Imajica by Clive Barker

Liralen

Miss Conceived
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2012
Messages
5,826
Reaction score
597
Location
Taarna
Clive Barker.

Has anyone here read it? I've tried to get through it several times and just couldn't seem to, force-read myself about two-thirds through twice before I misplaced the book.

The thing appeared again when I was looking for something else . . . wondering if I'm supposed to have another go at it -- different time, different mind . . .
 

Jess Haines

Boldly going nowhere in particular.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 8, 2009
Messages
1,726
Reaction score
248
Location
Tampa, FL
Website
www.jesshaines.com
I had a hard time getting into that one, too. I liked The Thief of Always, The Great and Secret Show, and a few other novels by Barker, but for some reason could never get into Imajica.
 

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 12, 2005
Messages
18,981
Reaction score
6,933
Location
At some altitude
Website
www.jamie-mason.com
I read this ages ago and absolutely loved it. It's one of those books that I'm afraid to revisit, just in case it doesn't hold up, but it's one of those convergences of my mood at the time -- I just, well, it's one of my cherished favorites. Pie-oh-Pah is one of the best characters ever.

At least, that how I remember it. It's stuck with me for all these years.

That said, I remember that the paragraph-long names were kind of silly, so I just started calling those characters by the first four or five letters in their names.
 

Liralen

Miss Conceived
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2012
Messages
5,826
Reaction score
597
Location
Taarna
Good to get some feedback.

I'm half looking for reasons to give it another shot.

And half looking for reasons to let myself off the hook.

The names were an irritant for me, too, Perks. Shades of War and Peace . . . which I loathed with utter ennui.
 

richcapo

Knight Templar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Messages
953
Reaction score
49
Location
Fairfax, Virginia
Any Clive Barker fans here?

I've been reading a lot of his work lately: the Abarat books, Imajica, Thief of Always, Hellbound Heart, and now Weaveworld. I think he's just wonderful -- like Gaiman, only more sex-up, bloodier, and all-around better.

Shame he doesn't get the praise he deserves in my opinion.
 
Last edited:

jennontheisland

the world is at my command
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
7,270
Reaction score
2,125
Location
down by the bay
I have imagica in two volumes, so maybe that made it seem less long. Loved it though. Loved everything Barker has written, even when the plots and characters aren't to my taste I can still make it through his books. Though, I know what Perks means about revisiting... I reread Weaveworld over the summer and while I still enjoyed it, it wasn't as fascinating as it was when I was a teenager. Maybe I'm just old and jaded?
 

CheG

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
1,121
Reaction score
80
Location
Oregon
Website
chegilson.blogspot.com
I read Imajica in high school (?) it's been awhile... I remember loving it though! It's kind of absolutely amazing. The stuff on earth is less interesting, but to this day I remember portions, and descriptions, and ideas from the book.

The servant girl with her continually weeping eyes, which dried only when she was sad. The people with the crystals embedded in their heads. Gender switching Pie- who in truth came from a people with completely different sex organs (which are described thank heavens! So it's not some great mystery.) And a sex act that was a mystical consuming akin to an ouroboros.

So I would say give it another shot.
 

TheNighSwan

Banned
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
398
Reaction score
54
Location
France
I tried to read it as a teenager, when all I was reading was sci-fi, horror and fantasy, but I got bored through it and didn't finish it —even though I went into it with a positive view, thinking "hey the guy who directed Hellraiser wrote this, it must be cool".

The few things I remember from it is the plot was rather patchwork-ish and aimless. Can't speak about the writing, since I read it in translation.
 

Caramello Koala

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
69
Reaction score
2
Location
Australia
I thought Hellbound Heart was pretty average, and that's considered his best work, so I personally haven't bothered with his other work. That said, I've heard good things about his 'Books of Blood' series, so might give it a chance. Doubt I'll ever decide to read Imajica though.