Weaveworld

This was the book that introduced me to Clive Barker and I have been hooked ever since. My paperback was getting old and worn, I was very excited to see it was finally available on Kindle and I didn't hesitate to hit the order now button. After almost 30 years this is still one of my favorite books

i received this book today, arrived in perfect condition. it was sent one time, and i didn't receive it, but the bookseller very graciously sent another, which arrived in two days. weaveworld is one of my all-time favorite books, and i'm happy to have my own copy.

This was offered under the Clive Barker Hardback book selection. It is NOT a novel but a comic book. That being said it was packaged nicely for a comic, just comes up under the wrong heading and not what I wanted.

Clive has always been one of my favorite authors and this book is one of the main reasons. I have read a few books of his lately that lacked what you would expect from an author of his stature. This book however, delivers. Where to start. 1) Characters. Each character has and owns their own identity. This list of characters is no small list. Every new chapter seemed like I was exclaiming the same thing. “Oh yes, I forgot about that person.” Some many of them you cheer for and just as equally some you loath and despise. 2) The depth of the story. From where the story starts and where it ends are light years apart. The inner jacket only gives you a small taste of where the book takes you. The breadth of Clive’s imagination seems to be endless. 3) Readable. The story is broken down into short chapters that make it easy to read and understand. It also makes it easy to stop and pick up later during a busy life.

A fun read that continues to grow throughout. This could easily been broken into two separate novels, but I'm glad that it wasn't. Clive Barker manages to create a world hidden within our own (a specialty of his) that is completely magical and different from the mundane streets of Liverpool, where most of this story is set. With well-rounded characters that are continuously evolving throughout the story, this book will hook you early and keep you enthralled to the stunning finale.

Of the things I liked about 'Weaveworld' was Mr. Barker's ability to conceptualise and incorporate all the different characters into an amazing, brilliant, yet brutal world that pitted good against the dark realms of evil. He told us about the Loom (the weave), the Fugue, the Menstruum, the Gyre, the cuckoo's, the Rake, the Scourge, the Seerkind, Suzanne and Col and of course, amongst many other things, there was also Shadwell and Immacolata with her evil vile twin sisters too. He often gave us short sharp chapters that culminate in beautifully vivid prose about a world of fantasy and also a world of horrors that not only live amongst us and, but more extraordinarily, other evils that have been awakened to confront us. He wasn't in a hurry to reveal it all, however, because he gave us about one hundred chapters and over seven hundred pages of vivid descriptions and horrors that made 'Weaveworld' the coupe-de-tat of fantasy horror. Written way back in 1987, I think that it changed how fantasy horror would be forever written. No it's not Tolkien, it's not Steven King, Stephen Donaldson or Tad Williams, no it's guy called Clive Barker mixing both fantasy and horror together to make something very original. He mixes both incredibly well which is a very tricky to do, but, I think, Mr. Barker has done it with easy and with great aplomb. "It'll probably be imitated for the next decade or so", Peter Straub (inside the book sleeve).

Perhaps the momentum wanes for a bit to long in the middle part in this, seven hundred page version but, of course, Mr. Barker roars back at us in the last two hundred pages which just flew-by as fast as the fire that was burning the snow in the later part of the story. This persons thinks that the six hundred page version out there somewhere would be even more amazing, if that was at all possible. But, Mr. Barker's story easily gets five stars despite what little criticism could be levelled against it.

In simple terms of the story, you find out that two cuckoo's (humans), with no obvious connection to each other, are throw together and become aware of the power of the carpet. One more than the other because, unbeknown to her, the woman (Suzanna) possess's magical powers brought down from previous generations of safe keepers (custodians) to look after it. You find out that it's, of course, no ordinary carpet that you wipe you feet on, but instead it's a carpet that holds a mysterious power that hid the Seerkind from the Scourge (" the Seerkind weave themselves and their living places into a carpet, a magical riot of color and wonder"), but it also contained within it, amongst other things, a magical weave ~ the Fugue that "has been woven into a carpet for protection against those who would destroy it", Good Reads. But, (and there's always a 'but' when you read Mr. Barker), it seems, the carpet and the 'contents' within the Weave disseminates.......Well, that's what happened in book one, but he wrote three of them to complete the story! So you'll have to read on to find out more.

