THE WARRIOR PROPHET by R. Scott Bakker | In-Depth Review

In this video, Jordan reviews THE WARRIOR PROPHET (Prince of Nothing #2) by R. Scott Bakker. Enjoy!

~*TIME STAMPS*~
Intro: 00:00
Context: 00:47
Synopsis: 1:26
What I liked: 3:23
What I didn’t like: 25:28

~*FOLLOW JORDAN & NIKKI*~

~*VIDEO CLIPS & STILLS*~

~*MUSIC*~
Rescue Mission - Lupus Nocte [via Epidemic Sound]

#iWizard #BookTube #grimdark

[blacknbluecollarreader]

Awesome review Sir. I love the addition of a music selection that relates to this book. I'm not a huge metal head or anything but I thought metal would be the genre which is aesthetically perfect for this series. Tool is excellent suggestion though.

[BorisMacsimovich]

Good review!

Looking forward to your take on the rest of the books.

[RedViper]

Hello there. I gladly admit that this was an awesome video. I wholeheartedly agree with most stuff you said and you really resonated with me in various details you mention. I will follow with a chaotic stream of comments.


Kudos for being probably the person who has pronounced perfectly all the names. I am Greek and Bakker's names fascinate me because I can see how he is inspired by the languages of our district and how he tries to accomplish a sense of cultural and geographical coherence in his world. As you said, all these Iranian, Indian, Middle Eastern or Greek/Latin sounding names add much to the aesthetic presence of the setting. As well as the ancient Germanic he uses for those who hail from the so called Norsirai races of the north. He is often criticized for having difficult names but personally I find them much more flavorful and cohesive than the usual Eriks, Brans, Catherines and Jons of the typical fantasy settings.


Following we come to the aesthetics. What you said about rereadings was so true. I came to think about it for a while and yes, every series I have reread is about the nostis of its aesthetics and tone. It s what I yearn and want to revisit. The illusion of being there in such palpable and appealing to me settings. My favourite rereads are The Second Apocalypse, Tolkien, The Dark Tower, A Song of Ice and Fire, Book of the New Sun, Farseer and the Gap by Donaldson. They all have such distinct settings, colours, tone and imagery.

Bakker we are talking here is really great at that. I have such strong impressions of his work. That scriptural feeling has such gravitas. It makes the world feels like an actual one. I also agree so much with your mention of Kurosawa. Biblical by Kurosawa describes very well that book. I remember the scene where Akka stands with blind Xinemus in the desolated coast witnessing the ruins of the fleet, blood everywhere and gulls croaking. A perfect scene for Kurosawa to direct.  And the further you read more and more weird and iconic imagery will surface. The Nonmen are a work of art. Earwa is a very distinct and impactful place.



Finally I wanted to mention what you said about the characters and their relationships. Especially Akka's and Esmenet's. I also think its one of the most realistic I have read in a fantasy novel. Its so plausible that it hurts. 

Some people say they did not like these books because the characters were not likable. I view it very differently. I care for most of them because they are so complex and realistic that I am really immersed in their introspections and lives. Their tribulations and brief successes feel so natural and their reactions so logical that they easily made me invested to them.


Congratulations again for the very interesting video. I hope you will continue with the series. It is a really unique experience.

P.S. I loved the idea about music. I often do that. I have even made a Second Apocalypse playlist. Its based on the dungeon synth genre which I think is good as a reading companion.


A band that is ideal for Bakker is Saviour Machine. A dark Christian goth metal band that writes songs about the Apocalypse with much gravitas and an authoritative singer that I can imagine Kellhus sounding like him.

[andrewhanson]

Great video! I really loved your discussion of aesthetics in relation to Bakker's work. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts as the series progresses.

[marcweber]

Tool sounds like a great fit! Esoteric, heady, spiritually unwell, ...

