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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.
astralpastures's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? Yes
3.5
aditusmaximus's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this wildly imaginative story, but this book took me forever to get through. And I’m not quite sure why. (Long ramble below but no spoilers!)
It has all the things I enjoy. I love the scope of unbridled creativity with this book. A mysterious realm that gets hidden away in the weaves of a magical rug? Hell yes! What a unique concept, and the story remained unique and creative throughout!
It ended up being more of a dark fantasy story than a straight horror book. But I love fantasy as well, so that wasn’t a problem for me. This whole story reads like a whimsical fairy tale at times. But the villians were definitely straight out of a horror dimension. The Three Sisters, the Rake (shudder), The Scourge! Awesome and terrifying villians that’s will live on in my head for a long time!
I also love Clive Barkers prose. He has almost a poetic way with words in this book and it made this book really fun to read, definitely building on the surreal fairytale feeling of the story.
I think I had two problems with this book that caused me to struggle through it at times.
One was that the two main characters were… flat. They started off strong but eventually seemed to turn into one dimensional pawns that were just there to (very slowly) move the story forward. I rarely knew what they were thinking or what they wanted. After a while I stopped caring about them, and got stuck every time the story returned to them. I felt the same way about the Seerkind characters. Most of them didn’t feel developed at all to me and often they all felt interchangeable. I think this was even more noticible to me because the villians actually seemed well developed and interesting. So it’s not like Clive Barker can’t develop characters. Maybe he just thinks the good guys are boring lol.
My other challenge with this book was the pacing of the story. It didn’t feel consistent, there wasn’t a steady build up. Instead it felt like three or four short stories haphazardly connected together. After the peak of each short story, it felt like a long drag to get the momentum building to the next story again. About 2/3 of the way through the book I just got stuck and struggled to push forward. I’m glad I did though.
In the end, despite my two main issues, I do think I love this story! And I almost feel like this is a book I would enjoy more upon a re-read, when I can just lose myself in the prose and wild imagination, rather than getting frustrated with the characters or growing impatient with the pacing.
Also, I generally don’t like movie adaptations of books. But having seen Pan’s Labyrinth, I would love to see what kind of similarly creepy movie or miniseries adaptation Guillermo Del Toro could do with this book ! Lean a little more into the villians and the dark sides of this story and make something really creepy !
It has all the things I enjoy. I love the scope of unbridled creativity with this book. A mysterious realm that gets hidden away in the weaves of a magical rug? Hell yes! What a unique concept, and the story remained unique and creative throughout!
It ended up being more of a dark fantasy story than a straight horror book. But I love fantasy as well, so that wasn’t a problem for me. This whole story reads like a whimsical fairy tale at times. But the villians were definitely straight out of a horror dimension. The Three Sisters, the Rake (shudder), The Scourge! Awesome and terrifying villians that’s will live on in my head for a long time!
I also love Clive Barkers prose. He has almost a poetic way with words in this book and it made this book really fun to read, definitely building on the surreal fairytale feeling of the story.
I think I had two problems with this book that caused me to struggle through it at times.
One was that the two main characters were… flat. They started off strong but eventually seemed to turn into one dimensional pawns that were just there to (very slowly) move the story forward. I rarely knew what they were thinking or what they wanted. After a while I stopped caring about them, and got stuck every time the story returned to them. I felt the same way about the Seerkind characters. Most of them didn’t feel developed at all to me and often they all felt interchangeable. I think this was even more noticible to me because the villians actually seemed well developed and interesting. So it’s not like Clive Barker can’t develop characters. Maybe he just thinks the good guys are boring lol.
My other challenge with this book was the pacing of the story. It didn’t feel consistent, there wasn’t a steady build up. Instead it felt like three or four short stories haphazardly connected together. After the peak of each short story, it felt like a long drag to get the momentum building to the next story again. About 2/3 of the way through the book I just got stuck and struggled to push forward. I’m glad I did though.
In the end, despite my two main issues, I do think I love this story! And I almost feel like this is a book I would enjoy more upon a re-read, when I can just lose myself in the prose and wild imagination, rather than getting frustrated with the characters or growing impatient with the pacing.
Also, I generally don’t like movie adaptations of books. But having seen Pan’s Labyrinth, I would love to see what kind of similarly creepy movie or miniseries adaptation Guillermo Del Toro could do with this book ! Lean a little more into the villians and the dark sides of this story and make something really creepy !
cyris_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
tani's review against another edition
4.0
This felt remarkably similar to the books of the Art, and that slowed me down for quite a while. But in the end, Barker's imagination is remarkable, and that makes it all better.
alewo27's review against another edition
1.0
DNF
I am actually starting to question basing my book purchases on Goodreads ratings seeing that this book is so highly rated! What?! I could not fathom finishing this book. It is nonsensical and just gross without continuity or reason. It was like a bad acid trip. And it was, at times, sexual in the most disturbing ways with creatures/beings assaulting people. I like Horror and Sci-Fi and Fantasy but this takes all of those things and turns them into something unrecognizable and wrong. Let me save you....don't read this.
I am actually starting to question basing my book purchases on Goodreads ratings seeing that this book is so highly rated! What?! I could not fathom finishing this book. It is nonsensical and just gross without continuity or reason. It was like a bad acid trip. And it was, at times, sexual in the most disturbing ways with creatures/beings assaulting people. I like Horror and Sci-Fi and Fantasy but this takes all of those things and turns them into something unrecognizable and wrong. Let me save you....don't read this.
hank's review against another edition
3.0
I just did not care towards the end. The first part was good, great setup, new world hidden inside a carpet, evil forces bent on doing something nefarious with the carpet two characters easy to get attached to.
Then I got bored. I am not sure why, the mix of real and fairy should have been interesting but nothing really seemed to matter. In reality this was a 2 star bumped up because the first part held some good promise.
Then I got bored. I am not sure why, the mix of real and fairy should have been interesting but nothing really seemed to matter. In reality this was a 2 star bumped up because the first part held some good promise.
eoremovich's review against another edition
4.0
Weaveworld is definitely not a book for everyone, but I thought it was a pretty interesting read. The concept itself was fascinating and weird and unique compared to just about anything I have previously read. Barker has a way with words that I really enjoyed, and there were moments that were creepy and suspenseful. I spent much of the book imagining how cool a miniseries derived from this book would be. The book lost a little steam in the second half, in my opinion, and it probably could have benefited from a little trimming. Some of the characters were super interesting, and I wanted to know much more about them, but there were a few characters that I felt were unnecessary or possibly just underdeveloped. Overall, I thought it was worth the read.