Thief of Always (Graphic Novel )

I ordered this book on the recommendation of a friend. I had heard that it was a children's book, but that many adults really loved it. I'm not into Harry Potter or anything, but I thought I might enjoy it. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't rate it as fantastic, either. It was well written and creative, but if you like a challenge, this won't do it for you.

I noticed another review complaining that their purchase wasn't clearly marked as a Graphic Novel. I must have gotten confused with the item in question because i'm the latest customer to fall 'victim' to a poorly described purchase. I wanted the 'novel' or 'book', NOT the graphic novel and to the best of my knowledge it wasn't clearly marked as such.

That said, it looks compelling, and for the price i'll probably just order the 'book' and keep both.

This book is surprisingly refreshing. I often find it hard to find a fantasy book where the author doesn't babble on in which case i lose interest. This book is great for light reading and the illustrations are captivating, i like that Clive Barker can make it so easy for me to let my imagination run free with no boundaries.

My favorite book ever! I keep lending this one out, so I keep buying it over and over again just to be sure I always have a copy on hand. I highly recommend this for young adults and older ones as well! Great characters and great storyline!

You have to be careful, some are the comic version of books now as this was, but it is still a wonderful book. Kids, adults...anyone would enjoy this tale...you would never know it was by Clive Barker.

The description said 'very good' for the condition and while the book is in decent condition and smells of patchouli and nag champa, the cover is stained and torn in some places. I paid extra for a better condition of my favorite childhood book, unfortunately, I lost my original hardcover version and wanted to replace it. I suppose I'm lucky that I at least got the book and not the graphic novel version.

Great story! I read the novel and enjoyed seeing the artistic interpretation of the story. The text is very small though, and as comic printing isn't always 100% accurate, some of the ink in the letters bleed making it difficult to read. Otherwise, I give the story and the artwork 5 stars. It's a great way to introduce younger readers into darker stories that temp their imaginations as they approach adolescence.

Had I read the description more clearly I would have noticed this was an adaptation into a graphic novel. Bummed as I planned to read it based on a recommendation from a teacher friend. Nice graphics, but comic books just aren't an interest of mine.

There was no disclosure or indication this copy of the book is a library book! I did not pay $15 to get a book with library stamps, the plastic dust cover, stickers. In my opinion that is not a “very good” condition book.

Clive Barker one of my favorite Authors. This is a quick read compared to his other series, A good introduction to him. If you like Stephen King Barker is one step up. If Stephen King is High school then Clive Barker is College.

very disappointed. I had this child is a book and wanted to replace it with a hard cover of the same print. I received a completely different book instead and now the only available options are at three times the cost.

I wish it said somewhere on the product description that this was a GRAPHIC NOVEL instead of a regular one. I remember having this read to me in elementary school, and I know it was a written one with only a couple of pages with pictures on them, like Abarat. Very annoying, since I'm not really a fan of the graphic novel.

I was very disappointed when my copy of The Thief of Always arrived because I was expecting the novel, NOT the graphic novel. The graphic novel will interest a challenged reader but that is not what I was looking for to put in my library.

Haven't read it yet, bought it on a recommendation in my Facebook horror group. I noticed someone was raving about the illustrations, honestly they aren't that great. I like the style of the book, I'll update on the story once I finish it. The label says $15.99 I only paid $7

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

It’s summer and Harvey Swick, a ten year old with an active imagination, is bored. That’s how he gets lured into Mr. Hood’s Holiday House. It’s a wonderful place that’s fun and exciting, where Harvey gets everything his heart desires, and where he and the other kids who live there can play all day every day and eat delicious food whenever they want. As the seasons fly by, Harvey is happy at Mr. Hood’s house until things start to get a little spooky and it starts to dawn on Harvey that the place seems unnatural. When Harvey tries to leave, the Holiday House gets downright scary.
I was thoroughly entertained by Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always and I suspect that most children and teens will easily identify with Harvey and, perhaps, will come away from the story with a new appreciation for the slow pace of what seems like their never-ending childhood. For that is the “moral” of the story: cherish your family and appreciate the time you have with them. Don’t be so eager for excitement and fun that you forget to savor the down-time you have with people you love.

The Thief of Always is a beautifully written short novel. The print versions are less than 300 pages and the audio version I listened to (Crossroad Press) is 4.3 hours long. Adam Verner does a nice job with the narration. I’d recommend this for all ages, but it’d be especially nice for a family to listen to together. There are horror elements (vampires and other frightening things), but any child who can handle Harry Potter can handle The Thief of Always.

An entertaining dark fairy tale about a boy caught in the doldrums of February who is invited to a mysterious Holiday House, a place where the mornings are like bright springtime, the afternoons are lazy summer days, it's Halloween at sunset, Thanksgiving for dinner, and every evening is Christmas. There is all the food a boy could want to eat, and wishes come true.

Harvey only intends to stay a little while, just long enough to rest and have some fun, but by the time he realizes everything that is wrong about the house, it may be too late.

This was fast-paced and at once familiar and imaginative. Harvey becomes a more interesting character as he finds the strength to resist everything happening to him, and the story provides some unexpected twists and some really great villains.

So, summer reading letter comes to me in the mail and under 10th grade I see "Barker, Clive The Thief of Always". Clive Barker? But doesn't he write really X-rated horror? Oh well, I gave it a try and after about five total hours of reading in a single day had read a fairly good fable. The story is easily identified by anybody who's ever heard of Peter Pan or the Pleasure Island sequence of Disney's Pinocchio. It is a great fable for kids around the main character Harvey's age, but I think once you get over 12 or 13 it gets to be too easy a read to hold pure interest. Though it's written well from a kids point of view, I can't help remembering how in another novel written from a child's point of view (To Kill A Mockingbird) skipped over to ominsience every now and then to keep things interesting. Also, the characters were very blank, as if they had to be in order for children to understand them, even the monsters of the story who's looks substituted for personalities. Despite this, I did like the story and it will make a great family motion picture. I'll let my little brother read this one while I go out and find a real Barker book (this was my first). A master horror novelist writing children's books? They may claim it was just another book, I say it's thier publishers wanting to hook younger audiences so as to sell more adult publications later on.

