Reviews

Weaveworld by Clive Barker

bblizz72's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

katiechu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

celtic_oracle's review against another edition

2.0

Even though everything tied together nicely in the end, I still couldn't help thinking that this book was just a bit too long. It really felt like it dragged a bit in the middle.

lannnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

adastrame's review against another edition

4.0

Cal is a young man like every other. One day he is chasing his father's escaped pigeons, and when he accidentally falls off a wall while doing so, he sees a mysterious carpet, but not only this - a world has been woven into this carpet, and while he's falling through the air, he sees that world's enchanting beauty. Unable to forget this magic world, he sets out again to find it, and meets Suzanna, a young woman who is the granddaughter of the former custodian of the carpet and who also wants to claim it back. Meanwhile the evil enchantress Immacolata and her companion, a Salesmen, do their best to make Cal's & Suzanna's lives a misery. A chase between good and evil begins, building up to a climax in which the Seerkind, magicians of the Weave have to face ancient powers....

I got this book from the library because I ran out of ideas for stuff to read, and they only had two books by Barker, of whose stuff I've never read anything before. The descriptions of both sounded really weird, so in the end I took this one because it sounded less confusing ;) I still couldn't make anything of the description though. But parallel worlds are always good, I thought.

Once I was a few chapter into the book, I was really surprised at how much horror and fantasy there was. Turns out the entire book has some occasional very gross and disturbing stuff, but thankfully it didn't gross me out too much because I'm used to stuff like that.

Even though it's a long journey, the book is more or less suspenseful and doesn't get boring. It has some very interesting character developments. When I just read a summary about the book on the net, I realized that the main character of Cal reminds me a lot of Shadow, the main character in American Gods. I don't really know why though. Maybe I'm just imagining things.

Nice book, nice gore and stuff like that, though I didn't really like the religious turn it took towards the end. Magic and Fantasy Worlds don't match well with religious stuff (even if it's only metaphorical).

(This review was written on September 2nd, 2006 for a review blog I used to run back then).

wolverinefactor's review against another edition

2.0

High fantasy with a soft coating of body horror. Not what I was expecting and just didn’t enjoy it. I see where this influenced a lot of other stories though.

billymac1962's review against another edition

5.0

This is about another world that exists in the fibres of a carpet. It's wonderful. I didn't know if I should include this review in horror or with fantasy...let's just call it dark fantasy. Every novel of Barker's I've read has left images in my mind that spring up every time I look at the cover. Images of horror, and beauty...
Read this guy, folks.

kubuskwal's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

jason_pym's review against another edition

3.0

The fantasy world of the Seerkind was threatened by the evil Scourge and so it was bound in stasis in a magical carpet, which various humans stumble into. This sounds like the perfect Barker book, but he skimps on the fantastical and the horrific, both of which I know he excels at because he's written some of my favourite stories (Abarat, Hellbound Heart). So, entertaining but disappointing, though he still has a few wonderful characters - the baby Nimrod, Imaculata and her sisters.

gnomecat's review

adventurous mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.5

dont know how i feel about this book. Maybe a 2.5 star book? As always, Clive Barker knows how to paint an image with words, but my god, is this book ever SLOW. 648 pages and every time there seems to be a climax or resolution coming....nope. not to be had yet. Beautiful imagery, but so slow to get anywhere.