We don't know that there aren't female Dunyain.  All we know is that we haven't seen a female Dunyain, which doesn't really tell us much.  Even the number of male's we've seen has been vanishingly small.

Hmm, I need to think more on that.  There is an aspect of the fact that the Dunyain are 'unnatural' to an extent.

I think the White-Luck Warrior might be closer to the 'unprecedented' nature of the Mule though, something Seswatha did not plan for.

It hard for me to work out the intentions here. 

The Consult: Destroy the world, destroy meaning.
The Mandate: Save the world and save meaning.

Therefore, how do we fit in Kellhus.  I feel like his intentions couldn't be the same as either, that is too obvious and formulaic.  So, that leaves us with: destroy the world and save meaning, or save the world, destroy meaning.  I am leaning toward the latter, which means he would actually save the Consult from damnation.

Then what of the WLW?  My guess is that he is an agent of the status-quo.

I don't know, that doesn't quite seem right, so maybe my whole theory is off.

I think you're right, it took Shae to get some things moving.  However, when I think of what the Consult managed to do with the Tekne, it really says to me that they largely failed to capture what their technology could fully do.  When I think of Wracu, the Heron Spear, the Ark, then see what and (presumably) how they achieved Bashrags and Sranc, it definitely seems to me to show a lack of mastery.

I realize now I am dragging this thread way out of line though.  Maybe I'll dig up a Tekne thread later and talk more about it.

To get more in line, I think the question of Kellhus being good or evil is not answerable, because I don't think he is either.  I don't think this series is really about good versus evil.  It's about subjective meaning.

Achamian endured its unearthly violence, heaped injury after injury upon its agony.
And in the end it grovelled beneath his song, cringed like a beaten animal, then faded into the blackness …

I guess it is possible that a Ciphrang, when summoned to the Inside, is the essence of a demon held fast within a physical form.  Put enough holes in that form and the essence is now diffuse, with nothing to hold it and the demon is banished.

Sent my letter to both Overlook and Orbit.  Here's to it making even the slightest of difference...

Where is a good place to upload the dozen-ish pictures I have o the process? Deviant art or something? Never really done that before. This way I can embed pictures in the new post I make rather than just have them as tiny attachments.

I'd use imgur.com, uploading is easy and they give you all the kinds of links you could need.

Can't wait to see how it looks!

To Whom it May Concern,

It has come to our attention, as fans of author R. Scott Bakker, that the final volume of his Aspect Emperor series, The Unholy Consult, is seemingly on perpetual hiatus from publication.  This is both bewildering for us as readers and for the author himself, seeing as to how the final volume is critical to bringing both some closure to, indeed, two trilogies (both The Prince of Nothing, and The Aspect Emperor series) while setting the stage for even more editions going forward.   Allow me to explain why I believe that, in fact, not publishing the book in the very near future is a financial mistake on the part of Overlook Press.

Scott has a small, but vocal and quite dedicated group of fans.  Even a small amount of internet research will uncover years of discussion, speculation, and appreciation for the series, beginning with The Darkness The Comes before and continuing through The White-Luck Warrior.  What does this mean for you, the publisher?  The series has all the makings of a cult-classic.  Given the success of recent movies and TV shows from the likes of Rowling, Martin, and Tolkien, the time is now for epic fantasy, a role Bakker fulfills like few others can.

Indeed, the proverbial 'iron' is hot, the series is ripe for the 'striking', but honestly only if the series can present some kind of reasonable expectation of a conclusion.  Fans of Martin's A Games of Thrones are loath to start yet another series with no end in the foreseeable future.  Presenting Scott's work as a completed arc is a great sales pitch, giving readers a chance to jump into a deep series, with no wait for a conclusion.  As such, every day, month, (and hopefully a level not reached) year, is harmful both to sales of The Unholy Consult, and to the entire series.  Also, considering the low opportunity cost to simply publishing the book, as the manuscript is already in your hands, and the overwhelmingly positive upside to having two trilogies that can be sold as 'completed,' it only makes sense to try to publish The Unholy Consult as soon as possible.  Indeed, the delay only serves to harm the value of the work, which is in no one, not the author's, not the fan's, not you the publisher's, nor the potential future reader's, best interest.

As the delay lengthens there is also the real possibility that the book could be released closer to Martin's Winds of Winter, which again, serves absolutely no one's best interests, considering how much attention will be given that book.  The Unholy Consult should, indeed, almost must, precede its publication.  The time to seize itinerant fantasy readers in the midst of Martin's writing (and the Game of Thrones show) hiatus, in fact means that this book is primed for release right now actually.  The next few months are critical, the book should be published post-haste, to really capitalize on these factors.  As we go forward, the show will be back for it's next season, the book will be written and this unique time and it's subsequent opportunity, will be lost.  The optimal window, so to speak, is fast closing, and will not open again.

I really hope that this case is given real consideration.  I thank you for your time in reading this, I (and Scott and many fans) thank you for all that you can do in bring this book to a quick publication.

Sincerely,
Matthew Pate

Could someone proof read this for me?  Does it sound dumb?  I just woke up and scrawled this down...