Imajica in Queereaders

Jan 31, 2008 Chris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: top-shelf, fantasy

The world is not quite what we always thought it was. But this is a Clive Barker book, so that goes without saying.

The Imajica is the whole of creation, the true world, four-fifths of which we've never seen. Earth, the Fifth Dominion, has long been separate from the other four. How it got split away, held back from the other Reconciled Dominions by the horrible netherworld of the In Ovo, no one knows. But throughout history there have been Maestros, men of great and terrible power, who have trie The world is not quite what we always thought it was. But this is a Clive Barker book, so that goes without saying.

The Imajica is the whole of creation, the true world, four-fifths of which we've never seen. Earth, the Fifth Dominion, has long been separate from the other four. How it got split away, held back from the other Reconciled Dominions by the horrible netherworld of the In Ovo, no one knows. But throughout history there have been Maestros, men of great and terrible power, who have tried to unite the Fifth with the other Dominions, finally making the Imajica whole. The last of these was the Maestro Sartori, a raconteur and man of power in 18th century London. With his acolytes and his apostles he tried to Reconcile the dominions, and his efforts ended in disaster.

Two hundred years later, the time has come again to try the great work of bringing the Imajica together. But there are no more Maestros - the Tabula Rasa, descendants of the former Maestro's surviving followers, have done their best to wipe Britain clean of all things magical.

Some things, however, are too great to be stopped. The Imajica longs to be whole, and its long road to reconciliation begins again....

Between this and Weaveworld, Barker has proven himself to be the master of what can be called, for lack of a better term, the multiple climax. Characters and events are drawn to a head with all the tension and excitement that you would expect from the climactic finale. People live, people die, others barely escape with their lives. But the story isn't over, oh no....

This is a hell of a read, too. Barker's playing with some heavy themes - men versus women, parents versus children, acceptance of the numinous versus the reflexive rejection of that which we don't understand.... There's something for everyone, in other words.

This is a big 'un. Some paperback editions split the book into two volumes, which was probably a good idea. The single volume paperback that I have is damn near falling apart. I don't know what the practical page limit is on paperbacks, but I think 1,136 is stretching it. Still, it's an enjoyable 1,136 pages, so I recommend it.... ...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Amber rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A wonderful, immersive word-exploration through fantastic worlds and universal emotions.

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Jul 27, 2007 Judah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: to-finish-at-some-point

Strangely, for a book I've heard only good things about and have started reading probably 6 or 7 times, I have never finished this book. I've gone so far as to read up until the last 100 pages or so even. ...more

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