[MacScarfield]

My list of thoughts and references I caught: (2/2)

Seige of Hinnereth: Somewhat akin to the seige of Nicea, where the Byzantines negotiated the Seljuks occupying it to surrender, with the Crusaders surrounding the city as leverage
Nurbanu Soter: Ptolemy I SOTER (“the Savior”, Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, later the 1st Hellenistic Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt)?
Eucalyptus: Only native to the Pacific Ocean
Sycamore (Figs): Are mentioned multiple times in the Bible, including as trees destroyed in the ten plagues of Egypt in the psalms
Shigek: Egypt was the intended target of multiple later Crusades, with the 7th under French King Louis IX being the closest, capturing the Port City of Damietta for a time.
Iothiah: Mix of Memphis (Old Dynasty Capital) and Alexandria (site of the legendary library), with a Tolkienian-sounding name
The Kerathotics: Akin to the Miaphysites and the Armenian Eastern Orthodox local to the Holy Lands, who sometimes aided their Frankish fellow Christians during the Crusades
The Great Ziggurat of Xijoser: The Kheops Pyramid mixed with the (Step) Pyramid of Djoser (the earliest Egyptian pyramid)
Husyelt: Celtic Cernunnus, Biblical Nimrod, the Valar Oromë, the mythical Hern the Hunter?
Angeshraël: Twisted mix of Moses (The Burning Bush) and Abraham (who in serveral Jewish & Islamic traditions has a rivalry with Nimrod, and in Islamic Tradition is saved from a burning fire)
“Though you lose your soul, you will gain the world”: Reverse intention of Matthew 16:26 in the New Testament
Merchant caste: In the Hindu Varna System, Merchants (together with farmers and herders) belong to the Vaishyas Caste, the second lowest after the Brahmin (Priests) and Kshatriyas (Aristocracy/warriors) and above the Shudras (Artisans/Laborers/Servants) and the casteless (Dalit), while in the Confucian Caste Systems of East Asia, they were technically the lowest caste under scholar/officials (China) aristocracy/warriors (Japan), farmers and artisans (but often occupied a much more important role, being able to fund important persons and projects).
Achamian dodging and “jousting for scrolls” with the Scarlet Spires/Ainoni in Iothiath: Straight out of a Cold War Spy Story in Divided Berlin (or the Divided Occupied Vienna of “The Third Man”)
The Sareots: The Great Library of Alexandria was founded by Ptolemy I SOTER and parts of the Library survived as the SERAPEUM (also the Essenes, the Jewish Monastic Mystics who most likely wrote the Dead Sea Scolls)
Seleukara: Mix of Seleucia (First Capital of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, near modern day Baghdad, Iraq), as well as Gandhara (Indian City, once Capital to the Indo-Greek Kingdom after the death of Alexander the Great)?
Conriya & High Anion: Mix of Persian (looks, names) with both Medieval and Cold War German elements (Palatines, phalanxes (pikemen akin to German Landsknechts), former empire divided into multiple nations)
Cnaiur’s distress over his obsession of have Serwë: Again, hints to Achilles sulking over losing Briseis to Agamemnon in the Iliad
Ishterebinth, last of the Nonmen Mansions: Rivendell or the Vadhagh Castles of Moorcock’s “Corum”?
Akka’s visions: The Battles of the Silmarillion mixed with the Iliad and the battles between the Tuath Dé Danann & the Fomorians in Irish mythology
The Seige of Caraskand: Clearly inspired by the Seige of Antioch (former Capitol of the Seleucid Empire, Roman built walls), during the First Crusade, first captured from the Seljuks by the Crusaders and then surrounded by several Seljuk Atabegs & Emirs. Similar to Imbeyan, Yağısıyan the Seljuk Emir of Antioch tried to escape, but unlike Imbeyan being captured, humiliated and hanged, Yağısıyan was cut down by an Armenian and his head brought to the Crusaders.
Saubon’s nickname “The Blonde Beast”: 1) Metaphor used Nietzsche for his “Master Race” of “good, noble and pure aristocracy” of the Aryan race (though he also counted the aristocracy of Japan and Arabia among them) above their “dark-haired native” subjects. 2) Nickname for Reinhard Heydrich: SS Officer, Gestapo Director and “Deputy Protector” of German-occupied Bohemia and Moravia (Modern-day Czech Republic)
Saubon declaring himself King of Caraskand, despite the Nansur Indenture: Similar to Bohemond of Taranto declared himself Prince of Antioch, something the other Crusader Princes agreed to, feeling themselves absolving to any Byzantine oaths, after Bohemond lead the Crusaders to take the city on their own, after Tatikios left the seige (something contested by the Byzantines, given their constant supplies to the Crusaders and Tatikios supposedly left to secure more)
Mastodons: Elephants were never extensively used during the Crusades (except individuals given as peace gifts by the Sultans of Egypt to Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II after the 6th Crusade and King Louis IX of France after the 7th Crusade), so more likely inspired by the Haradrim Oliphants from “LOTR”.
Padirajah Kascamandri: The Seljuks were very fragmented under several atabegs and emirs during the First Crusade (largely the reason for its surprising success) as their Sultan Berkyaruq was just a teenager, so the Seljuk seige of Antioch was lead by Kerbogha, the Atabeg of Mosul, together with the Emirates of Damascus, Homs & Aleppo, neither of which perished.
The Unmasking Room: Straight out of Josef Mengele’s experiments or Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser”, YIKES!
The Inchoroi: Sauron mixed with the “Hellraiser” Cenobites and the Devils from Arthur C. Clarke’s “Childhood’s End”? Anyway, the Epilogue: DOUBLE YIKES!💀💀

