Richard Scott Bakker is a distinguished fantasy author, based in London, Ontario, who is best known for his series of books known as the Second Apocalypse. A native of Simcoe, Bakker has been developing the ideas and characters for this series since his college days in the 1980s. Originally conceived as a trilogy, Bakker expanded his vision to include two duologies, and then to two trilogies, acknowledging that the third series may also expand to a trilogy.
The first trilogy, The Prince of Nothing, was published between 2003 and 2006, and is set during the Holy War launched by the Inrithi kingdoms against the heathen Fanim of the south to recover the holy city of Shimeh for the faithful. During the war, a man named Ansurimbor Kellhus emerges from obscurity to become an exceptionally powerful and influential figure. It is discovered that the Consult, an alliance of forces united in their worship of the legendary No-God, a nihilistic force of destruction, are manipulating events to pave the way for the No-God's return to the mortal world. The sequel series, The Aspect-Emperor trilogy, picks up the story twenty years later with Kellhus leading the Inrithi kingdoms in directly seeking out and confronting the Consult.
In addition to his fantasy works, Bakker has also written two thrillers. Neuropath, a science fiction thriller based around a serial killer who can control and influence the human mind, was published in 2008. Bakker wrote this book as a challenge from his wife to write a thriller. In 2009, he published The Disciple of the Dog.
According to Bakker, his books are the sum of four decades spent wandering fantastic worlds and philosophical worldviews. He is an author who fears the planet we have become and his themes teeter on the radical edge of the most pressing issues of our day. Bakker's philosophical critiques have been featured in various venues, including CBC Ideas and The Journal of Consciousness Studies. He writes of ancient wars, long-dead philosophers, extinct races, and poets whose words crack walls as readily as hearts. Bakker despises easy answers and can be found writing in a three-piece suit one day and in his underwear the next. He mourns the worlds he once believed in, and his characters are often trapped between warring tribes.