Відео

What is your favorite book? If you were forced to live forever, all alone in a dark abyss with nothing but an eternally burning fire beside you, and you could only choose one?

The bad thing about reading Bakker is that afterward all the authors seem inferior. I had to turn to classic authors like Dostoyevsky to be able to find readings that are at that literary level, because in the fantasy genre there is nothing that comes close to it.

Just read this one over two years after watching your review. And I am so glad I did. This story was exceptionally well done. I am surprised there is not more horror - medieval fantasy crossovers out there like this.

Nil'giccas offed himself too (similar to Oinaral).

If Bakker pulled heavily from Blood Meridian for Aspect-Emperor, safe to say No-God could be his take on The Road 💀

Just finished the Great Ordeal and not sure if I should take a breather or dive in and see what happens.

Just finished the Great Ordeal and not sure if I should take a breather or dive in and see what happens.

I read this in college in the early 80's. I've collected the hardbacks and have all the paperbacks. In January I'm going to reread. I haven't ever read past the first three! But this series never left me. Great review!

I’m jealous you have that paperback version of the book 🤣🤣. Can’t find it anywhere!!

This was my first ever epic fantasy read 20 odd years ago. Im now reading it again and have just found this review. An excellent review. Sums it up perfectly. Ive linked it to a whatsapp page where my son and a couple of mate recommend books movies and tv series to each other. Id popped this book on last week as I'm re- reading it but this review is perfect. .

Rad! I saw them live in London during their last EU tour. Digging their latest single.

Dude I'm so happy I stumbled upon this video! I've been reading The Prince of Nothing series religiously the past 2 weeks! It's been so long since I really connected with novels and this is IT. Awesome to see someone recommend grimdark works in this way, explaining what and why makes them more or less violent, disturbing and what kind of reading style it is. I've skimmed through many forums where people just say "x is dark", but there are so many ways something can be dark and disturbing, not to mention just how subjective difficult subject matter is to individual readers. This video truly helped understand what these stories really are, helped me make some decisions and order some damn books and start reading! Thank you for making this!

A good day to you Sir! I have taken up the Tusk and am reading the Prince of Nothing series! I plan to journey all the way to the Unholy Consult. Thank you for your awesome reviews and recommendations of this series. Stay blessed and two thumbs up to you SiR👍🏼👍🏼

I just read wraiths of the broken land, and if congregations of jackals is half disturbing, I am going to read it for sure.

What I want from grim dark is the deepest darkest pits of despair and madness that the human mind can create. I want it to go into horrifying detail on every page about the setting wether it be a run down shack with nails rusted and metal doors dusting apart with the constant fear of disease, and/or the setting of total war, barbed wire sticking into and out of skin pulling away the form of what we thought was humanity, blades being plunged into already open wounds, a soldier standing in the middle of madness, his sane mind lost to a lingering past weeping out for his loved ones, artillery than bursting him into a red mist and his bone flying into another soldiers throat. That might just be me, I’m in love with gory detail, I want the setting to feel like its entire own character separate but constantly changing and affecting the main character.

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!💀💀

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: 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: Gil-Galad/“Gath” Noldorin for “Cavern” 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 undefeated 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?

The first half of the book was great but the second half fell off for me. The instant love didnt work for me and orhan's plot went nowhere after the climax coup was done. I wanted more of the myths and religions to be explored

Dude…I could hear the shift in tone for this book as soon as you started speaking lol I just finished yesterday and both of your videos over this book really helped me appreciate it more after clearing up a few crucial details. Your channel is dope af man glad to have went on this insane journey with you!!

Man Mark, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time, and care to make these. Watching these videos was not only *very* helpful for me as I read these books, but they were like a reward after each book!! High point for sure. I’ll be chasing the high from this book forever now. Just WOW. I’m also feeling very emotional, so thanks for sharing your experience.

Great vid!

Why no Malazan?!

I love the dark palette.

Excellent work brother.

Can’t wait for another one🤯

Enshoiya ready to go

These last 2 videos have been sick 👌🏻

It's great to see you, sort of, back. Hopefully you talk about books again, if your still reading. I'm reading The Black Company. Awesome video too.

Awesome video ! Will be very happy to watch more of this

I love Blood Meridian! One of my all time favorite books. How I approached the book is to view it as an epic poem (like Homer) infused with biblical style language and motifs. And I love how McCarthy glosses over the violence. It’s presented, but not lingered on. Just a normal part of life. Side note: I love your coverage or Grimdark. Keep up the good work, man 🤟🤟

Well done, Hunter.

Nice work 👍👍👌

Excellent work! What have you been reading lately? I've been reading Attack on Titan, and I've added your recent video about it to my watch later.

long time i did not laugh so much with a funny&dark-booktuber!! 🤣😍 thanks for recommendations

Damn, that detail. I love the shading, too.

I just started reading grim-dark, and finished "The Barrow" by Mark Smylie. Now, I can’t seem to find anything that even comes close. which brings me here, hoping to hear something that sounds like it. I also read "The Steel Remains" by Richard Morgan, which was good but not "The Barrow" good. I started reading "The Black Company," but as you mentioned, it's fast, choppy pace is a bit too much for me.

I totally get what you mean about being sad that the book and/or the series will be over soon!!

Yesss!! Here we go. Love watching these videos after finishing each book. The best on UA-cam!

I finished this one a few weeks ago and couldn't put it down. I also really enjoyed the relationship with Eli and Tub. 🐴 I immediately vibed with the writing style and dialogue. Just watched the movie with John C Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix as well - not too shabby.

Your back now? Why are the videos so infrequent? I hope you return brother. I used to really enjoy your videos. Jesus loves you. I hope all is well with your family.

So many books...so little time...

Loved these books. Read them years ago. Too bad this author still isn't writing fantasy novels. I think he's writing comics in recent years.

This book didn't do it for me. Great concept, just not the execution I was hoping for.

Read that book when it first came out. Read all in the series, but none reached the greatness of 1st. Too bad he doesn't write anymore. Also wrote best Star Wars book.

An author I struggle to get into. Loved his very first novel, but not the subsequent two.

Just read this less than a year ago. Loved it!!!!!

Awesome writer! His other two trilogies are badass! The sequel to this book was maybe his very, bloody, sexy BEST! You rock, dude.

Never heard of this author, nor have I found any SAVAGE sci-fi books like W. Michael Gear's Donovan series. Check out 1st book - Outpost - you'll be jonesing for me. Welcome to the planet of Donovan, where Donovan welcomes NO ONE! The planet wants to KILL YOU.

Read this when it was new. Pretty solid book.

I can see how much you love grimdark. Thank you for delving into each book and explaining the plot and what is so great about each one. The past two channels I went to looking for book recommendations just suggested books without really talking about why the books are so great. I subscribed to your channel right away because you kept me watching from beginning to end. Looking forward to more! I started a spreadsheet of grimdark books to check out, so THANK YOU!