The Thousandfold Thought: Book Review

I just finished reading The Thousandfold Thought, which is the third book in The Prince of Nothing trilogy. The story picks up where the second one left off, with Kellhus now seizing a hold of the Holy War and making it his own. In terms of the plot, there wasn't too much left to cover in the story, with the only necessary beats to cover being the Holy War's final movements to Shimeh, and some of the clashes between the side characters.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and was excited to see the story rounded off the way it was. Unfortunately, distractions in life led to a slight delay in the time in which I could write this review, so I fear I might forget some things, but I've also watched a number of other reviews to help refresh my memory, so I am doing my best, lol. On the bright side, I will definitely reread this series again sometime in the future.

I am also pumped to learn how the story will continue on from this first trilogy, so I will be moving directly on to The Judging Eye.

Overall (No Spoilers)

One of the biggest standouts of this story was the structure. Because the Holy War merely had to continue to its destination, the whole story is one giant escalation of action as the armies arrive in Shimeh, and they unleash their remaining power in one final push to take the city. But even with this structure, Bakker finds interesting ways to twist up the action of the story and give us multiple rounds of fighting for our characters.

And throughout the fighting, there are numerous character confrontations and revelations that spin the story in unexpected ways. I can't give the specifics in the non-spoiler section of the review, but because these reveals are what much of the story is building to, it is absolutely something that I have to at least mention. And while I am talking about the reveals at the end, I also want to briefly, and vaguely, talk about Bakker's strategy for these reveals. He is not simply giving answers. Often time, reveals are made alongside new questions, and we now have to wait for the next series in Bakker's work in order to get the full answers. Bakker hits the sweet spot, providing enough reveals to show that they are available and that he is willing to offer to them up, but without revealing too many. That I am moving right on to the next book is a testament to his ability to write his series in phases.

Another aspect of the story that carries over from the first two is the philosophy. Bakker's focus on topics like free will, morality, and power—and the way he brutally gazes into the dark implications of these issues—especially through characters like Kellhus, is among the best parts of this story. I have always been a philosophical junkie, and I have spent far too much time thinking about the thought experiments regarding power that were presented in ASOIAF, so it was inevitable that this story would appeal to me as much as it did. (For example: I think saying that power is a shadow on a wall is poetic but also misleading. I would say that the social power an individual has is real, but that it is a relational property, something that manifests from their ideologically driven interactions with other people. This simply means that social power is not necessarily an intrinsic property of an individual, but something that arises only in relation to other people). Indeed, these books made me realize that I might be able to get away with more philosophy in my own stories, especially if I link it up to my magic system. I have no idea just how much my story will change, but if I had to guess, my story will become more philosophical and more horrifying, too. (And they were already leaning in that direction, so strap in!).

Someone mentioned on Youtube that Kellhus is a completely amoral character. Too often, characters like this come off like they are bad, yet pretending to be good or the other way around, but Kellhus is genuinely an amoral character who is pragmatic to the core. There is the question of why he seeks to help save the world, which could very well be a twist for the future, but I will have to wait for that.

Finally, I want to talk about the one main negative thing in this story. I cannot help but notice that I did not think that the fights in this story were as epic as the fights in the previous books. On the Plains of Mengedda, we were treated to one of the greatest conflicts that had ever been put to paper. Now, the fact that none of the fights in this story trump that one is not a devastating critique, but it's still worth mentioning.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought this was an amazing way to cap off this series. I will give this book an 8/10. I am jumping right into The Judging Eye.

Strides (Spoilers)

I mentioned in the previous section that I liked how Bakker managed to give multiple rounds of fighting for our characters. The principle people I had in mind were Conphas and Cnaiur. They were both sent away at the very beginning of the story because Kellhus learned about Xerius' and Conphas' ploy to betray the Holy War. And after one major battle in Joktha, the fighting then comes thundering back as the characters catch up to the Holy War in Shimeh for the final conflicts.

And I thought that Bakker handled this sequence very well: it would not have made sense to have Kellhus not catch on to their plans, nor would it have been fun if the threat was dealt with at the outset. The way it was portrayed here, we got the conflict between Cnaiur and Conphas, with the added hilarity of Cnaiur pigheadedly refusing to give Kellhus what he wanted. And then the added dimension of the Inchoroi, as they actually try to help Cnaiur kill Conphas; we have no reason to like the Inchoroi, yet we have every reason to like Cnaiur over Conphas, so this adds yet a whole new level of complication to the fight. It's also impossible not to mention the fact that Cnaiur runs out of space for his scars while in Joktha. If you worried that Bakker might hold back, rest assured that he did not.

