[Werthead]

Yeah, Scott talked about it at his London signing me and Brood went to three years ago. His thought seemed to be that AFFC was trying to do something interesting but we bounced off far too many POVs for it to work properly. As a huge fan of the earlier books he was concerned about that and then realised he'd done it himself in his plans for The Judging Eye, so re-did the book to refocus more on the established POVs and bring the new ones in only when needed.

[Werthead]

From the blog:

Quote

The Aspect-Emperor: Ansurimbor Kellhus, proclaimed by the Inrithi faithful as a living god, who sees the truth written in men's hearts, who wields powers of sorcery beyond those of any other mortal, who was hung on the Circumfix and returned to life once more, and who has revealed to the world a terrible truth: that the evil and vile Consult have endured for two thousand years since the First Apocalypse, and now work to bring about the Second.

Twenty years ago, Kellhus seized control of the Holy War against the heathen Fanim and led it to victory at the walls of the holy city of Shimeh. But at his moment of triumph, he was denied to his face by his own teacher, Drusas Achamian, who forsook his school and love and disappeared into the wilderness. Since then, the Aspect-Emperor has worked to unite the Three Seas against the Consult and prepare for the Great Ordeal, the march of the faithful against distant Golgotterath, to tear down the fortress and destroy the Ark of the Heavens before the Consult and their Inchoroi masters can resurrect the No-God and bring about the sealing of the world. Now the man who was once proclaimed the prince of nothing leads a vast host into the Istyuli Plains on the first leg of the epic journey into the Ancient North.

Back home in the capital of Momemn, the Empress Esmenet rules the Empire in her husband's absence, but most of her children are cold and distant, leaving only her twin sons Kelmomas and Samarmas capable of loving her, but Kelmomas harbours his own ambitions and secrets, whilst a popular and widespread sect is beginning to doubt the right of Kellhus' rule. Elsewhere, Drusas Achamian's self-imposed exile is rudely broken by a surprising arrival, encouraging him to set out on a quest he long ago vowed to take. Achamian knows the truth of Kellhus, revealed to him by the warlord Cniaur: that the Aspect-Emperor is no god made flesh, but a man trained to manipulate others and see their desires in their faces, the scion of an ancient and mysterious sect: the Dunyain. Achamian now knows he must find the Dunyain and their ancient fortress, lost somewhere in the wilderness of the Ancient North...

The Judging Eye is the fourth book in R. Scott Bakker's Second Apocalypse series, and the first in The Aspect-Emperor Trilogy, the middle sequence of books making up this huge sequence. Picking up the action a generation on from The Thousandfold Thought, we learn that the world of Earwa has seen many changes since the victory of the Holy War, and that most of the civilised world is now united against the Consult and the return of the No-God. At first this appears to be a good thing, since Earwa's own personal dark lord isn't even up and breathing again yet, whilst his enemies are already on their way to destroy his followers and his dark tower (albeit the dark tower actually appears to be a crashed biotech alien starship, but same principal). But can things really be that simple? Whilst The Judging Eye is merely the opening salvo in this new saga, it laces hints into the narrative that things are about to take a turn for the apocalyptic, and given that Bakker has already said that in scope and resonance The Aspect-Emperor is to The Prince of Nothing what The Lord of the Rings is to The Hobbit, we can assume numerous complications are to come.

The Judging Eye follows three main storylines: the Great Ordeal as it marches into the North, Achamian's journey into the wilderness with a bunch of semi-mercenaries known as the Skin Eaters, and events back in Momemn. A strictly regimented chapter system sees us delivered between these POVs with ruthless efficiency, each chapter detailed to bringing some revelation or character point to light. As a result, The Judging Eye is on the slim side for a huge epic fantasy series (not even 450 pages long) but is packed with incident and moves at a fast pace. Bakker holds back somewhat on the philosophical digressions compared to the earlier trilogy, possibly having gotten a lot of his musings out of his system with his recent SF stand-alone Neuropath, although this is by some margin still the most intellectually-stimulating epic fantasy book since, well, The Thousandfold Thought. That's not to say that those who only read epic fantasy to see people get blown up with magic will be disappointed, but certainly there's a hell of a lot of stuff going on here in subtext that will likely only become fully apparent on re-reads once later books in the series have been released. One thing that is notable is that The Judging Eye is notably more fantastical than the prior series, which held back on the non-human species and (until the end) the truly massive sorcerous conflagrations. The Judging Eye has no such compunctions, and those wishing to know more about the magic of Earwa and various oft-mentioned races will find much to enjoy here.

