Reviews

I really wanted to like this book. Fantasy is my favorite genre. However, I was only able to finish this book because of stuborn determination to not give up. At times, I found myself really enjoying parts of the story because Barker is a very tallented writer, but I had a lot of trouble following the storyline. It was just okay. I certainly don't feel that I got enough from it to justify the time and effort it took to get through such a long book.

captain_trips's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

1.75

Imaginative and dream-like fantasy tale that meanders and plods along to an ultimately unsatisfying ending.

Imajica was my introduction to Clive Barker, and I honestly can't see myself going out to pick up more of his work. I'll definitely need a palette cleanser after wading through this tome of a fever-dream journal masquerading as a novel.

I did not start out this journey so negative. Initially, I was was quite intrigued by what I was reading as the mysterious world was being set up. I liked that we were dropped right into the story. But after the brief, initial hook, I felt myself becoming untethered. This was already about 150-200 pages in and I was starting to get a sinking feeling. I would recommend that if you are not absolutely loving the story by this relatively early stage - to abandon ship and not look back. The story continues to meander. Most of the characters do not evolve or become interesting. The ending is unsatisfying and left me shrugging my shoulders. Like waking up from a vivid dream and trying to make sense of it.

Elements of this book reminded me of other books that I do enjoy, like Book of the New Sun, Hyperion, or The Gunslinger. But whereas those books have abundant creativity, humanity, and moody atmosphere respectively, Imajica falters on all of those fronts. Maybe atmosphere the least though.

As an aside, I don't know how to put it exactly, but this book felt very "90s". Maybe it was partly the artwork from the glossary or just the overall tone and vibe of the book but it just gave off this distinct feeling to me. I was waiting for one of the characters to say "It's the '90s darling! Anything can happen."

By the halfway point, I felt daunted that there was still so much to go. I kept going though. There'd continue be the tiniest ledge for me to cling to and I was still naive in thinking the book was actually going to get interesting. The characters sure didn't help though. They ranged from likeable enough (Pie oh Pah), to tolerable (Goldofini), to obnoxious (Gentle and Judith, the two main "protagonists"). This book does not have well written or interesting characters - except Dowd - he was actually a real antagonist and my interest spiked whenever he was on the page. Everyone else seems to act like toddlers in that they were driven solely by emotion and their desire's and motivations change on a whim. Events just seem to happen, and characters just go along with it.

This is not a well crafted plot. It genuinely feels like Barker literally dreamed up this story and upon waking, tried to piece it together into something coherent. The theme(s) were lost on me. Something about men and violence/oppression against women....maybe? I don't know. And sex. Definitely something about sex in there as there are several vivid and weird sex scenes in this book. Using sex as a form of manipulation? Again, I do not know.

Towards the end, I was checked out and emotionally done with Imajica. I skimmed the last 100 pages and powered through to the lame ending. A great sense of relief filled me as I slammed the book shut and I was finished. Like I suddenly shook myself awake from a 800+ page fever-dream and Clive Barker was my sleep paralysis demon.

I believe there is a decent and interesting story and world in Imajica and it started off pretty good. And many other people seem to love this book. So there's something there that just did not resonate with me. The main problem is that it's buried under a book that's way, way too long, bad characters, and themes that are nebulous and difficult to suss out.

riven010101's review

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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? Yes

3.5

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