So I heard about this critically acclaimed fantasy series

Myrmidon · 2012-04-01 21:20:33

And I was like "cool, something interesting I can read" and so I read the wikipedia page

First paragraph

"The Prince of Nothing is a series of three fantasy novels by the Canadian author R. Scott Bakker, first published in 2004, part of a wider series known as "The Second Apocalypse". This trilogy details the emergence of Anasûrimbor Kellhus, a brilliant monastic warrior, as he takes control of a holy war and the hearts and minds of its leaders. Kellhus exhibits incredible powers of prediction and persuasion, which are derived from deep knowledge of rationality, cognitive biases, and causality, as discovered by the Dûnyain, a secret monastic sect. As Kellhus goes from military leader to divine prophet, Drusas Achamian, the sorcerer who mentored Kellhus, comes to realize that his student may well be the harbinger of the Second Apocalypse."

I can't shake the feeling that this is what Eliezer Yudkowski masturbates to.

Also apparently there's some misogyny but that's a different thread.

RedEyedAbyss · 2012-04-01 21:25:12

Can't be any worse than Atlas Shrugged, though that's setting a low bar.

Malkavian · 2012-04-02 00:05:17

The Eye of Argon is better than Atlus Fucking Shrugged.

MillerCross · 2012-04-02 00:08:08

>Atlus Shrugged

>Atlus

so is this a game about searching for one of John Galt's public personas or...

anyway:

Things that are better than Atlas Shrugged:

Being kicked in the balls by a guy with steeltoe boots

having a giant piano falling over your head. Probably while listening to Billy Joel. then being buried to Piano Man

Being crucified (Jesus had it easy. Pilates didn't make him read Atlas Shrugged)

Talking to Malk.

Malkavian · 2012-04-02 00:12:22

>Talking to Malk.

;_;

MadassAlex · 2012-04-02 01:26:52

I sort of want to read The Eye of Argon. But I'm not really sure. Anyone know where I can find some extracts?

Alkthash · 2012-04-02 01:34:23

http://www.ansible.co.uk/misc/eyeargon.html

mathias · 2012-04-02 03:59:37

It's actually pretty good. At least the first trilogy, I haven't gotten around to reading the two books that have so far been released of the second trilogy, but I've heard rather mixed things about them. I'm not really a fan of the whole "look at me, I'm so rational" crowd, but that is never really the feeling I got from the books. Khellus' ability is tied to logic and extreme knowledge and control over the body and the mind, both his own and reading and controlling others. However it almost borders on the magical rather than rational, due to the extreme to which it is taken, and besides he is never presented as being good, though your mileage may vary on whether or not he is a villain or a necessary evil/anti-hero, in fighting the consult. He is certainly an interesting character and the narrative takes him to interesting places, however if the book was seen just from his point of view it would be uninteresting and luckily there are plenty of other interesting characters in the series who's point of view we also get to see. Some of them are a little more relatable, such as Achamian and Esmenet.

In a way Khellus is a deconstruction of a typical gary stu character, everything seems to suddenly center on him, everybody likes him, he is the messiah etc. However, it is only because he planned it that way and is actively manipulating events and people. In reality he is a cold, calculating and ruthless person, though not necessarily evil.

Also, the guy who wrote the books actually have a background in philosophy as opposed to the less-wrong wankers. Not saying that the books don't indulge a bit every now and then, but it's largely to the enrichment of the novels, rather than to their detriment.