Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"That which can be imagined need never be lost...", 15 Jun 2000
...and your imagination will never want to lose the excellence of this book. I have just finished reading Weaveworld for the third time and still find myself at a loss for words to capture its brilliance. Really, it defies explanation. Barker has created what I consider to be one of his greatest novels, heck! it's almost THE greatest novel. Its immensity allows its creator to use every aspect of great story telling to leave you feeling like you've just experienced something divine. It is an epic adventure of monumental proportions into a great secret world called 'The Fugue', that has been hidden away in order to elude its notorious enemies. Following the exploits of the two main characters, Cal and Suzanna, it tells us how they unravel (literally) the secrets behind the Weaveworld. This brings them into contact with some of Barkers most timeless and unforgettable characters, more notably so Immacolata and her side-kick the shifty salesman Shadwell. Mysterious, magical, loveable and terrifying - this book has it all. I particulaly love this book because of 'The Orchard of Lemuel Lo', with its entertaining magic and Jude Pears. A part of the book Clive Barker based on a early personal experience. It's just such a great chapter, magical in its peculiarities and believable by its subtlety. There are moments of exquisite tenderness and poetry in this book and moments that will have you practically tearing the page to turn it and find the answers to the many questions Barker poses throughout. The story will take you beyond reality, beyond fiction, beyond poetry and beyond fantasy to deliver you to an ambience that will intice, elate and overwhealm you. You will truly wish the story to never end, which in a way it never does - you have to experience it to understand. Suffice it to say Weaveworld is Heaven of a different form, only read it if you have plenty of breath to catch, tears to cry and imagination to be inspired, stretched and truly amazed.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barker blows horror into a new dimension, 4 Mar 2001
By A Customer
The city of Liverpool is reeling in the aftermath of the summer riots and Cal Mooney, a 26-year-old loner, is treading the back streets, searching for a stray pigeon that has escaped his father's garden. Nearby a derelict house is being emptied by removal men. The elderly owner is in hospital on the point of death and as the removal men clear her belongings Cal finds himself drawn to the house. There is a secret within it, contained within a carpet. The carpet is the entrance to the Fugue, a surreal world peopled by the Seerkind, a gentle race under threat from an evil presence named Shadwell, and Shadwell is on his way to Liverpool, together with his beautiful and bewitching partner, the deadly Immacolata. Together they aim to access the Fugue and conquer this paranormal world. Weaveworld is a mind blowing combination of urban mythology and modern history as the mayhem unleashed by Shadwell and Immacolata brings Inspector Hobart to the city. Hobart is a creation of Thatcherite proportions, a human enforcer who believes the law is an allegory for organised sadism and he determines to restore order, ending the paranormal disturbances sweeping the city, so enhancing the reputation he earned during his handling of the riots the previous summer. Cal, meanwhile, is haunted by his brief glimpse of the Fugue. His obsession with it leads him into the path of Suzzanna, the 22-year-old granddaughter of the woman whose house he stumbled into. This young couple have no idea of what they are about to enter... Instead of simply establishing a boy meets girl on dark adventure yarn Barker has delved far, far deeper, touching on the modern themes of rampant greed, a city in decay, and a hero and heroine who come vividly to life within the novel as they face the philistine evil of Shadwell and his murderous allies. This is Liverpool in the Eighties, a vibrant, colourful, charismatic city being destroyed from within by a malignant force motivated by money and bankrupt of morality. For Shadwell read the Iron Lady; remember her? Clive Barker is not just "the future of horror" as Stephen King so correctly forecast in 1984; he is a philosopher who blows every other horror writer clean out of the water - King included. And Weaveworld is not just a novel - it is something to believe in and learn from. This is perhaps the finest piece of work from one of the greatest writers alive today. A dark delight!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A magical book with an underlying horror., 9 Dec 2000
I loved this book, I have read it time and time again. It was the first Clive Barker book I read and it is now one of many. The Weaveworld is magical and the type of place dreams are made of, but the underlying evil which lurks within the pages also make it the stuff of nightmares. Particularly awful is the angel that does not flit around with fairy wings, but is a harbinger of destruction. Aside the darkness of Shadwell, Imacolata, the Magdelene and the Hag, the book has some nasty turns which make it an engrossing read. I couldn't wait to read the next page and finished it in a matter of days. Not only is it a remarkable piece of fiction, but it makes your mind wonder a little which is always an acheivement. Possibly one of the best books I have read.
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