BookRank

Reading order

Prince of Nothing reading order

R. Scott Bakker

  1. The Darkness That Comes Before2003
  2. The Warrior Prophet2005
  3. The Thousandfold Thought2006
7.97.9 / 10
279 ratings
Score
3 volumes
Volumes
2003–2006
Published
about 30 h
Reading time
Completed
Status
Fantasy#136
Genre

Quick answer

The Darkness That Comes Before
Start withThe Darkness That Comes Before2003 · Volume 1 of 3
Open the volume →Buy the first volumeListen to the audiobook

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Publication order

3 volumes2003–2006Completed

  • Dark, philosophical epic fantasy: a holy war gathers, and Anasûrimbor Kellhus, a monk trained since birth to read and manipulate people, walks into it.
  • Dense, demanding and often brutal, with sexual violence on the page; readers who stay with it rank it among the most ambitious fantasy of its time.
  • One story — read in order.
  • The Warrior Prophet rates highest.
  • The Aspect-Emperor series follows.

A plan for the whole series

3 volumes, 1,757 pages, about 30 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 6 weeks.

54%

Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: medium

Stages

3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around December 19, 2026, 8 days later than in one go.

  1. Stage 111 h14 daysby November 12, 2026
  2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 16, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  3. Stage 211 h15 daysby December 2, 2026
  4. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by December 6, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  5. Stage 310 h13 daysby December 19, 2026
  6. The end of the series
    December 19, 2026
In one goDecember 11, 2026about 6 weeks
In stages, with breaksDecember 19, 2026about 7 weeks · +5 h of other books

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

Does the series hold up

7.58.08.5
7.97.9 / 10
8.08.0 / 10
7.97.9 / 10
200320052006
7.58.08.5
200320052006
7.97.9 / 10
8.08.0 / 10
7.97.9 / 10
Score per volume3 volumes on a timeline, 2003 to 2006 · Best-rated volume: The Warrior Prophet

Shape of the series: even. Volume scores differ by at most 0.1 points. You get the same level from the first page to the last.

Best volume: The Warrior Prophet (8.0, 73 ratings). Weakest: The Darkness That Comes Before (7.9). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.9) scores close to the series average or above it.

How this plan is calculated

The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →

Every volume in order

Read: 0 of 3
  1. The Darkness That Comes Before
    The Darkness That Comes Before2003 · 134 ratingsStart here
    7.97.9 / 10
  2. The Warrior Prophet
    The Warrior Prophet2005 · 73 ratings
    8.08.0 / 10
  3. The Thousandfold Thought
    The Thousandfold Thought2006 · 72 ratings
    7.97.9 / 10

Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026

Prince of Nothing books ranked, best to worst

  1. 1.The Warrior ProphetBook 2 · 20058.0
  2. 2.The Thousandfold ThoughtBook 3 · 20067.9
  3. 2.The Darkness That Comes BeforeBook 1 · 20037.9
Top Fantasy series →

Frequently asked questions

Which Prince of Nothing book is the best?

By reader score, The Warrior Prophet (8.0/10). The lowest-rated is The Darkness That Comes Before (7.9/10).

Which Prince of Nothing book is the longest?

“The Warrior Prophet” is the longest at 624 pages; the shortest is “The Thousandfold Thought” with 544 pages.