[MacScarfield]

My list of thoughts and references I caught: (1/2)

The Dragon/Wracu mocking Seswartha: “Our Lord (…) hath tasted thy King’s passing, and he saith, ‘It is done’” (Jesus’ last words, “It is finished”, Gospel of John 19:30, also Frodo after the Ring falls into Mount Doom)
“Thy tribe hath perished, dashed like a potter’s vessel by our fury” (Jeremiah 18)
“Bent Bow” (Psalms 11:2) and “whetted bronze” (Iliad, Book 13)
Seswarta: Merlin meets Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha and the famous eponymous novel by Hermann Hesse)
The Sogian Way: The Sogdians, people know as traders and missionaries of various faiths along the Silk Road
Trysë: Troy/Trysil, Norway?
Inrithi Holiday of Venicata: Latin «I came down/through»
The Death of High King Anasûrimbor Celmomas on the Fields of Eleneör & his prophecy: The Death of King Theoden at the Battle of the Fields of Pelennor + the prophecy of the Return of the King from “LOTR”/The Death of King Theodoric of the Visigoth against Attila and his Huns at the Battle of the Plains/Fields of Catalaunian+The Mythical Prophesied Return of King Arthur.
“Sweet Home Mo-ma-ann, Where the Skies are so blue!”: Royals/Imperials and Alabama, eh! 😬😅
Cnaiur and Conphas share both elements with the Byzantine General Tatikios, who was of Turkish origin and lead the “Princes’ Crusade” through Anatolia to Antioch
Asgilioch: Osgiliath, Gondorian Capital reduced to a ruin, captured by Mordor
Gielgath: Elvish High King Gil-Galad/“Gath” Noldorin for “Cavern” in Tolkien’s Legendarium
Ruöm: (The Sultanate of) Rum, made out of lands in Anatolia/Modern Day Turkey captured by the Seljuk Turks from the Byzantine/East Romans (“Rum”-the Seljuk name for “Rome”)
Gedea: Judea
Shibboleth: Password/custom used to identify fellow members of a group from outsiders, taken from a Hebrew Civil War in the Old Testament (The Book of Judges, Chapter 12), with the Tribe of Ephraim’s pronouncing of the word marking them out
“Periodically he paused to search the darkness behind him. Old habit”
The Kian “while they ride - fire backward at their pursuers”: The (in)famous Parthian Shot, tactic used by the Parthian and Sassanid Persians, as well as the peoples of the Steppe, such as the Scythians, the Huns & the Mongols
The Galeroth Agmundrmen with teardrop-shaped shields & the Tydonni Numaineiri using kite shields: Akin to the Normans. There were two Norman Armies in the First Crusade: One under Robert Curthose (Duke of Normandie, eldest son of William the Conqueror) and one under Bohemond of Taranto/Hauteville (oldest son of the Norman Conqueror of Southern Italy and Scilly, Robert “Giscard” (“the Fox”/“the Cunning”), but disowned for a younger halfbrother, fought the Crusade together with his nephew Tancred, with them later becoming the first Crusader Prince of Antioch and the Count of Galilee/Regent of Antioch, respectively)
Agmundrmen with longbows: Akin to the English and Welsh, especially during the Hundred Years War
The second battle of the Holy War at Mengedda: (Minus the sorcery of the Cishaurim and the Tears of God, obviously 😅) Seems inspired by the Battle at Dorylaeum, where the Crusader Vanguard under Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred (somewhat similar to Prince Saubon and his nephew Earl Athjeäri) and the Byzantine General Tatikios held their ground while ambushed and their camp surrendered by the Seljuk Turks under Kilij Arslan (the Sultan of Rum, who had previously destroyed the Popular Crusade similar to Skauas with the Vulgar Holy War, but unlike him, Kilij was just a teenager) near a marsh, before being saved by Crusaders from the main force riding to their rescue. When Bishop Adhemar (representative of Pope Urban II at the First Crusade) ambushed the undefended Seljuk Camp, the Seljuk retreated.
The Shiral Knights’ charge at the Cishaurim, made me think of the (in)famous Charge of the Light Brigade, when the British Light Brigade Calvary under Lord Cardigan during the Crimean War, due to a misunderstood order, charged right into a well-defended Russian Artillery position (with less successful results then the Knights). Inspired the eponymous poem by Tennyson (“Into the Valley of Death, Rode the Six Hundred”), which in turn inspired the Iron Maiden song “The Trooper”!
The Galeroth game of Gandoki/“Shadow”: A hint at Jung’s theory?

