Review of The Great Ordeal by R. Scott Bakker

When it was announced in late 2015 that the third and final book in R. Scott Bakker’s Aspect Emperor series was going to be published in 2016 but split in two pieces, The Great Ordeal and The Unholy Consult, the latter of which would be released in 2017, I thought to myself: “I’ve waited five years since TheWhite-Luck Warrior, what’s another year or two to have both novels in hand at one time? After all, weren’t they conceived as one book…”  But one gentle nudge from the people at the Second Apocalypse forum, and I went scurrying to get a copy.  The temptation to know is just too much…

If you’re reading this review, there’s a 99% chance you’ve read all of Bakker’s Second Apocalypse books to date and are wondering if The Great Ordeal is worth it.  Short answer: definitive yes.  The long answer takes us to story. The end of The White-Luck Warrior saw the death of Maithenet—lynch pin to Kellhus’ control back in Momemm.  It saw the death of the Non-men king Nilgiccas—after the appearance of a dragon, a very Bakker-esque dragon.  The Great Ordeal finally clashed with sranc hordes, finally.  Sorweel exited the Ordeal with two of Kellhus’ children, the madness of the Anasurimbors becoming all the more apparent.  This is all an indirect way of saying The White-Luck Warrior took the Second Apocalypse storyline to unprecedented heights.  The Great Ordeal takes it higher.

Seeming impossible, Bakker continues to raise the stakes, and proportionately, the suspense through The Great Ordeal. The backstory and history of Earwa are peeled further back as major information about the world and characters is revealed.   Achamian and his daughter Mimara roam ever closer to the secrets of Kellhus.  Waiting at the end of Sorweel’s jumps through time and space is a place he never knew existed, the secrets inside horrifically enlightening.   With the death of Maithenet, Esmenet regains control of the Andiamine Heights, but Yatwer and her Fainim followers smell blood in the water.  And the Great Ordeal itself continues its maddening push toward Golgoterrath, each step ever more atavistic.  If the series was heavy, it now deserves capitalization: Heavy.

In essence the first half of a volume, yes, The Great Ordeal does leave the reader on the path to satisfaction, not the destination.  Not a cliffhanger per se, the ending is rather a colossal moment in the Second Apocalypse’s history—a suitable break point in a story that has seen a lot happen, but promises more to come - a major more to come.  As stated, The Great Ordeal is likewise the heaviest of the Second Apocalypse novels to date, not in terms of page count, rather content.  The prose dense, Bakker’s style takes on ever more philosophical, brooding weight.  Sorweel’s scenes in the underworld, and likewise many of Akka’s, are freighted with abstract substance like none of the other novels to date.  And Kellhus’ demons are worked into an ever darker frenzy as his madness, and his status as savior/tyrantof mankind, takes on greater ambiguity. While I agree with Larry Nolen there are times the muse comes on a little too heavy, it’s also to be understood The Great Ordeal is the beginning of the end of Bakker’s final statement on the Second Apocalypse.  If he doesn’t get it in now, he never will.

In the end, The Great Ordeal feels, as could be expected, part of a larger whole.  But so too did The Judging Eye and The White-Luck Warrior.  Testament to the consistency of the worldbuilding and forethought, just when you think there is nothing more to reveal about Earwa, Bakker pulls back another layer.  And the stakes!  Only impossibly higher.  If things go as The Great Ordeal promises, The Unholy Consult will virtually explode off the page.  It all goes without saying once The Unholy Consult is published, the story can be read seamlessly, volume to volume, without a care for publishing timelines.  And a re-read seems perfect for the series.

Note: If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and read Larry Nolen’s great review of The Great Ordeal at the (squirrel ridden) OF Blog.  He states far more eloquently my view of the novel.  Adam Whitehead’s review at Wertzone is likewise informative, but perhaps more so for plot.