A review by will_cherico
Weaveworld by Clive Barker

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

While so many fantasy stories are marked by the way the author chooses to describe their fantasy world, Clive Barker takes a strategy that I can't really compare to anyone else's. Barker doesn't explore the physical characteristics of the Fugue so much as he does the emotions and memories that it evokes. Weaveworld has left me stunned after spending almost an entire month with it in just how unique and provocative it is. Even with this more ethereal style of writing I found myself in the audience when

Cal shares his poetry with Lemuel Lo, in the desert where Shadwell and Hobart uncover the ultimate evil, and in the doldrums of the world after leaving the Fugue. I couldn't begin to explain why this style was so effective for me but WOW, it was effective. The way everything came together was so graceful too. No matter how random or inconsequential a character or event seems in this story, Barker finds a way to weave it together, making a story as magical as the worlds inside it. I loved the almost episodic nature of Suzanna and Cal's efforts to save the Fugue - when Immacolata is only a secondary antagonist, you're in for a truly terrifying experience. Barker's villains shine as always here. The Incantatrix, the Hag, the Magdalene, Shadwell, Hobart, and Uriel are all legendary evils that will surely stick with me for a long time after reading this. 

This is one of those books that I just can't stress how impressed I am by it. To think I once considered urban fantasy to be boring.