As a continuation of The Prince of Nothing, The Judging Eye works superbly, although newer readers I think may be left a bit nonplussed by events (and the 'what came before' section is notably light on events from The Prince of Nothing that don't directly impact on this book's storyline). I think everyone who enjoyed the earlier trilogy will be more than satisfied with this offering as well. Those who weren't so keen may not find enough has changed to convince them otherwise, and most notably the biggest weakness in the series remains: that whilst it is imaginative, powerfully-written and at times intense, it is also a somewhat remote and cold work, easy to admire, hard to love. But it is fascinating, and the mystery of what the Consult is actually trying to achieve and what the No-God actually is (despite my glib comment earlier, he/it certainly isn't Sauron Mk. 2) remains deeply compelling.

Another possible issue with The Judging Eye is that it really is the opening of a bigger story, and isn't even as much of a stand-alone as The Darkness That Came Before. There is no climax to the Great Ordeal or Momemn storylines (both of which just stop), but this can be forgiven for how Achamian's story climaxes. I know Scott is paranoid about spoilers, so let's just say that he pays an exceptionally impressive tribute to JRR Tolkien which is clearly a homage and not a rip-off, and ends in a moment of gut-wrenching terror that is almost palpable and will no doubt cause much discussion on numerous fantasy forums for the next few months.

The Judging Eye (****) has already staked out its claim as the most impressive fantasy novel of 2009. With some very big guns indeed coming out in the next year, it will be interesting to see if it can hold that position, but for now I can say that this book marks a triumphant return for the most philosophical and literate epic fantasy writer around at the moment. The book will be published on 20 January 2009 in the UK, USA and Canada, from Orbit, Overlook and Penguin respectively.

[kcf]

Well, I finally got my review of The Judging Eye written. This is a very good book - better than the previous books and I think more accessible to a wider audience without sacrificing the depth of his previous books.

[Dolorous Menhir]

I have to admit, the details given above make this sound interesting, but this is a bad sign since I hated the first three:

Werthead, on Nov 18 2008, 11:39 PM, said:

Very impressed. I think those expecting some kind of massive shift in Bakker's writing style, perhaps from Pat's review, are going to be hugely disappointed.

I can't tell from the above if Cnaiur is in this - is he?

[Darkwatch]

Let it Be known that I hate all you reviewers who don't have to wait until the 20th of january.

[Werthead]

Dolorous Menhir, on Dec 13 2008, 01:19 PM, said:

I have to admit, the details given above make this sound interesting, but this is a bad sign since I hated the first three:

I can't tell from the above if Cnaiur is in this - is he?

If you hated the first three, I think it is unlikely you will find this much more palatable. Whilst the interior monologues have been cut back and the word count is more modest, the world, the writing style and the characterisation are all pretty much the same as before.

Cnaiur isn't in this:

Spoiler

Cnaiur and Moenghus are confirmed to be dead in the 'story so far' section.

[LadyMTL]

I'm salivating...I can't wait until the book is released! The only hitch is I have a feeling I'll need to re-read the first three in order to properly understand this one...and I have too much to read already! Big problem, I know. Woe is me.

[kcf]

Maia Irraz, on Dec 15 2008, 05:50 AM, said:

I'm salivating...I can't wait until the book is released! The only hitch is I have a feeling I'll need to re-read the first three in order to properly understand this one...and I have too much to read already! Big problem, I know. Woe is me.

I didn't re-read, and I feel that I followed it just fine. I think re-read may give you a deeper appreciation of some of the details, but it's not necessary.

