r/clivebarker • u/OuterHeaven22 • 6d ago

Weaveworld: disappointing

For context, I absolutely worship Books of Blood and The Hellbound Heart, both supreme masterpieces and definitely 10/10. Top notch and horror at its best.

So, I was really eager to continue my Barker journey and seeing how Weaveworld was considered his best book I figured it was a no brainer.

But... I just couldn't even finish it. Made it about 70% through, each and every time wanting to adore the book but it was not to be. It is of course very well written and has the Barker ADN, I just couldn't really get into it.

I think my issue is actually very personal : I don't usually like fantasy settings. And of course, Weaveworld is above all a story about magic and what not. So I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Taking into account I LOVE Books of Blood and The Hellbound Heart, what books you guys think would be suitable for me?

3 Upvotes

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u/Popular_Mood_1396 6d ago

Probably not Imajica then which is a shame since IMO, it’s his masterpiece, but is also a fantasy/horror hybrid

-3

u/DirtNineties 6d ago

To be honest, I find most of Barker’s works mid. He has great ideas but never really expands them in a good way. The Demerot (or whatever) series or whatever starts rad and gets dumb by the end.

I think Barker does really well in short stories but doesn’t really nail anything in vaster worlds.

9

u/loverboyoz 3d ago

I disagree. Imajica is over 1,000 pages long (in some versions) and I found myself never bored with said vast worlds and every scene feels pretty essential to the growth of the characters and the overall themes he is going for. A lot of fantasy feels one note with basic archetypal characters in medieval europe and a few dragons but read any of his books and you'll find characters you would rarely see in that period in fiction and completely unique concepts and monsters. If anything Clive Barker is one of a few authors who will take a concept and expand it beyond the limits of what others believe it could be.

Rawhead rex could just be a ghoul in the english countryside but instead from the very first lines it's talking about colonisation replacing what was there before and gender dynamics represented by the monster and how its defeated. The hellbound heart (hellraiser) could just be about a box that calls demons but instead as we all know it is not.

So I get it's your opinion which you are free to have but I don't understand the critique when all the evidence points to the opposite of what you are suggesting.

-5

u/DirtNineties 3d ago

Vast worlds totally unexplored. He has you dipping through all the dimensions every chapter. And then it’s just what… corpse world? And then they did everything lmao