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Feb 09, 2008

Chris rated it:

Once, there was magic. There were sacred places and secret spots, and beings that held magnificent raptures. They were the Seerkind, and they were the magical children of the world.

Then the Scourge came. A being of magnificent power and mad obsession with a singular purpose - to utterly destroy the Seerkind. Its reasons, its motivations were completely unknown and brooked no argument or negotiation. And so, with their numbers being burned down, the Seerkind hid. They used their best More...

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Mar 07, 2011

Schmacko rated it:

Ever since I read it in the late 80s, I have loved this rambling, indefinable book, which may make me a hypocrite. But I’ve learned human beings are nothing if not contrary in taste. I tell people I dislike science fiction and fantasy books, and that I have very little taste for gory horror (as opposed to psychological horror, which I love). Weaveworld wanders around a LOT in its 700+ Odysseus-like pages, but there’s something phantasmal and strange about this mystical world Clive Barker has More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

May 21, 2008

Amanda rated it:

I read this book when I was in high school and I wanted to see how much it had changed in my mind. Because let's face it, a story we hate or love as a young adult can be totally different when we read it later. Plus, I really wanted to revisit the works of Barker. He's a great author in the horror genre, and a very entertaining read if you can get into his imagery and follow his bizarre story lines.

"Weaveworld" attests to Clive Barker's strange imagination. When a young ma More...

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Feb 01, 2012

Donovan rated it:

I feel this is one of the finest pieces of Clive Barker's work.
Admittedly I had trouble getting through the first chapter and started/stopped four or five times before I got past it. But when I did, it takes you on an amazing ride.

Plot ***Spoilers***
The novel revolves around the world of the Fugue, a magical world which lies woven within a rug.

Many decades ago the Seerkind (creatures of magical abilities) decided to hide themselves through a spell or "Rapture" More...

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Nov 28, 2010

Tanabrus rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 21, 2009

Dreadlocksmile rated it:

Barker lets loose his imagination as he takes you on an unforgettable trip to fantastic and incredible worlds of pure fantasy. His writing style engrosses the reader deep within the pages, immersing you into a dark and wonderful land of the unbelievable. He takes you on a trip of the magical and macabre and celebrates the potential of the human imagination.

The novel will grip you from the start and keep you desperate to keep reading. It is a book of dark fantasy that leaves you breat More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2007

Jen rated it:

This is one of my very favorite books. I don't usually reread books, but I do with Weaveworld. It is so imaginative and fantastic - imagine the coolest, craziest rug you've ever seen. Then imagine that it's actually a world, whose magical inhabitants wove themselves into the rug to hide themselves from The Scourge, which seeks to destroy them.

A rather silly British fellow has a few of these magical people appear from a torn segment of the rug, and he's off on the most intense adventu

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2011

Chris rated it:

Tea: A truly wonderful cup.
Overall, this is one of my all time favorites, and my favorite from Clive. Its a great book to keep re-reading.
This story is a little different from his other books, almost a depart from his normal style, similar to King and Straub's "The Taliasman", with all the magic weaved into the story, with of course Clive's dark outlook intertwined into the story.
This story follows an average guy, who, by circumstance or bad luck, stumbles across another More...

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Aug 24, 2011

Jason rated it:

I've described this novel as "Alice In Wonderland Goes To Hell" & in some parts of the novel this could be true. But in other parts, it could be described as "C.S. Lewis On LSD." Both descriptions are merely scratching he surface of this Dark Fantasy/Horror epic by Mr. Barker. I will not lie: It is a chore to get through but a rewarding one nonetheless.

Two humans, a male & a female, are drawn to a rug which is actually a weird-world woven into its shape. The More...

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Apr 20, 2011

Thea rated it:

Utterly enchanting. Sensual and twisted. One of the most complex fantasy novels I've ever read, brimming with socio-political, moral and religious themes ingrained into a thrilling plot. A story where every character is given, not just a name and a face, but life as well. This is perhaps the only book where I've gone from hating someone's guts (in this case, Hobart) to fangirling the hell out of him. Weaveworld has no clear-cut villains, and that is partly what makes it such a powerful work. Vil More...

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Mar 30, 2011

Adrian rated it:

I love this book! It took me awhile to read because it's soo big, but it was worth it.

