The Darkness That Comes Before  (English, CD-Audio, R Scott Bakker)

Strikingly original in its conception, ambitious in scope, with characters engrossingly and vividly drawn, the first book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series creates a remarkable world from whole cloth its language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals the kind of all-embracing universe Tolkien and Herbert created unforgettably in the epic fantasies "The Lord of the Rings" and "Dune." It's a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both 2,000 years past and 2,000 years into the future, as untold thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasurimbor Kellhus part warrior, part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence from lands long thought dead. "The Darkness That Comes Before" is a history of this great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its conclusion."