I'm reading that R Scott Bakker book you recommended, it is really quite good for a debut! It was a little confusing to start with but now I am with it. My only tiny niggle with it is that it's a bit too close to "home"; that sort of pulls me out of the setting a bit in an annoying way. But I'm pretty much over that now, and I am liking it as a sort of reflection on religion & the politics that drives it.