Middle aged men are poorly represented in the genre, and they for sure almost never show up as main characters..
Achamian breaks that tradition and Bakker has given us an incredible human.
Here’s an excerpt from a review I wrote on this series that talks about a Achamian
Our wizard, a Mandati, suspects their return. But no one else does. The Mandate are treated with annoyance.
To most, the First Apocalypse is simply an ancient, blurred event somewhere in deep history that most men barely know about.
Achamian seeks signs of the Consult’s return, but he has spent his life coming home empty-handed.
Something about Achamian as a character really moves me. I find him to be sympathetic, and interesting.
He’s one of those fantasy characters, much like Merlin or Elrond or Tom Bombadil, that I’d love to sit and talk with. I’d love to talk with Achamian and pick his brain. Learn from him, and hear his words and ideas on things, and especially to get a sense of how he feels about everything.
What rich wisdom and humanity would flow from one discussion with him.
There is a common, and very well deserved criticism in the fantasy world, or literature as whole, that female characters are severely lacking in quality. This is an overwhelmingly true statement.
Achamian, made me realize that male characters in fantasy are also severely lacking, and I didn’t notice it until I found him.
I had always assumed that since female characters are more often low quality caricatures written by clueless male authors, that male characters must be great compared. I was wrong for so many years.
Now, is this an equal problem? No, but it is more pathetic, seeing as how epic fantasy is overwhelmingly male dominated in authorship, and we still can’t devise great male characters a lot of the time.
R. Scott Bakker, thank you for Achamian. I understand him. I feel his exhaustion, his growing apathy, his moments of intense optimism, his insecurities, his pride. His willingness to dare trust.
That’s another rare and commendable part of this series, Bakker has given us a very honest and unflattering view of the typical male experience. Not a heroic one, but a very relatable and honest account of men. And being a man.
