Most helpful customer reviews
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Monumental Metaphysical Marvel, Jan 30 2004
It is hard to believe that it has been over ten years since I first read this mammoth novel- and some thirteen since it was first published. I think "mammoth" is not exaggerating, for how else do you describe on novel that exists as two separate volumes, each of over 500 pages? This isn't a casual read. It represents a considerable investment in time. There are also so many characters, settings, plot lines, specialized vocabulary and underlying principles to keep straight.... Yet, it is worth the investment in time and effort.
The basic framework, like so many of Barker's other novels, is that of a hidden world behind the superficial façade of our mundane world. Barker is such a master at interweaving mundane, and profane, details into the greater fabric of his realities that you find yourself totally drawn in. I found myself totally immersed in this hidden reality. For this is a story of five worlds, or dimensions, or Dominions. These make up the whole of Imajica. That is, they should. Two hundred years ago there was an attempt to reconcile our own fifth Dominion with the other four. This ended in a metaphysical catastrophe so great that that nearly all of the Dominions great theurgists, shamans, and theologians were killed. The result was that almost all magical knowledge passed from our world and for two centuries science and materialism held grim sway.Now, conditions are once again ripe for an attempt to reconcile the Dominions. The great magus', or Maestros, know that this may very well be the last attempt to heal the rift in creation. To fail this time will undoubtedly mean two more centuries of isolation- plenty of time for the Fifth Dominion to destroy itself in nuclear or ecological suicide. Yet, to heal the rift will require a Master of such power and confidence that he will try to succeed where all those that have gone before him (even the Christos) has failed.... This isn't really the second book of Imajica, it is the second half- it was just necessary for the publisher to split it in half.
|
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
The power of love, May 21 2002
When Judith's estranged husband hires a mysterious assassin to kill his wife, he unwittingly sets in motion a sequence of events that will change all the dominions of the Imajica, of which Earth is the fifth. Both Judith and her former lover John "Gentle" Zacharias are drawn into the mysteries as the assassin Pie 'oh' Pah leads them both forward to remembering their origins and connections to each other and to the ruler of the other dominions, the Autarch. Judith's journey veers from Gentle's when she finds evidence of buried and suppressed goddesses on Earth and in the other dominions. But the Autarch has domination plans of his own, and he won't be stopped without drawing blood first. "Imajica" is essentially about healing, and about love. Gentle is a broken man, a habitual womanizer, who's brought to a place of healing through his relationship with Pie 'oh' Pah, a mystif with the power to change sex according to another's true desires. Judith is claimed by many men, but she battles this ownership, and must find her own way and rely on her own strength if she's to assist in bringing the dominions back together. And ultimately it's in Judith's hands whether this healing of the Imajica comes about or fails yet again. It's a gorgeous epic fantasy that soars to a reader's heart, and once there plants a seed of imagining the world as a better place, much as Gentle and Judith do. This is one of my favorite all-time books. I feel so wordless in attempting to describe it.
|
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the greatest books of all time, April 14 2002
By A Customer
Clive Barker is my favorite author, and this is his second best in my opinion (first goes to the books of art). Barker's writing style and stories are like none I've ever read. What's particularly cool about this story is that it starts off as an epic tale and when you get about half way through (which would be this book), the tale suddenly has huge relevance. I guess I should've expected that (this IS clive barker). Buy this book in whatever version you want (single book, or the pair), just read it
|
|
|
Most recent customer reviews
|
