The Darkness That Comes Before

''Compelling... Keeps the pages turning. The final cinematic scene, of a vast landscape filled with enormous armies, nicely sets the stage for book three of this daringly unconventional series in the Tolkien mold.'' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

''A journey unlike any other you have experienced. Part Dante''s "Inferno" and part Conrad''s "Heart Of Darkness", this is fantasy literature like you''ve never read before.'' - Blogcritics

A score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns...

A veteran sorcerer and spy seeks news of an ancient enemy. A military genius plots to conquer the known world for his Emperor but dreams of the throne for himself. The spiritual leader of the Thousand Temples seeks a Holy War to cleanse the land of the infidel. An exiled barbarian chieftain seeks vengeance against the man who disgraced him. And into this world steps a man like no other, seeking to bind all - man and woman, emperor and slave - to his own mysterious ends.

But the fate of men - even great men - means little when the world itself may soon be torn asunder. Behind the politics, beneath the religious fervour, a dark and ancient evil is reawakening. After two thousand years, the No-God is returning. The Second Apocalypse is nigh. And one cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten...

A startlingly original and assured epic fantasy debut. A tale of conspiracy, holy war, empire-building and intrigue set in the most vividly imagined fantasy world since Tolkien''s Middle Earth.

Books by R Scott Baker:

Prince of Nothing Trilogy

The Darkness That Comes Before

The Warrior-Prophet

The Thousandfold Thought

Aspect-Emperor

The Judging Eye

The White Luck Warrior

The Great Ordeal

The Unholy Consult

Novels

Neuropath

Disciple of the Dog

Light, Time, and Gravity