Mr. Barker also shares some of his horror with us by telling us that even the so called 'good' characters can transform decent law abiding people (after all these were the police who were suppose to protect us) into animals on all four who cover themselves, head to toe, in their own excrement grinning from ear to ear "apparently very content with themselves". p. 215. Yes, the characters who do this were good, but don't get in their way because you will be seen and removed, regardless of your own welfare, as an obstacle and as a mere nuisance. In the greater realm of things, even the police would be removed as an obstacle that simply get in the way. And these were the 'good' characters in the story! Yes, this reader found the horror in the story very entertaining.

For those who have struggled to understand the story because Mr. Barker doesn't necessarily lay it out in an obvious way, then some of the following chapters would be important to remember. These chapters include but aren't limited to at least some of the following: "In the Arms of Mama Pus", "The Menstruum", "Night Terrors", 'What She Told" and, of course, "Threshold" (the latter two being really important). They helped yours truly to understand the story to a much greater extent than any others. It's unbelievable it took me so long to get around to read it. Well, for some reason or other, yours truly had read most of his other books and had only gotten round to reading what turned out to be one of his best for last. Anyway, it was worth the wait. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did even if it took more than twenty five years to finally read it.Yours truly could go on, but reviews are suppose to be brief, to the point and to tell you what the person thought of the story. Well, they're suppose to be.

Weaveworld is the story of an artifact known as the fugue, a carpet that hides a land of imagination. It is the final refuge for the magical people of the world, the Seerkind. They have been driven from reality by a mysterious creature known as The Scourge and the greedy and ignorant "cuckoos" of everyday life. The fugue protects the wonderful forces that defy logic. It is a land that almost every reader will want to visit. The seerkind cannot rest undisturbed, however. They find themselves in a two way conflict, with the twisted beings spawned in the darkness of the imagination, and worse, the urge of humankind to supress the irrational and crush the creative. A normal man named Calhoun Mooney stumbles upon the secret of the fugue, realizes its importance, and does everything in his power to protect it from the magic wielding villainess, Immacolata, and her human assistant, Shadwell, a clever and insincere salesman. Mooney is not enough to stop them, but he meets Suzanna, a woman with a link to the world of magic.
Some of the other critics would debate my choice of five stars, but I believe they are well deserved. There are some complaints about sexual content,(almost certainly concerning the Magdalene)but I believe it is inserted to represent a dark region of the subconscious. The sexuality is presented with an almost Freudian purpose rather than with the simple objective of shock value. The one complaint in common with readers that dislike Weaveworld is that they don't care what happens to the fugue, a land representing freedom from the tyranny of the rational mind and the bonds of society. If you have no desire to travel to such a place and no interest in its preservation, perhaps Weaveworld will not work its magic on you, but there is a chance that it may change your beliefs.

Weaveworld is the story of a magical people, called the Seerkind, who have woven their entire world, called The Fugue, into a rug in order to hide from something that was wiping out their entire world, this thing being the Scourge. No one knew what the Scourge was, only that they must get away from it before they all ceased to exhist. Guardians are appointed to watch over the rug, called The Weave, and all of the Seerkind go to sleep.
After a long time in the human world, called The Kingdom, all of the guardians eventually die off. After the weave is removed from the home of the last guardian Cal, a human, called Cukoos by the Seerkind, quite accidentally falls onto the weave and enters the Fugue - just for a moment. The bliss that Cal experiences in the Fugue leaves him lonely and despondent for what he believes to be paradise found, then lost again.
Cal doesn't have long to brew in his despondency, however, before he meets a few more interesting characters. First, there is Suzanna, the granddaughter of the last Guardian of the Weave. Together, Suzanna and Cal become the main force for protecting the Weave from the final two characters of importance - Shadwell, a 'Cukoo' salesman with a menevolant spirit who wants only to gain the world and Immaculota, a Seerkind witch who was thrown out of the Fugue before the weaving for causing trouble - ie.trying to rule the Fugue. Immaculota and Shadwell also want the weave. Shadwell wants to sell the weave to rich international buyers for huge profit. Immaculota simply wants to destroy the Fugue and gain revenge upon all of those who humiliated and exiled her to the world of the Cukoos.
Wrapped up in all of this is a story of complex love, never forgetting, the power of the imagination, and the human being's unbelievable capacity for both hatred and forgiveness. This is not light reading. I was truly impressed, whilst still completely entertained.
Though I have tried to lay out the basic plot, as with any epic, this one is complex and involves many, many twists along the way. I found the book to be thoroughly engrossing, though I am not normally much of a fantasy fan. This book almost belongs in it's own genre of fantasy/horror. It has all of the darkness of a classic Stephen King and much of the epic of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