It's a little hard to explain, but I'll give it a go. It's definitely a fantasy book and it takes place in Europe. The general story is about a magic carpet that has a city weaved into it. The people from the carpet have special talents (powers if you will) and they had to weave themselves and their lands into this carpet to hide from something that is trying to destroy them. That's the nutshell versi More...

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Feb 08, 2012

Melissa rated it:

A huge snowstorm left me stranded this weekend at home with no libray books other than a Joseph Smith biography that I really didn't want to read. What's a girl to do? How about read some of the books I own yet have inexplicably not yet read? I've owned this since Eric moved to Canada, and man, that was a long time ago. This was well worth it, and I'm pretty ashamed I let it sit on the shelf for so long. For that matter, why don't I read more Clive Barker anyway? While this is no Imajica, the st More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jun 09, 2010

Rick rated it:

Suggested to me by friend of the family, long ago. Got my hands on it at a bookstore in Buffalo, and have had it on my shelf for years.

This book was a bit long-winded. Maybe after having read one 700+ page book, I just wasn't ready for another one. But still, I just wasn't getting into this one as much.

There is some great imagery, and Barker is able to tap your senses in his descriptions of scenes and grotesque spirit characters. The evil creatures and spirits in this p More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 03, 2011

Apatt rated it:

Another day another hapless ordinary person wanders into a fantastical world. Quite a few of my favorite books have this basic plot structure (quite a few Gaimans), because when this sort of story works I feel like the ordinary protagonist is my avatar and I get to explore the magical world with him. Clive Barker is better known as a horror author but he is equally adept at fantasy and can probability write a great sf if he wanted to. Here the magical world and its magical citizens is woven into More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2011

Tina rated it:

I have never done this before. I was at page 669 out of 722, a fairly negligible amount of pages left to read, but I just couldn't continue. This book was SO BORING. The concept was cool and the characters were alright (kind of wooden, really), but the writing was just... it was lacking... FIRE, I guess. I was just so hum-drum. There was nothing that drew me to read it.
When I first started it, I was into it enough to keep going. I gave it a good hundred pages and it started getting interes More...

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Mar 20, 2009

Mark rated it:

This book is really an enigma. At times fast-paced, at times slow and pontificating... In reality I'd say this book deserves more 3.5-3.75 stars, not quite the full four, but it's definitely closer to 4 than 3.
While in general I like Barker's writing style (having finished Mister B Gone well before this book), his pace towards the end takes on a seemingly unhurried "we'll get there when we get there" attitude, which left me frustrated, just like the kid in the back seat during a More...

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Dec 19, 2008

Neil rated it:

I haven't read this since I was about 14, but the main premise, of there being a whole world and people woven into a rug that survives centuries and is a sanctuary for the pursued inhabitants, still captures my imagination. I should read this again.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2010

Jason rated it:

Wow this is book to me was quite a disappointment. I found this book to be very long winded while at the same time it did not reveal much and left you wondering many questions. I found Cal to be a likable protagonist but did not care for Suzanne,the other main character. I felt the book should have ended at the three quarter mark where much of the main story lines were resolved. The last quarter of the book was painful to me as I no longer cared. I am giving this two stars even though I will More...

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Sep 16, 2009

Dan rated it:

Read this first time when I was a late teenager. Been think about it ever since. Re-read it this summer and it was still great.

Complex story but a man and a woman finds them self caught in a fight between the good and evil. A world parallell to ours exist. And all it's good and bad sides connects to our world.

A more grown upp fantasy book. If they ever make movie about this one I will be the first in line for the theater. Love the conflicts they get caught in and the mi More...

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Sep 04, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

Barker's version/vision of "The garden of Eden" totally rocked! He's a genius. This was my first Clive Barker book and I've been a devoted fan of all his work ever since. Weaveworld is a nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end; with staggering twists, sharp turns, and sudden dips. Poor Cal and Suzanna, if it wasn't one thing it was another. It seemed like those two didn't get one iota of peace throughout the yarn, but in the end, all their struggles were well worth it. Like Imajica, More...

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Apr 07, 2011

Megan rated it:

Its odd the tiny things that can change your life, the things that can happen when you take one step out of your routine. Cal follows an escaped bird and Suzanna reluctantly accepts a gift from her dying grandmother and they are ripped from their mundane, safe lives, and jarringly shoved into place as unlikely saviors of a world of wonder in a battle that threatens to tear London apart.