[EricMcLuen]

Will have to change the grimdark scale as you move on. Bakker might. E the only author who has stopped me in my reading tracks with a sentence or walk away after a scene.
The miracle in the desert reminded me more of Moses.
But watching the evolution of the characters is fascinating with Esme and Cnaiur. Kellhus always seems like he is one step ahead and two to the side.
You don't have to farther than the map to see the Biblical influence - battle of Mengidda or Golgotterath for example. Or the INRI - thi.
Regarding Tolkein, Bakker riffs a lot on Tolein in Aspect Emperor with some Blood Meridian for kicks.

[bobbob-cdyl]

Just finished the book, may be hyperbolic but was honestly one of my favourite reading experiences - sometimes things just connect in ways the author may not have even intended

Honestly I think your review of the first book enhanced this book A LOT more for me where a lot more of what Bakker did felt so much more intentional, and once you pick that up and trust the author you take away more meaning than from what he may not have even intended. For example when akka hears a prostitute "laugh like a man" and all that means of the world and of his own views on women by his flustered bothered reaction of a woman beliteling him. His use of light and darkness was incredibly well done tying in with "the darkness that comes before"

The biggest one was Cnauir, as someone who used to be radicalised I also understand that the rebound from that can involve a fear and over suspicion of ever being influenced his screams of "LIES LIES LIES" very much were thoughts I had once experienced and his character really did touch a raw spot in a dark moment of my life and the prison you yourself can make of your own mind. Oddly enough in an amoral world Cnauir almost reads as heroic.

I am religious but due to my past giving "faith" and full devotion is something that I always struggle with and just see as something that will go however it goes through the course of my life. But I do really appreciate the way Bakker writes characters such as Zin and Proyas as I felt their battles with their faith was incredibly well done.

From people's reactions to some of my theories I am pretty certain I have a few things figured out in terms of what Bakker is going to be getting to both plot and theme wise, and I just feel a lot of things are coming together and a lot can be drawn from it.

Also another point, while I honestly feel writing rape scenes involving children is going way too far, I do appreciate what I at least think he is doing with sex including sexual violence? It is intresting how sarcellus rapes esmi and that feeling more apparent vs what Kellhus does to her. As kellhus very much does the same thing to her.
I also am facinated to think on what characters like Cnauir and Akka depend on sex for, as it's more of a reverberation for themselves where Cnauir uses Serwe as proof of both his sexuality and also uses her as his self hatred, every scene Akka couples with Esmi he wonders at how such a beautiful woman would ever lie with a man like him. Kellhus then talks on how couples are often two sides of a coin that make a whole and what I took away from it, is that relationships or sex for a lot of these characters is a way for characters to feel whole

(okay it's 2am I trailed off at the end there and forgot what I was getting to in terms of Bakker's writing on sex my apologies)

Going to give a pause due to how obsessed I was with that book, but prehaps I will read the next book whenever you pick it up :)

[elektrikgypsy]

The criticism about the sexual violence and the treatment of women is 100% warranted.

Slavery is a normal thing in this world and the way it’s handled is the way the misogyny should have been handled IMO. Everytime a woman is mentioned, they are sexually assaulted. When I got to the epilogue I just knew it was going to happen but he had to overdo it by dialing it to 11. Very distasteful and unnecessary. There is also the problem of how every POV is degraded in one way or another by what they hate/fear the most, it almost feels like the author has some wierd fixation with rape and degradation.

It is such a shame cause I LOVED the levant inspired setting, the crusade vs jihad inspirations and the fantasy elements.

BTW I would recommend Agalloch for the reading music.