Reacting to 1 star reviews of The Darkness That Comes Before by R Scott Bakker 

1 star. Read more than half the book while pronouncing Cnaiür with a hard 'C' until I realized it was a silent 'C'. Felt personally attacked by the author for playing mind games with me and weaponizing consonant letters.

I'm with you. Most of the time I'd rather get dropped into a SFF world rather than get my hand held as I find it much more natural and immersive. I never get the impression that authors like Bakker, Martin, Wolfe or Erikson don't trust me the reader, whereas I do sometimes get that with someone like Sanderson.

I was honestly completely drawn into this series within the first few chapters. Technically, the first book is pretty slow, especially compared to the rest of the series, but it was the philosophy, characters, and the atmosphere that pulled me in.

Totally agree with you that the point of the books is that the world is obscure, the characters cannot understand the world and even themselves. Consistent with Bakker's worldview that we don't have free will, and are thrown into the whirlwind of historical influences greater than us.

Is it weird that even these reviews make me want to re-read it? I will admit that it's not the easiest read but when I was reading it, I re-read lines and chapters over and over because Bakker's ideas were interesting to explore. I understand it's not for everyone but if a book can be "objectively" good, this is it for me. Great video.

Watching this made me want to read this series even more now lol I'm getting to it one day. Not sure when, but I'm getting to it. I have the first three books even on in my kindle library, I think, although if the physical copies are nice I'll probably get those too.

This was an amazing video. All these 1 star reviews make me want to re-read the series actually. lol.

As someone who lives in Europe, one thing i noticed is that many times Americans write/talk about experiences that they take for granted, as universals. Here we don't have proms, we don't have gun violence, we can't punch walls because our homes are made from concrete/bricks. Nobody uses imessage, so nobody cares about green bubles. We also don't have American style suburbs, we have villages. I could go on and on... The idea is, there is nothing "wrong" with Americans, it's a human thing. That's what i actually love about bakker randomly dropping names/events. It make sense. If you where to write a book where two Americans talk they would never explain the obvious things(to them). "oh steve, how was Thanksgiving?" "Thanksgiving? You mean our national holiday where we celebrate... And we eat turkey, and the family gathers together and.. And.. And.." You get the point, this doesn't feel natural. What bakker did might be jarring at first, but it is how actual people communicate and i absolutely love that. It makes the world much more real after you finally" get it".

Really excited about reading this amazing book as it sounds amazing and fantastic prayers and blessings to you and your family love your Aussie family friend John ❤❤❤

I just finished this book and realized the point of the prologue and then departing from Kellhus' perspective was to teach us that everyone is affected by the Human Quandary, that people are aware of thoughts that dont arise from themselves. I realized that this instructs the reader to not take the characters thoughts at face value, and that as a result you cannot say concretely that the author sanctions and particular point of view. I can however understand kneejerk reactions, it takes deep probing to reach this perspective shift: that the book is giving the reader a metanarrative lesson on how to read the book itself. I think its pretty genius, in video game format it reminds me of the Stanley Parable or Outer Wilds in how the author virtually shakes the audience and slaps them around to force them to learn how to read differently I personally believe that Bakker made most of the plot feel confusing (I didnt think it was that bad, but did carry heavy "Plans within plans" overtones) on purpose in order to put you in the perspective of anyone brainwashed by Kellhus: that since everything is so unclear, it makes sense to allow Kellhus to lead since hes the IMAGE of the archetypal hero. So Bakkers fucking with the audience a bit and proving a point on how easy it is to be caught in a man like Kellhus' web when its hard to keep track of everything yourself, you are manipulated into having Kellhus as your anchor. I think its devilishly clever

This is one of the few books I usually can see where where the negative reviews come from and are often valid. Providing a review after one page is just lazy. It is like giving Fellowship a 1 star after one page because a Hobbit living in a hole is boring. For the treatment of women, particularly the first book, I can see why many dont like it as it is an uncomfortable read. Calling Bakker names is also just lazy. Ironically, the female characters do end up being some of the more engaging ones in the series while many male characters remain stagnant.

Hilarious. It always feels so weird when people judge an author's intentions having read about 10% of the whole story...

nice one - apparently bakker himself has some pretty strong criticisms of the book, and i'd love to hear them (i wonder if they're online anywhere?). i'm a big bakker fan and even i struggled with "darkness", but it was a fun struggle, and thoroughly worth it - not least to get to the next books. even when nothing much is going on it's just great to be in his world / prose. at times it's like atonal music - a big head-scratch if you need melody - but i wouldn't want it any other way. the one thing i never feel is that he's showing off / being exclusive. personally i think what he offers only writing can give, and wouldn't translate into film - unlike some books that are so filmic i'd rather just see them on tv. suffice to say i'll be sorely annoyed if we don't get the final trilogy!

Jerome Shostak writes Vocabulary Workshop books

Lady, you certainly *burn* people, and I love these reaction videos! In any case, I can see why in this time an age many people will outright despise philosophy. Great video, btw! Please, keep doing these reactions, they are terrific!

Well, I liked it!

This book and its sequels are so amazing, but I get that it's not for everyone but these criticisms mostly seem inaccurate and lazy.

This was awesome. 🤭 It is so funny that this popped up when I finished readingThe Darkness That Comes Before for the 4th time yesterday (did audio this time) and still didn't get it. 🙈 I'm sorry but I am one of those people who gave this book 2/5 stars I have read the first trilogy but didn't continue by choice. Am I cancelled? 😂 I actually started the fourth read because there is an ongoing readalong on the Page Chewing forum hosted by Steve Talks Books and Varsha from Reading by the Rainy Mountain. They are doing I think one part every two weeks and discussing so I wanted to read it with an open mind and listen in. My latest reaction (copied from Goodreads): "I still don't get what Bakker is trying to explore by constructing such a horribly misogynistic and misanthropic world. How can a thematic response to the supposed good vs evil in LOTR (which is a simplification imo but okay) be pure irredeemable evil (which is what K is for me)? My vote remains with ASOIAF" In one of my previous updates on Goodreads I wrote: "Dear A, Get rid of K now. C is bad but K needs to go" - a reader who has read the entire trilogy 🤣 I think the writing is good albeit on the drier side, some characters were interesting (I liked A and E the most) but didn't understand the "why". It frustrates me because I tried to approach it with an open mind but still can't make sense. Btw I genuinely hope this comment wasn't too negative, if it is, I am happy to retract. I know you love this series as do many of my bookish friends but you mentioned welcoming comments from people for whom it didn't work, that's why I shared.

"Believe in meritocracy" at least three of the point of view characters are some degree of royalty 😂