Having only read Clive Barker's YA Abarat series, I had expected a intricate, dark, and mind-blowingl More...

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Nov 17, 2010

Kjoyce rated it:

Clive Barker is one of my favorite writers. I'm a big fan of this book in particular as it's not as dark as the other books (Sacrament and Imajica). The dark themes of his books should have turned me off, and I should have stopped reading them since I do get easily scared. But he just keeps pulling me back, and he keeps creating these wonderful alternate worlds which makes me wonder if he's a bit crazy. The characters are all crazy-wonderful and IMO he's a darker Neil Gaiman.

Weavewor More...

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Apr 08, 2011

A. rated it:

This is the first time I read for Clive Barker. As much as I was impressed by his writing style as much as I was disappointed by the plot.

No doubt Barker has great talent in creating captivating short scenarios, but when he pulled all the strings, the story seemed a bit out of focus.

Not sure why he created so many characters and killed them senselessly. I don't read horror novels, so I can't give a comparative evaluation at this level. All I could say that the amount of v More...

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Sep 16, 2011

Oria rated it:

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book. It sat there, in my to-be-read pile and I would look at it with the eyes of someone who saves the best for last and says, not yet...until one day, looking for my next read I thought “why wait?” and so my journey into the realm of magic began.
I am no complete stranger to the world of Clive Barker. Years ago I came across "Galilee" in a second hand bookstore and was intrigued by the promise on the back cover. It’s no surprise that I h More...

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May 27, 2008

Justin rated it:

First off, this wasn't what I was expecting, but in a very good way. After reading Barker's short story collections of horror (Books of Blood, Inhuman Condition, etc) and recently the excellent Mister B. Gone, I decided to delve into his fantasy catalog. From the introduction on, his gift for language shines, as it always does. What really struck me in this novel, however, was the tone of his writing. There's a sweetness to the story that really hasn't come through in any of the other works I've More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2010

Alex rated it:

WEAVEWORLD BY CLIVE BARKER: A relatively early book in Clive Barker’s career when he was still living in England, it is set within his hometown of Liverpool. Starting out seemingly normal with normal people, it immediately jumps to the mundane and insane. Weaveworld is a book that will delight, appall, horrify, and leave you thinking about the meaning of place and belonging somewhere.

The main character, Cal Mooney, is a person going nowhere fast in a dead-end job, until he comes in More...

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Aug 07, 2011

Fay added it

I was living in the Wavertree area of Liverpool when I first got hold of this book, so I was fascinated to see familiar streets and scenes turning up in this novel (although of course by now the area has all changed in the name of 'progress'.)

The world of this book isn't quite as detailed or intricate as the one described in 'Imajica' - but still a highly imaginative novel that will make you want to keep reading to the end - and then wish you could re-discover it all over again.

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Jun 19, 2011

mybluesunset rated it:

The book wasn't addictive, so I was able to read it in many distinct sessions. Well fleshed-out characters, especially Suzanna, Cal, Immacolata and her sisters, Jerichau, and Shadwell (in an ugh way). The women are women, not girls, which I like. Idea of the Fugue is creative. Style-wise, I sometimes liked the lush poeticness of this book. But I also craved more specificity and was ambivalent about some things that were meant to be deep (like Mad Mooney's poetry, the Scourge/Uriel).

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Jul 08, 2010

Simon rated it:

Next to Hyperion, Weaveworld is probably my favourite book.
I'm stunned by Barker's twisted, rich and uninhibitted imagination. The scope of the world he has created is vast, and the raw fear generated by the otherworldly characters, is something you don't forget in a hurry. Maybe it's because Barker is influenced by the darker and more fantastical elements of the Bible, but he so easily connects with deeply rooted fears that hint back to your childhood. Great stuff. 6 out of 5

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Jan 18, 2010

Jonathan rated it:

This is a novel by Clive Barker.

My first opinion of it, after having read about 100 pages, was that it was Neverwhere, only worse (because obviously no one can match Neil Gaiman's style.) And, I stand by that judgment as it regards the first 100 pages. However, the story manages to diverge in the following 500 or so pages and really becomes a world that the reader can get lost in.

So, if you like the plot of Neverwhere, I recommend Weaveworld as a good read.

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