This book weaves together both horror and fantasy in way that only Clive Barker can deliver.I remember when I first tried to read this book,I put it down after the first few pages,convinced that it was junk.A year later I picked it up again,going a few pages more and more,and before I knew it,I was in the story...I don't regret reading this masterpiece,but what I do regret is not reading it sooner.

Here is the plot.There is a race known as the seerkind.They look like us and everything,only more.The have magical powers beyond our comprehension.In the book humans are referred to as cuckoos

But a long time ago,a force known as the Scourge started to kill them.No one ever lived to tell what it looked like,as a matter of fact,no one lived who saw it.So the people used what was left of their property and magically weaved it into a carpet.Which in effect made them Dormant.Someone was left to look after the carpet,for its magic was powerful enough to destroy the whole of humanity.But when she gets sick and dies...well,alot of things happen,most of which are difficult for me to explain.But,I will try.

A guy name Calhoun Mooney gets involved in this tale along with this woman's grandaughter, Suzanna.Their main purpose was to protect the carpet along with its contents.

A man was after the carpet to sell it,he was a very successful business man.He was aided by Immacolata,one of the seerkinds whom chose not to be part of the carpet.(because,you see,when the carpet was being woven,some of the seerkind didn't want to be part of it,but chose to live among the humans(cuckoos)instead).She,Immacolata,wanted just to destroy the carpet and see the seerkind suffer.When the carpet was being woven alot of things that was woven with it,is not know by the cuckoos.so when Carl and Suzanna finally gets a chance to see it they were very happy and surprised.Not long before becoming part of the terror that the seerkind was about to face...This book is a great journey...So words to get familiar with are,fugue,seerkind and before I forget,Rapture.Raptures are something magical,like a spell used by the seerkind to do whatever they wanted it to...It does not specifially say what raptures are,but its use in the book gives the general idea...I definitely recommend this book.And after reading this book and enjoying it you would see how much information it contains and if you were to properly explain it,it would take pages!This book is like no other Mr Barker has ever written.It is really one of a kind.There is a popular phrase used in this book :"That which can be imagined,need never been forgotten"...it just makes me wonder how creative the author is and unstoppable...enjoy...Nigel.(sorry I couldn't be more help)

I recieved this book as a Christmas present and was a bit hesitant to begin reading it. The person who gave it to me assured me that it was very well written and had an intriguing idea behind it (I was told it would be a good break from my normal sci fi/Star Wars stuff). After much internal debate over whether to read Weaveworld now or put it off until later, I decided to just go for it and see what this acclaimed book was all about. I'm so glad I chose to read this book now instead of leaving it for a later date. Words cannot describe how brilliant this novel is, but I'll attempt to do my best. Spoilers follow.

To start with, the overall idea is, to say the least, very intriguing. Cal and Suzanna, the two protagonists of the story, work to unravel the secrets of the Weaveworld and the Kind who inhabit it. The concept is nothing short of original and Barker executes it well. I cannot even begin to describe how deep and complex the story is. It stops being simply a plot and becomes more of a world a world, something that completely pulls the reader in and keeps them engrossed in the Weaveworld and its preservation. Everything is encompassed in this intricately woven tale: poetry, heroism, mythology, magic, and so many other things. The complex plot makes for a thick book, but the story is well worth it, often leaving the reader on the edge of their seat and full of emotions as the story unfolds.

