**A mysterious traveler intervenes in an epic holy war in this “impressive, challenging debut” of the critically acclaimed fantasy epic ( *Publishers Weekly* , starred review).** The first book in R. Scott Bakker’s Prince of Nothing series introduces readers to a strikingly original and engrossingly vivid new world. With its language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals, *The Darkness That Comes Before* has drawn comparison to J.R.R. Tolkien’s *The Lord of the Rings* and Frank Herbert’s *Dune*. Bakker’s Eärwa is a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both two thousand years past and two thousand years into the future. As untold thousands gather for a crusade, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasûrimbor Kellhus—part warrior, part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence—from lands long thought dead. *The Darkness That Comes Before* is a history of this great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its conclusion. **The Prince of Nothing Series** *The Darkness That Comes Before The Warrior Prophet The Thousandfold Thought*