Also, Conphas was beheaded in the end. That is all.

Moenghus's confrontations with both Cnaiur and Kellhus are also both amazing:

Moenghus's confrontation with the barbarian was the final of the two, and it ends in his own death as the barbarian finally gets his twisted revenge against the man. And what makes the confrontation so powerful is the conflicted nature of their hostility. Cnaiur both hates and loves this man, and his life for decades now has been irrevocably mutilated by his previous interaction with Moenghus, so with Cnaiur finally dispatching this man and rejecting his feelings for him, he has finally killed a portion of himself and given himself silence. Cnaiur certainly considers this success to be a long time coming, but you just know that he has forever lost a part of himself and will never get it back.

Moënghus's confrontation with Kellhus was also amazing and filled with twists. Everything from learning that Maithanet is Kellhus's half-brother, to learning that the half-brother, and Kellhus too, are both part of a larger plan by Moënghus to stop the Consult from taking action again all serve to reformat our understanding of the events leading up to today. Basically, what you find out is that the entire Holy War was an elaborate ploy by Moenghus to get his son Kellhus to come South, so he could then make him Emperor and place him for a more perfect strike later down the line. And another twist is how the Thousandfold Thought (the probability trance that can tell us how to save the world), was actually eclipsed by Kellhus, allowing him to see further, but also making him go mad. Kellhus now believes that the only way the world can be saved is by killing his father.

What works about this climax is that it caps off the events of this trilogy, reinterprets everything that has come before, and also segues into the next act of the story.

Achamian also receives his own emotional resolution, where he realizes that he has been utterly taken advantage of by the savior and Emperor, and so he angrily denounces Kellhus, his wife, and the Mandate. And I think that this was such a fascinating way for his arc to have been written. Achamian started out this book by teaching Kellhus the Gnosis in spite of the problem relating to Esmenet, but even he wasn't strong enough to withstand the anger and the rejection, as he realizes that he has been completely used.

And while his future is left open-ended at the end of the book, reading the back of the next book tells you where he is going, and it is the perfect direction for the story to take.

Stumbles (Spoilers)

There really aren't any serious negatives, though one thing that comes to mind is Proyas' character. I might be mistaken, but I don't remember getting all that much from his character in this one. I don't think it matters that much, given how I know he becomes relevant in the next series, but I did hope that there would be more for his character in this one.

Another thing is how the Maithanet reveal unfolded. The reveal kind of felt like this offhanded mention, "And by the way, he's your half-brother, lol." I don't think the twist is bad in its own right; it's the execution, where it just felt thrown in at the end.

Predictions

Some interesting thoughts about the future of the story: What if the climax of the second series mirrors this one, where instead of Kellhus brushing aside his father in order make way for the future, yet another brushing aside has to happen when Kellhus's time is up. The only difference is the perspective from which we are standing when the decision is made. This time, we were standing alongside Kellhus as he pushed his father aside, but if he gets pushed aside in the second series, then our vantage point will be completely different.

Another possible direction the story could take has to do with Achamian's future in the story. What I am about to mention is also mentioned on the back of the book of The Judging Eye, but it is still a minor spoiler. Achamian is going on a mad hunt for the Dûnyain in wake of what happened in this trilogy, so this is obviously teasing further reveals about Kellhus and his role in the story. This is less so worries about Kellhus being brushed aside and more so Achamian realizing that there is a lot more to their savior Emperor than meets the eye. Basically, my prediction is that there is a literary reason the Dûnyain were chosen by Bakker as the saviors of this series; there is a lot more to unpack in these amoral, enlightened ones, these grimdark Buddhist monks—and whatever he has down the line is going to be horrifying beyond comprehension. And I can't wait.

Finally, I can’t help but notice that the three titles for the subseries are Prince of Nothing, the Aspect-Emperor, and the No-God. If this naming scheme is patterned in the way it seems, what it implies is that Kellhus is each of these things: yes even the No-God. There are no in-world reasons for why this is the correct pattern, but if it is, that would be a rather nasty plot twist for the end.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought this was an amazing way to cap off this series. I will give this book an 8/10. I am jumping right into The Judging Eye.