Scan barcode
skemble's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? No
4.75
narobertson's review
5.0
My first Clive Barker book, but certainly not my last. This was an immense pleasure to read. Clive Barker’s imagination is a marvel here with an inventive and mesmerizing prose that is as pretty to read as it is horrific to understand. This book, while an urban fantasy at its heart, has veins pumping horror throughout. Horrors of all kinds take their turns burrowing into your brain and don’t stop until the last page is turned.
The psychedelic menagerie of the Seerkind —their world, their raptures, their selves is truly awe inspiring and kept me yearning to get back to the page when I put it down. Go into this book expecting a wild and vivid imagination brought to life by flowery prose and pacing that moves like a bullet train.
I do feel the characters suffer at the expense of the setting, story, and action. I didn’t find any to be fully three dimensional because of the heavy focus on the otherworldly. Terrible things happen with little time spent on introspection or dealing with the consequences of these terrible horrors that afflict a great many of the characters. That, however, is a small gripe to an otherwise fantastic novel.
The psychedelic menagerie of the Seerkind —their world, their raptures, their selves is truly awe inspiring and kept me yearning to get back to the page when I put it down. Go into this book expecting a wild and vivid imagination brought to life by flowery prose and pacing that moves like a bullet train.
I do feel the characters suffer at the expense of the setting, story, and action. I didn’t find any to be fully three dimensional because of the heavy focus on the otherworldly. Terrible things happen with little time spent on introspection or dealing with the consequences of these terrible horrors that afflict a great many of the characters. That, however, is a small gripe to an otherwise fantastic novel.
vaniaj's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
ajhild's review against another edition
2.0
Enchanting prose and captivating villains can’t outshine a meandering story full of dull, senseless protagonists and excessive vulgarity and gore. This book is full of the worst sorts of paradoxes: it manages to paint a picture of a world without consistent logic or rules that is also somehow incredibly predictable and boring to behold. The story could also easily be trimmed to half the length if Barker didn’t routinely scatter the main characters for no logical reason.
mttgrms's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
Well, well. This book.
My third Barker and by far the worst. I hope, for me, that this is his rock bottom because I am not done with him yet. And it is so praised.
The writing / wording is good, and I won't go into it.
But the rest is a mess. It starts and ends the same way. (This is not a spoiler. There is an ending) But I mean, Barker found a poetic way to say: I don't know how to start this and how to end this.
"Nothing ever begins. There is no first moment;..."
Main characters, and most characters in general, lack motivation or reason. Why are they doing these things? They become detached from their reality in pursuit of this nonsensical quest. Let's not speak of Geraldine Kellaway. (Cal's girlfriend)
The one exception is the main antagonist, Shadwell. He is the sole driving force of the book. In fact, it is his story we are reading. This book would have been much better if read through his eyes. I could imagine following this vilain through his perilous schemes for profit and world domination. That would have been a 5/5 book.
I'll end this, like the book, with snow.
Snow. The snowstorm at the end of the book. I kept wondering if Barker, when writing this, had ever experienced a snowstorm.
My third Barker and by far the worst. I hope, for me, that this is his rock bottom because I am not done with him yet. And it is so praised.
The writing / wording is good, and I won't go into it.
But the rest is a mess. It starts and ends the same way. (This is not a spoiler. There is an ending) But I mean, Barker found a poetic way to say: I don't know how to start this and how to end this.
"Nothing ever begins. There is no first moment;..."
Main characters, and most characters in general, lack motivation or reason. Why are they doing these things? They become detached from their reality in pursuit of this nonsensical quest. Let's not speak of Geraldine Kellaway. (Cal's girlfriend)
The one exception is the main antagonist, Shadwell. He is the sole driving force of the book. In fact, it is his story we are reading. This book would have been much better if read through his eyes. I could imagine following this vilain through his perilous schemes for profit and world domination. That would have been a 5/5 book.
I'll end this, like the book, with snow.
Snow. The snowstorm at the end of the book. I kept wondering if Barker, when writing this, had ever experienced a snowstorm.
blake_persephone's review against another edition
3.0
DNF 300 pages in
Man this one made me sad :(
The world is breaming with imagination, the mythos is great and the writing itself has talent of course.
But the protagonists, man the protagonists. They are insanely boring and flat and dumb. Pathetic too tho in different ways.
They’re constantly being defeated and humiliated which I wouldn’t mind if it weren’t the results of the good guys being continually stupid for…plot convenience I suppose.
Cal is powerless at least 300 pages in and there’s only as many times you can see a man get trounced before you’re like “okay you’re a fucking loser”.
Suzanna has a very convenient power that is extremely strong but only seems to work
When the story needs it to work.
Also this is totally my fault but I thought this was an adult portal dark fantasy but it isn’t, at least 300 pages in most of the action has happened in our world.
I will say Immocalata was such an interesting character so Barker can write them just didn’t want to here I guess.
I think instead of the characters this should have really been world building and atmosphere, an almost fairy tale myth.
Still I consider it part of the fantasy canon and so I would check it out and see if it works better for you.
Man this one made me sad :(
The world is breaming with imagination, the mythos is great and the writing itself has talent of course.
But the protagonists, man the protagonists. They are insanely boring and flat and dumb. Pathetic too tho in different ways.
They’re constantly being defeated and humiliated which I wouldn’t mind if it weren’t the results of the good guys being continually stupid for…plot convenience I suppose.
Cal is powerless at least 300 pages in and there’s only as many times you can see a man get trounced before you’re like “okay you’re a fucking loser”.
Suzanna has a very convenient power that is extremely strong but only seems to work
When the story needs it to work.
Also this is totally my fault but I thought this was an adult portal dark fantasy but it isn’t, at least 300 pages in most of the action has happened in our world.
I will say Immocalata was such an interesting character so Barker can write them just didn’t want to here I guess.
I think instead of the characters this should have really been world building and atmosphere, an almost fairy tale myth.
Still I consider it part of the fantasy canon and so I would check it out and see if it works better for you.
smkean's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not even sure how to go about describing this book, it was just so full of magic & terror. This is an epic fantasy world, with horrible monsters. It was amazing to read, a little long and dragging at times but still amazing. The imagination of Clive Barker is incredible, he knows how to WEAVE a tale and how to disturb you deeply.
bosermoki's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A really engaging dark fantasy. Every time I read something from Barker that I haven't read before, I put it away and think "Damn he's great" and for some incomprehensible reason I sort of forget about his books until I pick up the next one. This one really makes me want to read Imajica.
kersley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
3.25
lelder's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0