The language of the book is as complex as the plot. It can be elegant and poetic in some places, while still being common-place and easy to understand. It doesn't bog the book down with unnecessary filler language (meaning overly drawn out descriptions or insanely long sentences to describe something that can just as easily be summed up in a few words). Not to say the language is overly simplistic...it isn't. It has a certain charm and beauty, weaving this fantastic story together.

The characters are all unique and intriguing in their own right. There are hardly any of the typical "arch-types" that are often found in stories. My personal favourite was Immacolata, one of the primary antagonists. She was completely unique and unlike anything I've ever seen before and, despite being one of the "bad guys", she wasn't completely evil. In fact, many of the characters were morally ambiguous, being lumped in with one "side", but still having their own agendas and motivations. They balanced the plot well with their personalities, relationships, and connections with the Weaveworld without overwhelming the story.

I am unable to capture the ingenious of this novel in words. It balances plot and characters well, never letting one dominate the other but still keeping both of them unique and intriguing. The language is amazing and keeps the reader constantly turning the page, always wanting more and always wanting to find out what happens next. I highly recommend Weaveworld.

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 into contact with this large rolled up carpet that is being moved from a house. Gazing into its intricate patterns, he sees more at work here, and discovers paradise for the first time. As the book develops and more characters are added, he discovers that the magically collected designs within the carpet is what is known as The Fugue: an ancient civilization and people who have lived since the beginning of existence but over time, after cohabiting with humanity, have lost numbers and suffered destruction. Over a hundred years ago The Fugue, using magic, picked the best pieces of their world and their people and wrapped themselves into the design of the carpet, safe and protected, until they will have a safer place to live in the future. Guardians were appointed over time to protect The Fugue, but now they are all gone. The Fugue's greatest enemy, The Scourge, was a menace while they were living in the world, but now lies dormant while they are in the carpet. That is until they are freed and begin to change the world around them; old enemies come out of the woodwork, and Mooney, along with the daughter of one of the guardians, Suzanna Parish, must work to protect and save The Fugue before it is too late. While not every question is fully answered, or every problem resolved, the book is still an incredible journey.

If you haven't read Clive Barker before, Weaveworld is the perfect introductory novel to his language, his incredible imagination, and horrors you never thought possible.
[...]

This magnificent fantasy takes the standard elements of the genre and imbues them with fresh vigor. Young Cal Mooney is a bored office clerk stuck in grey, depressed Liverpool, living with his father when a fateful encounter with a magical carpet opens Cal's eyes to the glories of another world. The carpet is the secret hiding place for the Seerkind, a species of magical beings who have managed to salvage bits and pieces of their magnificent world in a magnificent tapestry. The Seerkind are hiding from a terrible, omnipotent enemy known as the Scourge. For more than 80 years, the Seerkind have lain sleeping inside the carpet guarded by volunteer Seerkind who have sacrificed their immortality and grown old as protectors of the Weave. But the last guardian has died before passing on her secret to her granddaughter, Suzanna who is unaware of her magical heritage and the powers it provides to her. When Cal stumbles on the secret of the carpet, he and Suzanna must join forces to protect Weaveworld from Immacolata, a powerful Seerkind witch seeking revenge for banishment from Weaveworld and Shadwell, Immacolata's human companion, an ambitious salesman obsessed with possessing Weaveworld. "Weaveworld" is a dazzling, well crafted story that slowly reveals all the wonders and beauty of a fantastic place. Barker is a talented writer who is equally adept at scenes of mesmerizing beauty and blood-chilling horror. He also possesses a deft touch with characterization that reveals the heart and soul of villains and protagonists alike. The reader can feel sympathy even for Immacolata spurned and rejected by her people or for the Scourge, driven mad by loneliness and despair.

