In another thread I mentioned how Bakker's description of Sorcerers using magic and descriptions of dragons jolted me. Imagining men walking into the air with light shining out of their eyes and mouths is creepy horror. What looked like clouds rumbling were scores of dragons dropping out of the skies, snatching up humans without challenge.
There's another that was even more alarming, and as I read up to it, I told myself if he kills his brother, I was going to quit reading - LOL, I know, just a book - but by god, man - it seemed so real when Kelmomas coaxed Samarmas to the ledge - I was wide eyed, almost traumatized, reading this part. With all of the violence in the books, this one scene really tortured me and I did indeed put the book down when he fell over, just couldn't stomach more at the time. I picked it back up and continued a few days later, but I was genuinely pissed at Bakker on this one ... well, for a little while, I've forgiven him since then, hee hee ( laughing at myself here ). Another "winner" was the Bashrag nailing humans to the wall - maybe it's my evolutionary programming that genital damage is such a fright ( got to ensure I can make more humans ), but I "felt" that one. Makes me wonder if Bakker's real aim is more than to create a great work, but a sociological/psychological experiment on the power of imagination/story on consciousness - how even a work of fiction has the capacity to jar us.
Another scene ( not one that horrified, but was SO well written, I "got" the richness of the character's pathology ) was when Cniur kills Moe and exclaims, "How could you leave me?". The "hate" driving Cniur to kill Moe went beyond Moe's betrayal and manipulation to escape ... Moe didn't take Cniur with him. So cool.
And the Synthese ( exact wording may be off ), "I hate this planet". And the Synthese "seed" being black - man, how does he come up with this stuff? Its one thing to think up crazy shit - another to write it as poetry, as art.
Any others?