychologist. If you have read Bakker before, the profession of the PoV should come as no surprise. Tom is divorced with two kids, and his relationship with his ex-wife is seriously strained. The main plot of the story focus on Tom helping the FBI find his friend Neil, who has been working with the NSA, manipulating terrorist's brains in an effort to accumulate intelligence to save lives, and a topic of debate between the characters called The Argument. Tom's friend has apparently gone off the deep-end, and is abducting and torturing innocent people by scrambling their brain functions to his own design.

It's a twisted, and seriously awesome concept. However, as with most things in life, it's the execution that matters. Bakker dropped the ball here. If you have been keeping up with EBR, you know it breaks our heart to say it, but it's true.

While Nick loved the book, it wasn't at all because the book was well done. It was the questions the book asked. Steve was so disgusted by the way the questions were handled he couldn't enjoy it.

The main PoV, Tom, dominates just about every page in almost every chapter with the
discourses of The Argument, what it is, what it means, and why it is important. For Nick, this was, despite uncomfortably biased (reminding him of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged), extremely fascinating and prompted several discussions with coworkers and friends where he took Tom's and Neil's side. For Steve, this was simply torturous maid and butler exposition.

The first time this kind of thing happened, we could forgive it, because it was written so well. After happening a few dozen times, however, it tended to rub us wrong. Essentially, it is as if we the readers are reading a transcribed conversation between a psychology professor and his unconvinced student. The concepts are explained well, and the writing is fantastic, but the simple fact that Bakker is "telling vs. showing" is extremely problematic.

The tone of the novel is VERY bleak. Probably not more so than any of Bakker's other works, but it feels like it because of the contemporary setting. There is a line in the novel where a character states, "I don't like happy endings." That is a pretty clear indicator of how things are going to go. Look, we like grim and gritty--if you haven't figured this out by now, you haven't been paying attention. Shame on you. NEUROPATH was too bleak for Steve, Nick thought the tone was perfectly set. Abductions and murders that happen are very well done, but the ending of the novel will leave you feeling...sick. Not to mention that you can know for a fact that if Bakker had written more past the last page, it would have gotten worse yet. When you match all that with the hopeless nihilistic philosophy saturating the novel, it's hard to like it. In the end, this caused Steve's dislike. If you aren't one to enjoy psychological and philosophical debates, that can't be ended or decided, you will not enjoy this book. If you are like Nick and the ending leaves opportunity to discuss the content, and debate it, and pore over your own thoughts and opinions on the matter, you will put the book down feeling much more fulfilled.

There are plenty of twists and turns, and some come with a pleasant surprise, but most felt a little too convenient, perfect, or forced. As expected in a thriller, characters do stupid things so that the plot can move forward and the conflict can be cultivated. We know that's part of the genre. Doesn't mean we have to like it. And we don't. The side stories going on the in the book do very little other than provide thin reasons why the FBI resources are spread so thin. Specifically, a side plot about a serial killer named The Chiropractor. When you have a story about one antagonist, and there is a side story about another, you know exactly what is going to happen it is inevitable (picture us doing Agent Smith's voice right now). When he does finally show up, there is no wow factor or surprise, more like a "Well...finally" kind of feeling.

Steve didn't like the novel, but he didn't hate it. Nick like the theme, ideas, and questions, enough to like the novel, but appreciates and agrees with why Steve was disappointed. Bakker is a seriously gifted writer. He manages to explain everything in perfect clarity. Considering the deep topics, his writing makes them easily understandable, and makes the pace move along fantastically. We just couldn't like the execution of a terrific premise, and in Steve's case the tone of the novel. This novel really should have been so much...more.

Another issue, that needs to be mentioned outside of the content ratings section because of its prevalence, is Bakker making females into over-sexualized objects. You know the instant a female main character shows up that she will be involved in some sort of sexual relationship with the main PoV. The scenes are graphic, but unlike the Prince of Nothing series, they don't seem to have much point other than shock-value. His characters in NEUROPATH seem to end up in porn-movie scenarios. They are, in a word, absurd.

If you really dig psychological and philosophical debates and concepts, you may enjoy this novel, you may not, but you WILL enjoy the questions that are posed. If you are really into Bakker, you may enjoy the book if can overlook its flaws. But this is easily his weakest effort at story-telling. Not to mention, the graphic content could easily turn off a majority of people.