Can you sew? Well, neither can I! The last book I read by the author Clive Barker was called Weaveworld. Imagine a magical loom weaving together pieces of thread to make a carpet. Now it's not ordinary thread being used, but pieces of reality itself! Rivers, streams, lakes, pieces of land, houses, and even people (they are called Seerkind and are hiding in the carpet 'cause us humans want to destroy all of them) are weaved into this carpet! For generations this carpet has been protected by a custodian (no, they don't get paid) until now...the last custodian has died and naturally the bad guys want to get their hands on this kingdom. Free slaves and a kingdom to rule over sounded very good to the evil salesman in the story. Along with good guys who have magical powers, a dark Virgin goddess, Cuckoos (humans), an insane angel from heaven and a magical carpet to be unraveled, you have an awesome and totally mind-blowing book

I enjoy Stephen King, but I had been hestitant to try Clive Barker, as I prefer fantasty/thriller type books to true horror--based on ads for the Hellraiser movies, I thought Barker fell into the latter category. However, I recently came across Weaveworld, which was described as an epic fantasy and which had received many raving reviews, so I thought this would be a good book for me to try Barker for the first time.
I wasn't disappointed: Barker is a good storyteller, and he creates an interesting, engaging world in Weaveworld. However, I found his prose to be awkward at times and his characters to be inconsistent--it was difficult for me to keep a stable view of each person in my mind.
In addition, I still feel that Stephen King is the *master* storyteller (re-reading The Dead Zone right after Weaveworld confirmed this), and that compared to him, Barker is no more than entertaining. Furthermore, I don't believe that Weaveworld is the best fantasty world story that I've ever read--that distinction continues to be held by Stephen R. Donaldson's Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through (Mordant's Need, Books 1 & 2). This was unquestionably the greatest fantasy story I've ever come across; Weaveworld pales in comparison.
Despite these factors, Weaveworld is still an enjoyable read, and it has at least made me willing to read more of Barker's work--maybe even Hellraiser! ;-)

The concept seemed to have promise, but I guess I was expecting something a bit more imaginative and fantastical. I love good fantasy, even dark fantasy but for me it still had too much of Barker's trademark grisly horror element. It's overly long and was, for me, a slog to get through, but I think it's probably still an okay book, just not the book I was hoping for. My edition had a surprising number of misspellings and grammatical errors.

Initially I was surprised that Weaveworld wasn't the horror story I expected it to be. Then I was surprised how much I was enjoying it anyway.
Certainly there are elements of horror: The Rake, The Hag, The Magdalene and her Offspring, and The Scourge/Uriel - but this is primarily a love story between Cal and Suzanna. Their relationship is remarkable if for no other reason than the fact that it can never be fully consummated (unlike most of the casual relationships Cal and Suzanna have with others, which can and often are).
From suburban London to the Scottish Highlands to the Arabian desert, the story covers all this ground, plus the fantastic settings within the weave (The Fugue) itself. The pacing is fairly quick, but Barker does take the time to insert a descriptive paragraph or nice turn of phrase now and then. Characters are well-drawn, but there isn't a whole lot of development demonstrated over the course of the novel. Cal becomes obsessed with the carpet, but doesn't really change as he pursues or attains it. Suzanna gets super-powers almost as soon as she comes on the scene, so there isn't even much "before" and "after" as she comes to grips with them.
The book has a few other flaws, as well. Barker consistently uses the crassest term imaginable for the part of female anatomy euphemistically referred to on the TV-show Scrubs as the "bajingo." There are some pretty big plot holes as well; for instance, at one point a psychic attack is accidentally launched against an innocent London population; later, when such an attack would come in handy, no one suggests "doing what we did back in London." Wasn't it Chekov who said, "If you establish mind-altering super-powers in the beginning of the book you have to make an attempt to use them in a crucial moment by the end of the book"? Words to that effect, at any rate.
Subject matter and material aside, this is still a very good fantasy story. Romance fans will find a lot to recommend it. Horror fans may find themselves pleasantly surprised.

I read this book countless times in high school. I'm older now and my perspective is different, but this is still a wonderful book. I was a fan of Clive Barker for so long, now I remember why. I'm not really interested in some of his more recent work, but I'll re-visit some of his older books after I read some other things on my list. I love Barker's imagined world. I'm now trying to teach my daughter to read. I want her to understand how the author's thoughts become words on a page then become thoughts again as the reader reads the book. Words are fresh thoughts again, long after the author wrote them. It's kind of an immortality.