There is a short section in the back about what has come before.

[Yellow]

Right, I'm a bit pissed off. I ordered my copy of this from Amazon.com because they had the hardcover with the cover I actually like/want, i.e. this one:



But now they've told me of a "delay" to my order, and when I look at what my order has become, the book now has this cover, which is in the vein of the UK paperbacks from the last series:



Which I don't want.

So, does anyone know if the top cover is actually available anywhere? Have they cancelled that cover, or something? Help needed!

This post has been edited by Yellow: 28 December 2008 - 11:47 AM

[Werthead]

They changed the cover for undisclosed reasons. The only place where the old cover exists is on the ARCs.

[Yellow]

Aaaaahhhhhh Massive shame, I really liked that cover.

Cheers for the info, Wert.

[Tattooed Hand]

I had some serious problems with the first triology and it was dank and gross and depressing. But also had some interesting points. I'll give this a chance. We'll see.

I do like the less flashy covers of the US versions and was annoyed that the UK version seems to have prevailed. Sigh. I guess it's not as bad as it could be...

[polishgenius]

Having just finished, I have to say that while Wert may be right about those who hated the first three not finding more to like in this one, I think there were a lot of people who, like me, thought they were okay but had issues with all the character rambling - and I found this book much, much better. This book is... what, half the length of any of the previous? And despite the lack of any major action in two of the three plotlines, probably as much happens in it as in any of them.

Anyway, the Tolkien influenced climax of Akka's plot thread was worth the admission price on its own. A great piece of writing, which for me quite stands up to the section it pays homage to. And

Spoiler

Cleric is awesome.

I also thought, while it's still not laying out the backstory easily, that it was a lot less willfully obscure than Prince of Nothing. Certainly aspects of the world, particularly the ancient stuff, are laid out a lot more openly.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 11 January 2009 - 09:44 PM

[Yellow]

polishgenius, on Jan 11 2009, 09:41 PM, said:

This book is... what, half the length of any of the previous?

Wow, that's a real shame. TTT was already pretty short

[polishgenius]

Yeah, I told a lie. It's not much shorter than TTT, the glossary fooled me at casual glance when I forgot how long it is in that one.

It certainly feels shorter though. >_> At least than the first two, TTT was less guilty of the problem than they were.

[Yellow]

Almost half way through, and absolutely loving it so far. So much so that we had friends round tonight, and I was kind of hoping they'd call off so I could keep reading.

It's short, too damn short, but it is concentrated. I hope the rest of the book lives up, and that Bakker sticks to his word about the rapid writing.

He is definitely my favourite fantasy author.

"You are the fist that beats us."

This post has been edited by Yellow: 18 January 2009 - 01:06 AM

[Dr Trouble]

Bakker has made it as an author.

I went into my local book store today, and they normally stock sweet FA. But in the new releases what do my eyes behold? But the Judging Eye, Of course!

So I grabbed it, scampered to the front counter and thrust it at the lady with my clammy hands. And do you know what she said? "Scott Bakker eh? He's one of our biggest sellers."

I was shocked. I have the buyers regret now however, as I didn't finish The Thousandfold Thought biggest I didn't like it and Thus really should have avoided this purchase.

[Abyss]

I'm on the fence between buying this and waiting until the trilogy is complete...

- Abyss, not certain whether he requires his philosophical stabby splody stretched out or in one made dose...

[Yellow]

Ah, you'll be waiting a while.

Up to you, really.

I really enjoyed it, much more than probably any book in the past year. The second half kind of dissipated (people aren't exaggerating when they say it has no closure), but other than that, absolute class.

If you wait for this trilogy to end... why not wait for the final trilogy? WHERE WILL MADNESS END?

[No-God]

The first trilogy is the best trilogy I've ever read (and the epic, dark, amazingness of The Warrior Prophet is the best book I've ever read).

I ordered The Judging Eye, and it's sitting at the post office. I get to pick it up tomorrow. I'm also in the middle of a re-read of the trilogy, just to make the next book that much clearer.