Recommended Age: 18 and up for the graphic content and the concepts.
Language: This is an R. Scott Bakker novel. Tons. And. Tons.
Violence: Yeah, and some of it is meshed with sex. The parts not mixed with sex are very, very well done.
Sex: Lots. And it all feels cheap and unnecessary. We are starting to worry about Bakker's wife.

It was hard to approach this book without wetting our pants in excitement. R. Scott Bakker is Nick's favorite author, by far, and owes Steve for introducing him to The Prince of Nothing series.

After reading the book a number of times we have decided how we can proceed on this review. We will make a concession right here and now. As much as we'd like to, it is completely impossible to review this book without comparing it to Bakker's earlier trilogy set 20 years prior to the events in, this, the beginning of his second trilogy.

We love Bakker and his work, but the heartbreaking truth is that THE JUDGING EYE doesn't even come close to the powerhouse of his first trilogy. If this is a sign of things to come Nick may just have a breakdown.

Let's start with the action. It is overblown to the point of ridiculousness. In the first series there was maybe a handful of characters that could do what was done by nearly every character in combat in THE JUDGING EYE, lending weight to the fantastical action sequences. We also know, pretty much from the get-go, who is going to survive the action scenes. They were frenetic and deadly, but at the same time they were disappointing and lackluster.

The characters must have had some sort of intellect draining disease over the 20 years since The Prince of Nothing series leaves off and THE JUDGING EYE picks up. Kellhus is one dimensional, and utterly boring in this installment. Achamian is irritating with his relentless self pity and hatred (which is a MAJOR disappointment - Achamian was THE MAN in the first trilogy). There is a complete lack of female characters who have not been sexually taken advantage of. Bakker's misogyny is quite evident here.

Kellhus and Esme's children make no sense. Kellhus has...certain abilities...but they came from both thousands of years of genetic sifting, as well as training. His children not only share their genes with Esme, who isn't exact;y a genetic trophy winner, but they haven't had the specific training Kellhus has. Despite this however, all his kids are basically emotionless replicas of him. Makes for a confusing and boring read. Not to mention, if they are all intellectual superheroes, like Kellhus, how come they can't figure out why certain things (avoiding spoilers, remember?) happen to and around them?

The plot was almost all set up. Of the few things that actually happen, some are beyond the suspension of belief, which is saying something while reading a dark fantasy like this.

The entire book really just hearkens back to Bakker's reverence for Tolkien, and it shows just a little bit too much. His own plotting ability seemed to get lost and he just took his own world and fit it to THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. You see, there is this wizard, he has a team of warriors, they go into deep, dark caverns, they fight an endless horde of nightmares, and there is even a giant demon. Sound familiar? It should, to anyone that has even heard of fantasy before, and it especially should have sounded familiar to Bakker. So this begs the question...how did Bakker think he could get away with this?

Final conclusion. Bakker spent 20 years writing his first trilogy. We don't think he was prepared to write his newest entry into the series this soon. THE JUDGING EYE showcases Bakker's vocabulary, and ability to write descriptions, but little else that was positive.

If you are a Bakker fanatic like both Nick and Steve, go and pick it up, just don't expect it it compare to The Prince of Nothing Trilogy. If you don't know who Bakker is, pick up his first novel, Go grab his first stuff off Amazon.com - start with THE DARKNESS THAT COMES BEFORE, and treat yourself to the beginning of the deepest fantasy trilogy available right now. If you are somewhere in the middle, we say wait on THE JUDGING EYE for the trilogy to be finished and see where Bakker goes with it.

Recommended Age: 18 and up.
Language: Plenty of it.
Violence: Yep. Its here, but it is so overblown it could be read like comic book action.
Sex: It is present, both in act and allusion. Nearly every female character has a history of sexual exploitation. A few of the main characters are ex-prostitutes and have recurring issues because of it.

Special Note: What you have to understand about Bakker, and specifically his Prince of Nothing Trilogy, is that he doesn't pull any punches. This is the darkest of dark fantasy. THE STEEL REMAINS by Richard K. Morgan has nothing on Bakker. There is a huge amount of violence, language, and sex in Bakker's work, not to mention a VERY deep study on manipulation. BakkerBakker's work, but the very aspects of it that make it so much more than any onther fantasy novel also make it very hard to recommend without worrying that we are going to offend the people who trust our recommendations. Just keep this in mind when you are deciding on the purchase of Bakker.