"The Thief of Always" is deeply creepy. A young boy is persuaded to visit at Holiday House by a stranger called Rictus, where every day has all the fun of childhood's favorite holidays. As days go on, there is some really fishy about what is happening to his friends there.

Toned down from Clive Barker's most powerful horror, "Thief of Always" demonstrated the author's ability to inspire dread and unease by tapping into the common underlying existiential fears. To heck with the big words, Clive Barker uses lots of little bits of imagery to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Everything about Rictus seems too good to be true, but slightly wrong. Everything about Holiday House seems too good to be true, but slightly wrong. The depth of wrongness emerges as the tale goes on.

I enjoyed it, but it was written for tweens and teens. I'm not sure that the best balance between character development, plot development, and writing for younger folks was struck, but it was still pretty darn good.

E. M. Van Court

Clive Barker brings readers this delightful fairy tale, surrounding the main character of young Harvey, a bright adventurous young boy with a stubborn streak. I advise not being put off by its seemingly childlike innocence; this one features monstrous beings, cruel twists of fate, and genuinely frightening outcomes. All ages can enjoy Thief of Always, for it stirs up the imagination and brings back that child in all of us.

With imaginative scenarios, cute little characters, and an all-out showdown to beat other show-downs, Theif of always is worth a read. The setting is of a fascinating, mystical, storybook house. With some minor plot similarities to The Haunting where the house is concerned, we learn through Harvey's eyes what is what and a small mystery is solved.

It's not without its flaws, though - every house has its holes.

One pet peeve is that no one believed Harvey - it's a complaint of mine when that happens to people in either books or movies. And even though it's not supposed to be full of tension and action the whole way through, sometimes it dragged TOO much, to where I nearly got bored.

Overall, great stuff to have fun with, and a wonderful trip down memory lane - a reminder that things don't have to be complex and sophisticated in order to be disturbing and creepy.

Great stuff to have fun with, and a wonderful trip down memory lane - a reminder that things don't have to be complex and sophisticated in order to be disturbing and creepy.

When I first heard about Clive Barker,I never thought him capable of writing a book such as this,that kids can read.But he sure showed me!

When a boring day drives a boy over the edge and he starts to wish for something more entertaining,a boy pops out of nowhere and invites him to a place where he can have all the fun possible...But you know the saying,everything comes at a price,of course he is not told that.

When he arrives to this so called place,he meets a couple of other kids and befriends them.Things start going good.They start enjoying themselves,until it's pay back time.This book is brilliantly written.Clive Barker takes Horror and covers it with Fantasy!

After experiencing some trouble in the so called "hood",the boy looks for a way to leave.But,guess what?leaving is not easy,he has to endure alot of pain before he does,fighting against things that exist only in our dreams!I definitely recommend this book...enjoy...Nigel

Clive Barker has twisted together a story of malevolent proportions. It illustrates in light satire that we are free to have our fun, but that we must weigh our choices, for fun comes at a very high price...
Harvey is a young boy, searching for what the world doesn't have to give him. But his aspirations are acknowledged at the Holiday House, a magical place which is reminiscent of "Never Never Land" and "Pleasure Island." He decides to sojourn to this place, this place of high adventure and mystery.
What young Harvey finds there baffles his mind and boggles his imagination. His life is carefree, his troubles few, and his worries nonexistent. But as the days go by, the boy finds out what goes on behind the closed doors of the Holiday House. And what thoughts and motives lurk in the mind of Mr. Hood, the House's cryptic master. And it is up to Harvey to escape the evils of the enclosed world... before it is too late.

With The Thief of Always, Clive Barker scores a bull's eye, and proves he does not have his imagination solely restricted to the violent eroticism which are largely predominant in his "adult writings." Here, he writes what people classify as a "children's book", but that could mislead and discourage many adults, which would be a shame, since this book is lovely.
As always, Barker brings forth examples of prodigal imagination at work, and using both words as well as illustrations done by himself- he brings this book to life. It is compulsively readable, and with its short chapters, you'll find yourself hurrying through it to find out what happens next. Clive Barker is doubtlessly one of the most important writers in our times, and this work is just further testament to his growing string of successes.

The Thief of Always was a truly astounding book. Although technically written for young readers, this book has something to say to more mature readers as well. Written in Barker's almost poetic prose, but without his usual eroticism, gore and language, this book reads very easily and quickly, with beautifully used language. But it's got a message -- essentially, that fantasy isn't real. I know it sounds obvious, but it can be very easy to lose track of that. This book is an extremely quick read -- I finished it in one night, and it's also great fun. The characters are dynamic and interesting, the chapters short and to the point, and there are a bunch of interesting illustrations by the author himself. This book is a definite must-read. Don't be fooled by the length and the reading level. This is an excellent book.

I read this once a year, in February. Why? Because it's a good, solid story - fable, actually, as the subtitle suggests - that can keep me entertained for a little while as this great gray month plods on. The story of young Harvey Swick is what we wished our childhoods could have been. It is enveloped in magic and mystery and acts of heroism. We are reminded, however, that fantasy is only a nice place to visit. Those who stay are no longer truly human, and eventually we must give them up - give up our childhoods, really - if we are ever to truly grow. Read this to your kids, if you have them. It's written in a style that is perfect for storytelling, with interesting voices and short chapters to get the little ones to sleep faster.... *grin*