(Found) A sort of spirit/shade/ghost haunts a man until it possesses his body

[EmperorxSuyi]

Frustrated searching for a book I started reading but can't remember the title. It starts off with this sort of spirit/shade/ghost haunting a man until he possesses his body. There is an order of spies connected by a shared flashbacks/memories of a long dead emperor. The spirit that possessed the man (previously mentioned) is somehow related to the long dead emperor. One of the spies lives with a prostitute even though they can never truly have a real relationship. Sadly, that is all I remember about it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about (know it's a longshot)?

 

[EmperorxSuyi]

Nevermind, I finally found the book. The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker.

 

[Danny McG]

Nevermind, I finally found the book. The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker.

Unlucky, I've owned that a good while in my To Be Read pile but so far haven't got round to reading it.... your description makes it sound fairly interesting so I'll most likely bump it up a bit nearer to the top of my stack.

Cheers for putting an answer in

 

[EmperorxSuyi]

Unlucky, I've owned that a good while in my To Be Read pile but so far haven't got round to reading it.... your description makes it sound fairly interesting so I'll most likely bump it up a bit nearer to the top of my stack.

Cheers for putting an answer in

Probably a better description/synopsis of the book.

The first book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series creates a world from whole cloth-its language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals. It's a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both two thousand years past and two thousand years into the future, as untold thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasûrimbor 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.